


The Marriage Decree

by Dumbledores_Wisdom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Forced Marriage, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, I hope you're in this for the long haul, Marriage Law Challenge, Multi, This fic is gonna be hella long, Very Long Fic, i'm not even joking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-17 22:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 76
Words: 444,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5887750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumbledores_Wisdom/pseuds/Dumbledores_Wisdom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When all eligible wizards and witches are forced to marry in order to increase the population after the war, neither of them thought they'd ever have a chance at happiness again. Especially not with each other but can figuring out the Minister's ulterior motive behind the decree bring them closer together.  I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 - Hermione's POV

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Readers,  
> I dedicate this fanfiction to you.  
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters  
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.  
> P.S. Enjoy. Xx

**The Marriage Decree**

** Chapter 1 **

During her first few months of Hogwarts, Hermione would constantly dream of home. Taking long Sunday walks around the park with her parents and Bobby, their next door neighbour’s dog. Or lounging in the armchair watching Disney films on VHS. Or being at one of their family’s barbeques playing with her cousins. It helped her get through the loneliness that encapsulated her at school before she became friend with Harry and Ron. Although even then she would find herself dreaming about what her life would have been like had she not been a witch. If she had attended the local secondary school with her best friend, Verity, from primary school. It wasn’t until her third year when she finally began to feel as though she was fitting in with the wizarding world that the dreams stopped.

Instead, whenever she was home for the holidays, her dreams would take her back to Hogwarts. Sitting in Hagrid’s shack with Harry and Ron. Or reading books upon books in the library, eagerly trying to expand her knowledge of the wizarding world. Or eating dinner in the Great Hall with all her friends. It helped her through the blandness of being home in the muggle world.

* * *

There are only a few days left before the Hogwarts Express is due to transport everyone back home and as per usual, the Gryffindor common room is an absolute mess with people throwing things around trying to find lost socks or school books so they can finish packing their trunks. Hermione’s thankful that she is a tidy, organised person and finished packing days ago.

She decides to take this opportunity to get some quiet reading done outside under an old oak tree. The skies are a clear blue, the grass are a luscious green and the sun is beating down strongly. Hermione finds her favourite spot overlooking the Great Lake, sits herself down and begins to read feeling content in herself.

She is so engrossed in her book that she doesn’t hear it at first. But then something in her subconscious tells her that there’s a noise that doesn’t belong nearby. She pauses in her reading, listening out for whatever it is when it happens again.

The sound of tapping. Of course being outside, sat under a tree, you might expect to hear some tapping from maybe a bird, high in the branches of said tree. But this tapping is different. It’s as if the bird is tapping on a glass surface. Confused, Hermione stands up, glancing around her surroundings, not exactly sure what she’s expecting to find. There’s no evidence to suggest that there’s a pane of glass being tapped on nearby. Especially since she’s sitting too far away from the school building to hear anything.

Then the tapping noise happens again. This time, it comes from behind her, followed by a hoot. ‘An owl.’ Hermione thinks, rolling over in her bed. ‘I should probably get that.’ She adds in her head but shuffles further under her quilt.

She decides to head back up to her common room to see if the boys are any closer finished to being packed when she hears a new sound.

The sound of knocking that one would expect to hear on a door. It’s at that moment that Hermione blinks sending herself into darkness. At first, she thinks she hasn’t reopened her eyes from the blink so she blinks again and realises that the darkness is surrounding her.

“Hermione?” Her Dad’s voice questions from somewhere near.

“Umm.” She hums realising she’s in bed, at home. Her dreams have always been very convincing.

“Hermione?” Her Dad repeats louder.

“Yeah, Dad,” She said dryly with a cough to clear her throat. She needs a drink of water.

“Will you open the window for that bloody bird?” He calls back slightly annoyed. “Your mum and I are trying to have a lie in,” He adds as an explanation.

As if on cue the tapping noise from her dream comes from her window. Hermione jumps, or rather crawls, out of bed then shuffles her way over to her window. Opening it let not only the owl in but also a large gust of icy, winter wind sending a shiver down her spine.

The barn own flies gracefully around her room before swooping down and landing on her lamp. The owl lifts its left leg for Hermione to unclip her letter, which she does, before flying straight back out her window. She can’t help thinking that it hadn’t been a very friendly owl. She shuts her window before actually jumping back into her warm, cosy bed to read her letter.

A heavy sigh escapes her lips when her eyes catch sight of the Ministry of Magic seal on the back. Hermione’s been receiving letters from them, at least once a week, since the end of the war asking her to give a speech about her bravery in the war. As far as she’s concerned, she wasn’t brave. She’d been terrified the entire time, she just knew how to hide her fear better than others. The brave ones were the ones who gave up their lives for the war.

Before she thinks too far into it and upsets herself, she rips open the envelope to get it over and done with.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Saturday 2nd January 1999**

**Dear Mr/Miss,**

**As you may well know, it has been eight months since the end of the war where we lost so many loved ones at the hand of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We are saddened to inform you that we have a total body count. 231.**

**Unfortunately, this number of deaths in such a small period of time has drastically decreased our population and therefore, the Ministry of Magic has created a new decree in the hope that it will help boost not only our population but also our morale.**

** The Marriage Decree **

  1. **All those who graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in May 1999 to those aged 23 on 1st June 1999 will be required to marry in The Partner Ceremony.**
  2. **In order to effectively match you with somebody compatible, the attached questionnaire must be honestly filled in and returned to the Ministry of Magic by 1st March 1999.**
  3. **Once married, you and your partner will be given access to your new home in our Ministry Starter House Estate where you will reside for two years or until the conception of your first child.**
    1. **If at two years you have not conceived a child, both you and your partner will be tested for fertility. If one is found to be infertile, you may divorce and the fertile partner must remarry within one year.**
    2. **With proof of conception from St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maldives and Injuries, you may move into your own residence if you wish.**
  4. **The Law**
    1. **All marriages within this age range will be made illegal up until The Partner Ceremony on 1st June 1999**
    2. **Any person who does not return their questionnaire will be sentenced to a minimum of two months imprisonment in Azkaban.**
    3. **Any person who refuses to marry their chosen partner will be sentenced to a minimum of four months imprisonment in Azkaban.**
    4. **Any person found guilty of using an infertility potion or charm will be sentenced to a minimum of six months imprisonment in Azkaban.**



**Thank you for your time.**

**Approved and Signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister of Magic.**

 

Hermione has to re-read the letter multiple times before it even begins to sink in and even then she isn’t one hundred percent sure she has read it correctly. Kingsley wants to force us to marry someone we probably won’t know and then force us to have children with these people within two years.

‘What about those of us already in a relationship?’ She thinks, her mind flashing to images of Ron.

They’d kind of been an item since the end of the war when, in the heat of the moment, they had kissed in the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione was in a constant argument with herself as to whether they were together or not. Since that one time, they hadn’t kissed again or been out on a date together. The closest they had come to being romantic in any way was Christmas Eve when he had pecked her cheek under some mistletoe.

It was mistletoe. So he had the option to kiss her passionately on the lips but he hadn’t. That’s when she started doubting their relationship. She saw how Harry and Ginny were together and she was envious. Not of them but of what they have and the love they share.

‘Hopefully, the ministry will take current relationships into consideration.’ Hermione thinks climbing out of bed.

She quickly gets changed into a pair of jeans, a shirt and a cardigan before quietly making her way downstairs. Her aim is to sneak out of her house and disapparate to The Burrow to get their opinion on the matter. Maybe Arthur will have some insider information. She manages to pull on one boot before she hears footsteps upstairs. With no time to spare, she grabs her coat, bag and other boot then makes a run for it out of the front door, down their path, away from the protection spell, and onto the street where she concentrates on the burrow, turns around and disapparates away. 

The skies are grey and gloomy over The Burrow today, forecasting the emotions that are to come once they read their letters. Hermione doesn’t expect any of the Weasley children to be up this early but through the kitchen window, she sees Percy looking down at their kitchen worktop.

She glances down at her hands wondering whether or not to put her other boot on seeing as she’d just have to take it off again once she enters the burrow. She decides against it, deeming it a waste of time, before hobbling down The Burrow’s garden path to their kitchen door. She doesn’t bother knocking and just walks straight in causing Percy to glance up from a letter he’s reading but upon seeing it’s just Hermione he goes back to it.

“The Marriage Decree.” She wonders aloud.

“Mmhmm.” He hums not looking up from his letter.

“What do you think about it?” She asks.

Percy stays quiet for a few seconds as he finishes the letter for what she’s sure is not the first time. He shakes his head angrily before looking up at her.

“This is just another way for the Ministry to force us to do what they want. Is nothing sacred anymore? I want to fall in love, Hermione. I don’t want to be given a wife at some fucking Partner Ceremony then expected to make a future with them. It’s disgusting.” Percy shouts waving his letter around. This is the new Percy we had come to know since he quit his job at the Ministry at the end of the war. Full of hatred towards the government that did nothing to protect his family thereby causing one of his brothers to die. “They shall expect a strongly worded howler from me,” He adds throwing his letter onto the kitchen table and taking a seat on one of the seats. And there’s the old Percy still shining through.

“What’s all this shouting about?” George yawns grumpily as he descends the stairs wearing a multi-coloured dressing gown.

Everything that George does, he goes grumpily now. Or angrily, depressingly, glumly and every other negative adverb. Ever since he lost not only his twin brother but also the other half of himself.

Percy, with a flick of his wand, send Georges letter flying over towards him. With a glare towards his older brother, with whom Hermione was sure he blamed for Fred’s death, he opens his letter. Hermione watches him as he reads The Marriage Decree. As if instinctively, George's hand reaches within his dressing gown where it seems to hold on to something, Hermione not sure what it is but she’s seen him do that many times before. Once he’s finished reading, he places his letter back in the envelope and heads over to the fridge to grab the milk glass.

“So?” Hermione voices.

“So what?” George asks, drinking the milk straight from the bottle.

“What do you think about it?” She repeats the questions she had previously asked Percy.

“I think we haven’t really got much of a choice so what’s the point of having any thought or opinions on it. It’s going to happen whether we like it or not.” He says to his milk bottle before heading back up to his bedroom with it.

Percy releases a long sigh letting his head fall into his hands. Hermione, unsure with how to comfort him, takes a seat next to him and slowly rubs small circles onto his back. His long hair has fallen in front of his face so she tucks it behind his ear letting hear hand linger on the side of his cheek. Without really thinking she brings his head down to her shoulder, hugging him tightly. Maybe he just needs some comfort from someone who isn’t his mother. It must have been the correct thing to do because he embraces her back just as tightly.

“I wish it had been me, Hermione,” He whispers. At first, she isn’t sure if he had even said anything but she had felt his breath on her neck.

“Don’t say things like that?” She tells him instinctively holding him tighter.

“It’s true. Everyone would be happier if it had been me. They all hated me before he died and now they all despise me.” His voice breaks slightly as if he’s holding back his tears.

“They don’t despise you.” She tells him but even she know that’s a lie. Percy does too from the dry laughter he replies with. “Okay. Maybe George does but that’s to be expected. Ron has always disliked you so that hasn’t changed. Ginny’s opinions on you have changed back and forth over the years but at the moment, she’s proud of how far you’ve come since the end of the war. You’ve really changed your life around for the better.”

“What about you?” He mutters.

“What about me?” She questions confused.

“Do you despise me?” He asks and she can feel the nerves coursing through his body. Hermione and Percy are similar in so many ways that she knows her opinion of him is one that actually matters to him.

She pauses to think for a moment. She doesn’t despise him but what does she think of him. Of course, she admires his intellect but his common sense is a bit off and his loyalty could always be improved upon. Although that was the old Percy. She doesn’t really know the new Percy.

“I don’t despise you, Percy. I never have. In fact in my first year especially, I really looked up to you. You were so intellectual and the responsible. To be honest, I think I had a little crush on you. Although I will deny it if you ever mention that to anyone. Ever.” Percy chuckles. “You need to remember that it’s only been eight months. You just need to give everyone a bit more time to heal.” She finishes.

Suddenly from upstairs, something resembling a herd of elephants comes charging down the stairs causing Percy to jerk away from Hermione’s embrace blushing slightly. Ron pauses to frown in confusion at Hermione.

“What are you doing here, Hermione?” He asks heading over to the fridge.

“You’ve got a letter from the Ministry,” She answers getting straight to the point.

Ron groans which Hermione thinks she understands. Both Ron and Harry had been receiving the same letters as her at least once a week about giving a speech. However, Ron slams the fridge door.

“We’re out of milk again, Mum,” He shouts up the stairs.

“George has it,” Percy explains.

“Again!” He groans, filling a glass with water.

“Would you rather it be milk or firewhisky?” Percy raises a questioning eyebrow.

Hermione thinks he has a point but Ron just rolls his eyes as he opens his letter. She watches as his eyes slowly take in everything written on the piece of parchment. To her surprise, though, he simply shrugs placing it on the counter and starts making some toast.

“Is that it? You shrug then move on.” Hermione raises her voice. “That’s your future there Ronald and all you can do is shrug at it.” She says ignoring Percy’s snigger when she’d called him Ronald.

“Well, it takes a lot of stress off my plate wondering whether or not I’ll get married and give Mum all those grandkids she wants,” He explains.

“Do you not want something of your own for your life besides what your Mum wants or what the Ministry is making you have?” She argues.

“All I want is to become an Auror, anything else life gives me I’ll take and just make the most of it.” Ron shrugs again infuriating Hermione but she knows she’ll never win this argument.

Unlike Ron, she has hopes and dreams for her future. She wants to travel and visit wizarding communities in other countries. Then research further into her favourite topics to deepen her knowledge and understanding of it until she knew as much as she can find out about it. Once she has done all that she wants to become a professor at Hogwarts, hopefully in Transfiguration.

In the short time, she has paused to think, Ron has gone back to making his breakfast. Hermione turns around to talk to Percy but he gives her a quickly forced smile before leaving out the kitchen door. She doesn’t know where he’s off to, but she gets the feeling that he wants to be alone. She takes a seat at the kitchen table again and starts to re-read her letter, trying to find some sort of loophole that will get her out of this decree but as far as she can see, there are none.

At that moment, she hears giggling coming down the stairs from further up the house, then a few seconds later, Ginny and Harry are emerging from the stairs, laughing together with their hands entwined.

“Hermione!” Ginny excitedly runs over to give her a hug. “I didn’t think we’ll see you again until tomorrow on the train back,” She mentions.

“Neither did I but then we all got this letter from the Ministry and I just needed to speak to someone about it who would understand,” She explains vaguely. “And who doesn’t have a strong hatred for them,” She adds because even though Percy understood her feelings on the matter, she couldn’t help but feel like his anger for the decree came more from his anger of the Ministry itself.

Ginny and Harry's exchange confused glances before picking up their own letters. Hermione watches them carefully. She knows it’s going to be hard for them. Halfway through, Ginny starts tearing up. When she finishes she looks at Harry terrified.

“What’s going to happen to us?” She asks him, her voice breaking with emotion.

“It’s fine. We’ll be fine. I’ll send Kingsley an owl straight away. He owes me a favour. He owes us all a favour. We can get out of this.” Harry tries to calm her down but Hermione’s not entirely convinced that Kingsley will let them out of the Marriage Decree.

“What in Godric’s name is happening down here?” Mrs Weasley complains as she comes down the stairs fastening her dressing gown. “All this shouting and balling at eight o’clock in the morning.”

Harry hands over his letter to Mrs Weasley who frowns as she reads it. To everyone's surprise, she relaxes as she reads further on.

“My babies are getting married!” She exclaims far too excitedly for someone who just read that their children are going to be forced into this marriage.

“Not by choice.” Ginny huffs running back upstairs with Harry following not far behind her.

“I don’t know why they’re so upset. They’re obviously going to be matched together.” Mrs Weasley points out.

“There’s no guarantee that they will. Harry said he’s going to send an owl to Kingsley to try and get them out of it but I don’t think he’s going to show favouritism.” Hermione explains.

“They’ll find a way. They could get married before the Partner Ceremony. Have a lovely muggle ceremony maybe. Have you ever been to a muggle ceremony dear?” Mrs Weasley asks her.

Hermione shakes her head sympathetically at her. “Mrs Weasley-”

“I’ve told you to call me Molly. You’re part of our family, Hermione.” Molly tells her again for what must have been the hundredth time. It just feels strange to call her Molly after calling her Mrs Weasley for so long. It feels like what she’d expect it to feel like if she called Professor McGonagall, Minerva.

“Okay. Molly, the Ministry obviously don’t want us getting married, that’s why they’ve made it illegal. And after reading the punishments they have set up, I don’t think Harry and Ginny want to risk upsetting them.” She points out.

Molly sighs deeply, her shoulders slumping forward. “Let’s hope Harry can convince Kingsley to let them out of it or at the least match them together at this Partner Ceremony.”

Molly busies herself in the kitchen making breakfast for her entire family which she knows she’s more than welcome to join in with but she has an overwhelming need to be alone with her thoughts. She gives a quick goodbye hug to Mrs Weasley, says “bye” to Ron, getting a grunt in reply, then leaves out the kitchen door. She is walking down The Burrows garden when she feels eyes on her. Turning back around, she finds Percy sitting on a tree stump underneath the kitchen window with his legs stretched out in front of him. He gives her a small, sad smile which she returns with a wave before carrying on down the garden path. Once out of The Burrow’s protection spell, she disapparates to Diagon Alley.

When she arrives in Diagon Alley, she doesn’t actually know where to go. She looks around her surroundings for a moment before deciding that she’s going to need some money in case she decides to buy something, so she set off in the direction of Gringotts where she took five galleons out of her account. Then she was back to her earlier predicament. Where does she actually want to be? Flourish and Blotts. She needs a new quill ready for the school on Monday. She also wants to buy a book Professor McGonagall suggested before Christmas called ‘Lost Spells from the Tenth Century’.

She has spent many hours in Flourish and Blotts so she knows she’ll find the book upstairs which is where she heads upon entering. She finds the book in no time so she has a browse at the other book. She finds about ten others she wants to buy but she limits herself to the one for now and heads back down to pay for it. She starts reading her new book as she leaves the shop when suddenly she crashed into something hard or rather someone. After regaining her balance, she looks up to find Draco Malfoy straightening his cloak.

“Granger!” He says with surprise raised eyebrows which quickly turns into a sneer.

“Malfoy.” She smiles politely before stepping around him and walking off.

She places her new book into her bag with the undetectable extension charm when Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour catches her eye. It is the middle of winter, far too cold for ice cream, but after The Marriage Decree news, she needs something to take her mind off it. It’s either an ice cream or firewhisky and she’d rather take George’s approach of drowning her sorrows in dairy than alcohol.

She buys herself a simple vanilla cone with a chocolate spoon that no matter how many times you lick it, it never gets any smaller until you actually bite it. She stays standing near the counter talking to Hannah Abbott about The Marriage Decree until the bell above the door signalling a new customer rings so she bids her goodbye and heads out the door. That is until she crashes into someone spilling her ice cream all over them. Instinctively she apologises and starts rubbing their shirt with her napkin.

The person coughs loudly to interrupt her so she looks up to find none other than Draco Malfoy stood staring shockingly down at her. “Malfoy, are you following me?” She questions with a head quirk.

“Of course not. I simply wanted a delicious ice cream.” Malfoy glares down his nose at her. “And you can take your hand off me now.”

Hermione glances down at her hand to find it still resting on his chest where she had been rubbing her ice cream off his shirt. She pulls her hand away as if it were burnt off his chest.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Malfoy.” She rolls her eyes sidestepping around him to leave but he grabs hold of her arm.

Hermione freezes in intimidation. “Try not to make this a habit,” He says sharply before stepping past her and disapparating away leaving a slightly shocked Hermione behind.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2 - Draco's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 2 for you all. As mentioned last chapter, I'm going to upload twice a month until I've finished writing the entire story. Then I will upload once a week.
> 
> Uploading will be the 1st and 15th of every month. Then every Friday night.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters
> 
> I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Chapter 2

It's lying in bed, especially in the dark, when one is truly alone with their thoughts. When your thoughts replay terrorising scenes from your past that make you question everything about yourself, you try to spend as little time as possible alone with them. That's why, after four hours sleep, Draco is in the Manor's library reading any book that can captivate him for long enough to stop thinking.

There's a small knock on the large library doors bringing Draco out of his book. It's one of the best ones he's read since he realised books take his mind of his thoughts.

"Enter," He calls out hoping it isn't his mother but a quick glance at his watch tells him it's only just past six o'clock. Since the sentence, she's been spending her time between her bedroom and parlour and the dining room.

Thankfully, his house elf, Mitty, enters carry a letter and the daily prophet on a silver platter. "Master's paper and a letter from the Ministry, Master." Mitty holds the platter out for him to retrieve the post.

"The Ministry, again?" He sighs taking the post.

Ever since the end of the war, he has been receiving a letter from the Ministry at least once a week asking him if he'll testify against a number of alleged Death Eaters. He's already refused too many times to remember but they still ask. He can't blame them for being persistent but he's told them the only reason he even testified against his father was to keep his mother safe.

He dismisses Mitty, asking her to make him breakfast, before opening the letter.

 

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Saturday 2nd January 1999**

**Dear Mr/Miss,**

**As you may well know, it has been eight months since the end of the war where we lost so many loved ones at the hand of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We are saddened to inform you that we have a total body count. 231.**

**Unfortunately, this number of deaths in such a small period of time has drastically decreased our population and therefore, the Ministry of Magic has created a new decree in the hope that it will help boost not only our population but also our morale.**

**The Marriage Decree**

**1\. All those who graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in May 1999 to those aged 23 on 1st June 1999 will be required to marry in The Partner Ceremony.**

**2\. In order to effectively match you with somebody compatible, the attached questionnaire must be honestly filled in and returned to the Ministry of Magic by 1st March 1999.**

**3\. Once married, you and your partner will be given access to your new home in our Ministry Starter House Estate where you will reside for two years or until the conception of your first child.**

**a. If at two years you have not conceived a child, both you and your partner will be tested for fertility. If one is found to be infertile, you may divorce and the fertile partner must remarry within one year.**

**b. With proof of conception from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maldives and Injuries, you may move into your own residence if you wish.**

**4\. The Law**

**a. All marriages within this age range will be made illegal up until The Partner Ceremony on 1st June 1999**

**b. Any person who does not return their questionnaire will be sentenced to a minimum of two months imprisonment in Azkaban.**

**c. Any person who refuses to marry their chosen partner will be sentenced to a minimum of four months imprisonment in Azkaban.**

**d. Any person found guilty of using an infertility potion or charm will be sentenced to a minimum of six months imprisonment in Azkaban.**

**Thank you for your time.**

**Approved and Signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister of Magic.**

 

The letter sends him straight back into his thoughts and the first thing he can think of is his wife to be and how unfortunate she will be to be paired with an ex-Death Eater who's hated by most of the wizarding world. She'll have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive being his wife.

He rose from his chair intending on going upstairs to his mother's parlour to ask for her thoughts on the matter. However, as he leaves the library he hears his mother coming down the stairs.

"Good morning dear. Did you sleep well?" She says out of habit. She doesn't really care about an answer.

"I received a letter from the Ministry that you might be interested in." He walks into the dining room with her where some a pot of tea has already been placed. He hands her the letter.

His mother sits in her seat before reading the letter to which she shows no emotion. She simply hands it back to him then takes a sip of her tea that Mitty has just poured out for the both of them.

She winces slightly. "Hmm. This needs some sugar, Mitty." She places the cup back on the saucer watching as Mitty places two teaspoons of sugar in then stirs before backing away in a bow.

His mother takes another sip, a small smile escaping from her lips at the sweetness.

"I assume you are awaiting my thoughts on the matter, dear," She mentions looking at him for the first time since she read the letter.

"Yes, mother," He answers.

"Due to our… the past, I was unsure whether you would ever marry. I'm pleased to know that I'll be blessed with a grandchild within the next two year although it is unfortunate that it must come to this." His mother expresses her thoughts then sips at her tea again.

Draco's shouldn't be so surprised that all his mother cares about is him giving their family an heir. She can hide it beneath the façade of wanting a grandchild but they both know it's really an heir she wants.

"Is that all you're concerned about? Getting an heir? Does it not bother you that I'm being forced into marriage?" He asks angrily.

He knows the past couple of months have been hard on his mother but she's supposed to care about him. That's all he's ever wanted. His parents approval and with his father gone, his mother is the only one who can give it to him.

"Draco dear, you worry too much about something as insignificant as who you're going to be married too. It does not matter who she is, as long as she can give you a son to carry on our family name." She smiles at him as if he's an idiot and he hates it.

Without excusing himself, he leaves the dining room without breakfast or tea. 'How dare she care so little about my future?' He thinks angrily as he traipses upstairs to his wing of the Manor to get changed. He needs to get out of here. He'd go visit Blaise but he's in the South of France with his mother and her new husband. There's only one place he can go really and he's not too happy about it. He's being try to visit Diagon Alley as little as possible since the war. The array of looks he receives is enough to make someone want to leave and never return.

In order to disapparate to Diagon Alley, Draco needs to be out of the Manor's protection charms which means outside the gate. It's a long ten-minute walk through their gardens until he reaches the gate. He'd taken the opportunity to read the questionnaire that came attached to the Ministry letter. Most of the questions were rather irrelevant or so he thought.

 

**Dear Sir/Miss,**

**This questionnaire will be used to pair you with your partner so, in order for you to be accurately paired with someone compatible, we have charmed any ink applied to glow red if an incorrect answer is written and then disappear** ready **for the correct answer to be written. All twenty questions must be answered before being sent back to the Ministry of Magic.**

**1\. Name:**

**2\. Date of Birth:**

**3\. Gender:**

**4\. Sexuality:**

**5\. Blood Status:**

**6\. Hogwarts House:**

**7\. Career:**

**8\. Average/Predicted NEWT Grade:**

**9\. Current Relationship Status:**

**10\. Hair Colour:**

**11\. Eye Colour:**

**12\. How many children do you wish to have?:**

**13\. Your Favourite Colour:**

**14\. Your Favourite Number:**

**15\. Your Favourite Food:**

**16\. Your Favourite Drink:**

**17\. Partner's Hair Colour:**

**18\. Partner's Eye Colour:**

**19\. Your Boggart:**

**20\. Any other notes:**

**Thank you for your time.**

**Approved and Signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister of Magic.**

 

Once out of the protection charm, he disapparates into a dark, shady alleyway in Diagon Alley. From there he walks towards Flourish and Blotts with his cloak hood up, carefully hiding in the shadows. He doesn't want any confrontation today. He's removing his hood as he crosses over the threshold when he's suddenly knocked off balance by someone crashing straight into him. He quickly regains his balance and straightens his cloak before looking down to see who they were.

"Granger!" He exclaims with a raised eyebrow which quickly turns into a sneer once he realises how surprised he sounded.

He would have assumed that she would spend her Christmas holiday in the Muggle world with her family instead of the wizarding world.

"Malfoy." She smiles politely before stepping around him and walking off into Diagon Alley.

He watches her until he can no longer see her for the throng of people buying back to school supplies or having one last family outing before their children have to head back to school.

Draco heads upstairs to where there are several study tables set out. He picks an empty one in the far corner and sets about answering his questionnaire. It doesn't take him very long. Only fifteen minutes once he got over the confusion of having his ink flash a bright red when he apparently answered 'how many children do you wish to have' incorrectly.

He's walking down Diagon Alley, absentmindedly window shopping, when his stomach growls, reminding him he missed breakfast. He looks around his surroundings to find somewhere to eat but only finds Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to be open. 'Who wants to eat ice cream this early in the morning?' He thinks as he walks over to the parlour anyway.

He trying to decide between Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean and Chocolate Frog as a topping as he walks through the door sending the bell ringing. He's just decided to get a large ice cream with both toppings when someone walks into him again spilling their ice cream over his shirt.

The coldness from their ice cream is seeping through his linen shirt. They apologise instantly and start rubbing the spilt ice cream on his chest. He looks down only to find Granger stood, cleaning up the mess.

He coughs loudly to interrupt her. She doesn't stop wiping until she's looked up and noticed who he is.

"Malfoy, are you following me?" She questions with a slight head tilt.

He scoffs. "Of course not. I simply wanted a delicious ice cream." He glares down his nose at her. "And you can take your hand off me now," He adds upon realising she hadn't.

She looks down at her hand as if unsure where it was, though once she sees that it's still clutching at his damp shirt, she releases her grip quickly.

"Don't be so dramatic, Malfoy." She rolls her eyes sidestepping around him to leave but he gently grabs hold of her arm.

'I'm not letting her get away with this that easily.' He thinks annoyed.

He smirks at the look on her face. "Try not to make this a habit," He says sharply before stepping past her and disapparating back home.

The wind from disapparating whips at his shirt making the damp patch seem colder than it actually is. He glances down at his watch as he walks back through the garden. It's only nine o'clock and already today hasn't been a good day. As soon as he enters his house, he stomps up the stairs to his wing of the manor to get changed out of his shirt.

He opens his bedroom door only slightly surprised to find Blaise lounging on his bed reading a muggle newspaper. Since his mother remarried during the summer, Blaise had taken nearly a permanent residence at Malfoy Manor over the holidays. Although he is supposed to be in the South of France right now. They were due back tomorrow.

"I thought you we're in the South of France," He comments, throwing his cloak onto an armchair in the corner of his room.

"Yeah, decided to end the trip early after receiving a certain letter from the Ministry," He mentions nonchalantly with a shrug not even looking up from the newspaper.

It's constantly confusing Draco how carefree his best friend is. He's always been that way, though. Ever since he introduced himself on the Hogwarts Express in their first year.

"What do you think about the letter?" Draco asks hoping for a better answer than the one his mother gave him.

"Well," He starts, folding his newspaper over and placing it beside him. "I never really thought myself as the marriage type. Always thought I'd drift from one lady to the next and I'm more than fine with that. But this decree kind of messes all that up doesn't it. I suppose we're just going to have to get on with it, though. Nothing much we can do." He shrugs again before focusing properly on Draco as he takes his shirt off. "What happened to your shirt?" He questions.

With a groan, he says, "Granger."

Blaise's eyes widen almost comically. "What were you doing with Granger?" He asks rather too excitedly in Draco's opinion.

"Nothing. She crashed into me with her ice cream. Got it everywhere." He answers buttoning up a new shirt.

Blaise frowns at this. "Who eats ice cream in January?" He ponders.

"Well nowhere else was open this early in the morning." He defends her for some unknown reason to him.

"Did she apologise?" He raises an eyebrow.

Draco flops down on his bed ignoring his friends face as he closes his eyes. "No, she started dabbing at my shirt."

"Oooh, I think she likes you." Blaise elbows him in the ribs.

Draco laughs out a breath at his comment. Granger. Liking him. He highly doubts it. "She didn't know it was me. She stopped as soon as she realised." He explains.

"Shame." He sighs. "So what do you think about this whole 'Marriage Decree' thing?"

Draco shrugs. "Some girl is out there, unaware that's she about to become my wife and I feel sorry for her. The only upside, according to my mother, is the opportunity for an heir." He admits.

He suddenly remembers the filled out questionnaire in his cloak pocket but he can't be bothered to get off the bed so instead, he shouts for Mitty. She pops into existence at the bottom of his bed.

"Yes, Master Draco." Mitty bows.

"There's a role of parchment in my cloak pocket over there. Can you owl it to the Ministry for me?" He asks her to which she nods.

"Of course, master Draco." She bows once more before scurrying off towards the cloak. "Would master like Mitty to clean master's cloak."

"Yeah," He calls over in the general direction of Mitty. "Thanks," He adds as an afterthought.

"What about you?" Blaise turns on his side propping his head up with his arm. "Is there any upside for you?"

"Well, at least, I'm not going to die alone," He admits.

"You were never going to die alone." Blaise snorts. "Look at you. You're an attractive man. And that's coming from a fellow man." He adds falling back on his back.

"There's more to a relationship than being attracted to each other. Who in their right mind would want to marry me if they weren't being forced to?" He questions his friend.

"I'm sure a Slytherin would have married you," He suggests.

"Really," Draco says doubtfully. "After my family turned our back on the Dark Lord and ran away during the battle."

"Hmmm. I suppose you're right." Blaise is quiet for a moment. "If you could choose anyone to marry, who would you choose?" He asks rolling onto his side again.

Draco sighs. "I don't know. I want someone who realises that I'm trying to change and someone who I can be friends with and actually fall in love with." He sighs again. "I doubt that's going to happen, though," He adds.

"Well, I've got my eyes in a certain Ravenclaw." Blaise winks at him.

"That girl you went out with just before Christmas who you won't tell me about," Draco asks.

"Yeah," He says dreamily. "She's amazing. You wouldn't think it but we have quite a lot in common."

"I don't think much about her since you won't tell me anything about her besides she a Ravenclaw and amazing," He complains.

"I can't tell you about her now. What if we're not paired? That'll just be awkward." Blaise points out.

They lie in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Blaise climbs off his bed, stretching his arms and back. "Well, I need to get back to Toulouse. Al will be wondering where I am." He says in annoyance as he collects his shoes and newspaper.

"Al?" He questions.

"Yeah. Mother's new husband, Alberic. He's strangely interested in me. It's weird. None of her other husbands has ever paid attention to me before." He shrugs hopping over to the fireplace as he pulls on one shoe after the other.

"See you on the train." He bids me goodbye before flooing away.

Just like that, Draco is left alone with his thoughts, which were solely focused on the Marriage Decree. He went through all the eligible girls at Hogwarts, trying to imagine being married to them, living with them, raising children with them. He couldn't imagine doing that with any of them.

Tired of thinking, he makes his way downstairs into the kitchen's where he finds Mitty cooking their dinner.

"Does master need Mitty?" She questions with a bow as he enters.

"No. What are you making for dinner?" He asks sitting down on one of the stools.

"Master's mother requested a roast beef feast for masters last night," Mitty tells him.

"You want some help?" He questions.

Draco watches as Mitty argues with herself. House elves are very proud creatures who live to serve their family. They aren't supposed to accept help from anyone. Especially not from the family they serve. But before he started Hogwarts, Draco used to help Mitty, Gharther and Dobby in the kitchens all the time. He hasn't had the opportunity to do much cooking since attending Hogwarts. He doesn't dare even risk sneaking into the kitchens to cook. His classmates would find out somehow and before he knew it, it would have spread throughout the school and Potter and friends would use it as ammunition in one of their altercations.

"Mitty is happy for master's help." She tries to sound sincere but he can tell she's forcing it. "Master can cut the vegetables if master wishes to help."

Draco simply nods grabbing an apron from the hook and a knife from the rack then sets about cutting up the carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes. Mitty puts the radio on. He doesn't know which station it is, but the music so quite good so he doesn't complain. He even finds himself humming along to some of the catchiest ones.

Once dinner is ready, he helps the Mitty and Gharther carry the plates into the dining room, much to his mother's disapproval stare. They don't talk during the meal only to exchange pleasantries. When they've finished, though, his mother clears her throat.

"Draco dear, have you completed your questionnaire."

"Yes, I had Mitty owl it back this afternoon," He announces between sips of wine.

She frowns at him. "Without letting me check your answers. We need to be careful about who you're paired with dear." She raises her eyebrow. "Although I'm sure you answered them in favour of that," She adds getting up to leave.

He glares at her back as she walks out of the dining room, up the stairs to her parlour. Even though he worries terribly about her when he's at school, he can't wait to go back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	3. Chapter 3 - Hermione's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 3 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters
> 
> I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Having nowhere else to go, and knowing she'll have to tell them sooner or later, she apparates into the alleyway behind her back garden. Her Dad had recently built a gate into the fence so she could walk straight into their garden rather than walk all the way onto the main street and enter via the front door.

She dawdles as she walks down the back garden path to the back door, which leads directly into the kitchen. It's around lunchtime so her Dad is most likely sat at the kitchen table reading his newspaper whilst her Mum makes them something for dinner. She peers slyly through the kitchen window to see that exact scene playing out before her.

Sometimes it's nice to have something consent in her life. Her parents have stuck to this Saturday routine since she could remember. After lunch, they'll take Bobby for a walk around their local park then come home for a game of scrabble or monopoly then watch a film as they eat their dinner. Saturdays have always been her favourite day.

She takes a deep, steady breath to calm her nerves before opening the back door, making her Mum jump on the process.

"Goodness sake Hermione," She shouts, hand resting on her chest. "You scared me half to death." She sighs before pointing her spatula at her. "And just where do you think you've been? You better have a good reason for leaving the house that early. You Dad and I have been worried sick."

Hermione looks over her Mum's shoulder at her Dad who had shrugged at the mention of him being worried sick at her disappearance.

"Mum, I'm nineteen years old." She tries to calm her mother down so she doesn't dare mention how, technically speaking, she's twenty years old after using the Time Turner for nearly the entirety of her third year. "And I'm a witch. I can defend myself pretty well."

"She's right Sarah," Her Dad interjects. "She fought in a war against some homicidal maniac and his followers without a scratch."

Hermione instinctively covers her forearm where the word 'Mudblood' is carved into it. She chose to never tell her parents about her permanent scare instead choosing to cover it with long sleeves and makeup. Over the past months, it had healed slightly but the word is still visible as sore red marks. A healer at St Mungo's told her that with time it should fade to barely visible white lines.

"She's more than capable of taking care of herself." He carries on.

"I know that Chris." She flaps at him with the tea towel. "But I'm allowed to worry. I'm her Mother."

"Speaking of worrying," Hermione interrupts. "I've got some bad news."

Her Mum's eyes widen, instantly worried, whilst her Dad's gives her a vaguely concerned look. She takes out the Ministry letter she received this morning and hands it to her Dad. Her Mum stands behind him to read it.

"They can't do this. They can't force you into marriage." Her Mum says weakly once she's finished reading.

"What's Azkaban?" Her Dad questions.

"Wizard prison," She explains.

He laughs. "You're a war hero Hermione. They aren't going to send you there for refusing." He tells her confidently.

"They will just to make an example out of me."

Kingsley wouldn't like it but he would sentence her there just so he doesn't appear weak.

"And even if that was true, I don't want any special treatment because of who I am." She shakes her head.

"So that's that. There's nothing you can do. You're going to be married in five months." Her Mum says sadly.

Hermione just nods.

"What about this questionnaire?" Her Dad mentions. "Can't you just say you're currently in a relationship with Harry or Ron or another one of your friends?"

Hermione's nose scrunches up in disgust at the thought of marrying Harry. He was not just one of her best friends but he was also like a brother to her. She didn't want to think about marrying him. She is also shocked to realise she feels similar about Ron.

"No, they'll know if I'm lying and I don't want to be married to them anyway. They're like brothers to me." She admits taking the questionnaire back from her Dad. She hasn't even looked at it yet.

Dear Sir/Miss,

This questionnaire will be used to pair you with your partner so, in order for you to be accurately paired with someone compatible, we have charmed any ink applied to glow red if an incorrect answer is written and then disappear ready for the correct answer to be written. All twenty questions must be answered before being sent back to the Ministry of Magic.

1\. Name:

2\. Date of Birth:

3\. Gender:

4\. Sexuality:

5\. Blood Status:

6\. Hogwarts House:

7\. Career:

8\. Average/Predicted NEWT Grade:

9\. Current Relationship Status:

10\. Hair Colour:

11\. Eye Colour:

12\. How many children do you wish to have?:

13\. Your Favourite Colour:

14\. Your Favourite Number:

15\. Your Favourite Food:

16\. Your Favourite Drink:

17\. Partner's Hair Colour:

18\. Partner's Eye Colour:

19\. Your Boggart:

20\. Any other notes:

Thank you for your time.

Approved and Signed by

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic.

"They've put a charm on it so you can't lie," She announces.

With a sigh, her Mum goes back to the oven where she's making lunch. "Lunch will be ready in ten minutes so you might as well get it over and done with now," She tells her.

She finishes the questionnaire, which seems rather pointless, just as her Mum is plating up lunch. She had unknowing answered one of the questions incorrectly resulting in a bright red light exploding from the parchment scaring her Mum who had muttered, "Bloody magic." Under her breath in response. She doesn't have access to an owl so she packs it safely into her trunk so she can owl it to the Ministry using one of the Hogwarts owls.

Her Mum had made her favourite for lunch, fish and chips with mush peas. It's not something she has very often since, for some reason, they don't make it at Hogwarts. Like Hermione had predicted, after dinner, they collected Bobby from Mrs Johnson next door and took her for a long walk around the local park. Then they listened to the radio as they played a game of Cluedo. For dinner, they ordered a pizza for delivery then sat in the front room watching Jurassic Park.

Hermione finds herself very tired when the film ends so she wishes her parents a good night and heads to bed. Once there, though, she busies herself with ensuring her trunk is packed and that she hasn't left anything out. When she finally climbs into bed an hour later she falls instantly asleep where she dreams of catching the train back to Hogwarts with her friends in the morning.

Her Mum wakes her up at half seven and nearly has to drag her out of bed and downstairs for breakfast. She sips a cup of coffee and eats a slice of jam on toast as her Dad reads his newspaper.

"You need to be at Kings Cross for nine so we're leaving in half an hour. Make sure you have everything you need before we leave because we're already on a tight schedule." She says between sips of tea.

Hermione just nods at her instructions. It's not until she's sat on the edge of her bed rechecking her trunk that she realises that this might be the last time she sleeps in her bed. This is her last holiday at home. She won't be coming home for the Easter Holidays since she wants to dedicate the holidays to studying for her NEWTS. She'll maybe get to spend two or three days at home for The Partner Ceremony, then she'll have to live in the Ministry Starter House. With her husband.

She shakes the thought from her head before she upsets herself. She slams her trunk lid down then carries it easily downstairs thanks to a feather-light charm.

Her Mum and Dad are standing at the front door waiting. They're smiling but it doesn't quite reach their eyes. She can see the sadness behind them. She gives them a similar smile as her Dad attempts to take her trunk from her but it's obviously too heavy without the charm so she carries it to her Dad's car by herself.

The drive to King's Cross Station is quiet besides the radio which is playing a Spice Girls marathon. She doesn't mind, though. Its last bit of the Muggle world she'll have for months and she savours every moment of it. Her Dad unknowingly parks the car next to a light blue Ford Anglia which makes her smile. Knowing that her friends were already here. She carries her trunk into King's Cross slowly, stalling, as usual, trying to spend as much time as possible with her parents.

"I'm going to miss you both so much." She hugs them both tightly as they stop at the wall for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. "I can't believe this is going to be my last train ride to Hogwarts. I can't believe I'm getting married." She cries into her parent's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, Hermione. You've got five months of school left. Try not to ruin the memories by thinking too much about The Partner Ceremony. Que Sera Sera, my dear." Her Mum whispers tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Her Dad squeezes her shoulder to show his agreement.

With a deep breath, she gives her parents one last hug and kiss on the cheek before turning to face the wall. This will be the last time she walks onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters as a student of Hogwarts. The next time she'll stand her, she'll be with her own children and her husband. A shudder runs through her so she shakes her head of her thought again. She quickly peers over her shoulder to wave back to her parents before walking straight through the wall and emerging on the other side.

She looks around for a familiar face and spots the red hair of the Weasley's within seconds. On the way over to them, Luna comes skipping over to her with a bright smile on her face. They walk together the rest of the way.

"Hermione dear," Molly excitedly pulls her into a hug to rival Hagrid's. "How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you, Molly." She replies politely. "How are you?"

"Oh, there's no need to worry about me." She playfully hits her with her handkerchief.

"Mum!" A whine came from behind them. "You gave me corned beef. You know I don't like corned beef." Ron shows his sandwich to his Mum.

"Then swap with someone." She walks over to him to make a fuss.

"You're a big boy now Ronny." Ginny teases. "Sort out your own problems."

Harry smiles at her antics but goes over to his friend to offer him his ham sandwiches anyway. Once the sandwich fiasco is over and done with, they set about getting their luggage on the train. With one more farewell hug to Molly, they all climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts for the last time.

The end up walking nearly the entire length of the train trying to find an empty compartment. Ginny and Luna were called into a compartment by some of their friends so Hermione, Harry and Ron carry on by themselves until the boys are called into a compartment by Jimmy Peakes and Richie Coote, the Gryffindor beaters. Hermione tells them she'll carry on ahead to find an empty compartment.

She finds one near the end of the train where she takes her seat next to the window. She enjoys watching the city fade into town into the countryside. Once they're far out of the city, she takes out her new book, tucks her legs under her and starts reading.

Although she's interrupted ten minutes later when Harry and Ron enter the compartment in the middle of an argument. Ron flops down next to her whilst Harry does the same opposite her. With a roll of her eyes, she closes her book, setting it on the small table.

"What are you arguing about this time?" She questions in annoyance.

"Malfoy," Ron answers vaguely.

"What about him?" She asks suspiciously.

"Ron here thinks our favourite Slytherin has gone crazy from watching his Dark Lord die making him lose the war." Harry huffs out a sarcastic laugh.

She turns to look at Ron who just nods.

"Okay, then what's your stand in the argument," She asks.

"He's always been crazy but recently he's been acting crazier, as in more like a normal person," Harry explains his viewpoint. "Just two minutes ago he pushed past us then apologised. So very unlike Malfoy but very like a normal, polite, kind person." She finishes.

Hermione thinks back to the few interactions she's has with him since the war ended, mainly the two that occurred yesterday. Had she even attempted to touch him before the war, he would have childishly backed away shouting something about contagious Mudblood germs or something. But he not only didn't swat her hand away when she was rubbing the ice cream off his shirt but afterwards, he willingly placed his hand on her arm.

"What do you think Hermione?" Ron asks as though her answer was absolute.

"I think that he's been forced to grow up a lot since the war ended and he's trying to change his ways. Of course, he's not going to completely do an 180. That's not who he is, but he's making an effort not to be such a judgemental idiot like you two obviously still are." She answers.

"But what if he's…" Ron starts to argue.

"Ron," She looks him dead in the eye. "I think he's realised that he's going to marry in five months. He's grown up. Maybe you should do the same."

Ron scoffs. "What are you talking about? We're practically men." He puffs his chest proudly.

She rolls her eyes. "This coming from the 'man' who was whining to his Mother about corned beef sandwiches." She quirks her eyebrow questionably which shuts them up.

They quietly grumble to each other whilst she goes back to her book. At some point Ginny and Luna found our compartment then sat down beside Harry to continue their conversation. It wasn't until an excited Neville entered that the noise level became too much for her to read so she put her book back in her bag. Neville's excited news was, confusingly, to do with The Marriage Decree. Apparently he was excited to move out of his Grandmother's house and finally be able to live independently.

Hermione, no longer wanting to listen to conversations on The Marriage Decree, excuses herself. However, she doesn't get very far before she's headbutting someone's chest. She glances up, rubbing her forehead, to see none other than Draco Malfoy stood glaring down at her.

His last words to her flash through her mind. 'Try not to make this a habit.' She waits for him to start shouting at her but she's completely unprepared for what he actually does. He takes a few step forwards until their chest are almost touching then leans down so his lips are next to her ear. She takes a sharp intake of breath as his nose tickles her hair and he whispers, "I thought I told you not to make it a habit."

She huffs out a small laugh. "This time was your fault," She whispers back before taking a step back. "What are you doing outside our compartment anyway? Eavesdropping on our conversations?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

Draco doesn't say anything but he does narrow his eyes and that action alone tell her she's right. She gives him a sweet smile that hopefully tells him that she knows she's right. She takes a step around him and carries on her way down the train leaving him behind.

It takes her a full minute of strolling down the corridor before she realises she's going the wrong way. She's walking towards the front of the train which is only about twenty compartments away. She glances over her shoulder to see if Draco's still there but thankfully he's walked off so she turns back around and heads down to the other end of the train.

"Nice tights, Granger." A cheery voice came from behind her.

She turns around to find Blaise stood leaning against the train window. She looks down at her tights not remembering what she's wearing. She had packed all her school tights in her trunk and couldn't remember where about they were hidden so she had just put a pair of green fashion tights on.

"What do you want, Zabini?" She asks with a sigh.

"Oh, nothing really," He answers looking down at his nails. "I was just wondering what Draco was seductively whispering into your ear a few minutes ago." He suddenly looks up directly into her eyes.

She glares at him. "He wasn't… seductively… doing anything." She shudders.

"Of course, he wasn't Granger." He winks at her before walking forward, grabbing hold of her wrist. She tries to pull her arm back but he holds on tight so instead, she glares up at him. He pulls her hand up to his face making her freeze with the confusion that he might kiss her hand. Instead, he twist her wrist around to look at her watch then drops her arm. "Nice talking to you Granger. See you around." He says then walks off.

She's a bit shaken by the confusing interaction with both Zabini and Malfoy so she heads back to her compartment to find Ginny and Luna chatting outside.

"What's happening?" She questions them.

"The boys are getting changed into their robes. We should be there in half an hour." Ginny tells them.

"Why are you embarrassed, Hermione?" Luna asks concernedly.

"W-what do you mean?" She asks blushing.

"Ah yes. The cussites." Ginny rolls her eyes at her.

"It's pronounced Cousites," Luna explains. "Like couscous."

"Oh." She says simply.

"There are Cousites all over your face." She sighs as the compartment door slides open revealing Harry, Ron and Neville dressed in their robes and cloaks.

"You took your time," Ginny complains as she pushes past them into the compartment with Hermione and Luna following her in.

Once they were all dressed, they sat around chatting to each other for the ten minutes left of the train ride.

"So what did you do yesterday afternoon?" Ginny asks her.

"I went to Diagon Alley after I left your house then went home. Spent the rest of the day hanging out with my parents since it's probably the last time I'll be living in the same house with them." She tells her.

"Well you're just a barrel of laughs aren't you?" Ginny teases her.

"I would be if I knew who I was going to be getting married to." She whispers to Ginny, poking her in the ribs.

"What do you mean?" Ginny frown glancing to her brother then back to Hermione.

She shakes her head sadly. "I'll tell you tonight in the dormitory," She mutters.

"We don't definitely know that we're going to be paired together. Harry sent an owl to Kingsley but he said everyone is going to be paired with someone they are compatible to depending on their questionnaire." Ginny whispers closely, careful no one else can hear.

Hermione's stomach drops. "But the questionnaire had nothing to do with compatibility. It didn't ask anything about our personality or our hobbies and interests. I don't care if what their favourite number or colour is." She growls angrily.

"Shhh." Ginny shushes her casting a quick look around their compartment but thankfully no one is looking at them. "Look, we'll talk more about this tonight in the dormitory," She whispers before turning around to talk to Harry and Neville.

Hermione stares at the back of Ginny's head suspiciously. What does she know about the questionnaires? Did Kingsley tell them something that he's not telling everyone else?

The Hogwarts Express pulls into Hogsmeade Station as Hermione is sat thinking about Kingsley, The Ministry and The Marriage Decree making her one of the last ones off the train. Thankfully she wasn't alone as Ron has waited for her and is getting her trunk down from the overhead compartment. She thanks him as she takes it off him and drags it off the train. There's only one carriage waiting when they get to the Thestral stables.

They leave their trunks in the baggage area then climb aboard the last carriage to find a first year Ravenclaw sat in the corner. Her eyes widen in surprise to see two of the Golden Trio enter. She stares back and forth between Ron and Hermione as they sit down opposite her then quickly looks down at her hands when Hermione looks at her.

"Hello," Hermione politely greets her trying to make the whole situation less awkward. "I'm Hermione."

"I- I know." The girl squeaks excitedly looking up at her. "I'm Lauren," She adds as an afterthought.

"What a lovely name. I have a cousin called Lauren. She's four." She smiles at Lauren.

After a few more awkward moments of smiling at each other, she looks at Ron hoping he would help her but he is just slouching next to her staring at his feet. Suddenly the carriage lowers from the weight of someone climbing up the steps. All three of them glance over at the door to find Pansy Parkinson trying to gracefully aboard the carriage. Once she notices who is already seated, she rolls her eyes with a groan.

"Did you plan this Draco?" She asks Malfoy who peers in the carriage as he climbs up himself.

"It's merely a coincidence," He grumbles taking a seat at the end of Lauren's bench.

Zabini climbs up next with a bright smile. He gives Hermione as wink taking a seat next to Ron, opposite Draco.

"What happened to your scarf Granger?" Zabini asks turning to face her, crossing his legs, accidently kicking Ron in the knee.

"Watch it Zabini." Ron growls but Zabini just ignores him.

"It's not part of the school uniform so I took it off," She explains.

Zabini frowns at her. "I was unaware that those tights were part of the Gryffindor uniform.

Hermione glances down at her legs then, remembering she hasn't taken the green tights off, cover her legs with her cloak. She looks up to find Malfoy smirking at her and Parkinson glaring at her in disgust.

"I'm not sitting next to that Mudblood." Parkinson hisses.

Hermione freezes instinctively grabbing hold of her forearm. She hears a whimper from Lauren and looks over to find her shaking in fear. She must be a Muggleborn. She reaches forward, gently touching Lauren's knee. She looks up with tears in her eye.

"Do you want to come sit next to me?" She asks. Lauren nods standing up.

Hermione turns to Ron expecting him to move over but instead he just stares back at her. Hermione frowns at him. "Are you going to move over, Ron?" She asks him.

"Oh, right, yeah," He says in a bored tone turning towards Zabini expecting him to move but instead Zabini just flutters his eyelashes.

"Yes, Ronald." He smiles sweetly at Ron.

"Move." Ron rudely orders him.

He puts on an insulted facial expression. "Not until you ask me nicely, Ronald."

Ron turns around to face Hermione who just nods her head. With a deep sigh, he turns back to Zabini and mumbles, "Please."

"I don't think you mean it." He huffs.

"Just move Blaise," Draco complains.

"No Draco, I won't," Blaise shouts sounding angry. "I am a human being. I deserve to be treated like one." He stands up pointing at Ron who ignores him shuffling over to make room for Lauren.

"I don't want to be sat opposite them either." Parkinson spits at Hermione and Lauren.

Zabini pushes past Parkinson to sit opposite Lauren, then Malfoy shuffles down next to him so she can sit at the end of the bench.

"We're human beings." Hermione glares at Parkinson. "We deserve to be treated like one," She adds.

Zabini bursts out laughing holding his hand up for a high-five from Hermione but she just stares at it making him awkwardly drop it. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Malfoy smirking at her again. She ignores the Slytherin's sat opposite her instead sparking conversation with Lauren about how she's adjusting to her new wizarding life.

When they pull up to the castle Ron climbs out of the carriage first then Zabini pushes past Hermione to open the carriage door and give Hermione, Lauren and Parkinson a hand down from the carriage. He offers Draco one as well but he bats it away climbing down from the carriage himself.

Hermione looks around expecting to find Ron but he's gone.

"Where's your boyfriend gone?" Zabini asks as they set off towards the castle.

"He's not my boyfriend," Hermione tells him.

"Oooh. What happened? Trouble in paradise." Zabini comes skipping over to her and hooks his arm through hers.

Hermione looks up at Zabini confused as to why he's pretending to care but his expression looks genuine. With a sigh, Hermione gives in. "We were never a proper couple and now there's no point since we're all going to be married off in five months."

He nods at her. "I suppose you're right." He pauses to think for a moment. "Although I still like to have hope that I'll be paired with someone I will love." He glances up to the castle.

"You have a certain someone in mind." Hermione teasingly asks.

"Wouldn't you like to know Hermione?" He winks at her.

As they come up to the steps to the castle, Zabini unhooks his arms from hers but they continue to walk together towards the Great Hall.

"I hope everything works out for you Blaise," She tells him with a smile. He really is quite nice once she's gotten to know him.

"You too Hermione." He smiles back at her and she hopes that won't be the last time they talk to each other.

Hermione enters The Great Hall, Blaise waits for Malfoy and Parkinson to catch up to him, then walks down the aisle trying to find her friends. She finds them sat near the front of the hall close to the Professors table. She takes a seat next to Ginny who is in the middle of a conversation with Neville so she doesn't interrupt.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall, who is acting as Headmistress until The Ministry finds a replacement, calls everyone's attention to her.

"Welcome back everyone." She announces opening up her arms as if she were going to embrace all the students. "As many of you know, there are going to be a few changes to the wizarding world in the next couple of months. It might seem quite daunting but remember-" She glances around the hall. "Not all changes are bad and so I ask you to try and find the good in these changes for you never know. You might be thankful for them one day." She takes one final look around the hall. "Enjoy." She claps her hands together and a great feast appears on their table.

Everyone instantly digs in. Hermione places a square of lasagne on her plate alone with a slice of garlic bread. She listens in on her friends' conversations, not really commenting much, for the rest of the night until they are dismissed. They all walk back to their common room together but once inside, Ginny yawns then announces she going to bed giving Hermione a sharp look which she takes to mean 'follow me' so she does, making her own excuses about being too tired to stay up any longer.

Once they are in their pyjamas and have had a wash, they congregate on Ginny bed. They pull the curtains around her bed and Hermione casts a privacy spell so no one can hear them.

"So," Ginny starts. "What the hell happened to you and Ron?" She asks.

"Nothing," Hermione sighs. "That's kind of the point. We kissed once at the end of the war then he never made any move to take things further and I hinted at things. I invited him out to Diagon Alley, just the two of us, but then he invited Harry who invited you then you invited Luna and Neville and it turned into a group outing instead of a date."

"Really! You should have told me, I would have made an excuse not to go." Ginny rolls her eyes at her.

"I thought maybe Ron invited you all because he didn't want to go on a date with me. It would have been awkward. Anyway, I did write his name down on the questionnaire but it lit up red." She admits.

Ginny's eyes soften.

"What?" Hermione asks nervously. "What are those eyes for?"

She looks awkwardly away from her. "He wrote your name down and it didn't glow red."

"He's going to be so upset when we're not paired together." Hermione shakes her head letting it fall into her hands.

"Speaking of the questionnaire," Ginny leans forward. "There was something strange about the reply Harry got from Kingsley. He mentioned how the Ministry Officials will be pairing us on our answers to the questionnaire and nothing else. It just seems a bit suspicious that the Ministry Officials will have anything to do with it. We had assumed it would be like the Triwizard Tournament where all the entries are placed in a goblet and then the names of two compatible people would fly out. Anyway Harry and Dad are working together to figure out what's actually happening in the Ministry." She explains leaving Hermione with a lot of information to think about.

"So we might not be paired by compatibility at all. Just by some Ministry Official who doesn't even know us." Hermione ponders aloud.

"Maybe, we're not too sure. You can't speak to anyone about this okay. Not even Harry." Ginny begs her. "He's working so hard to try to make sure that we're partnered together."

Hermione doesn't want to upset Ginny but she has to make sure her friend understands and be prepared in case they're not paired together. "If the questionnaire means nothing, then… what if you're not paired with Harry?"

"We've got a foolproof plan that will ensure we're paired together, whether the Ministry Officials want us together or not," Ginny smirks proudly.

"Are you going to elaborate?" Hermione encourages her.

"No, we don't want to tell anyone in case The Ministry finds out," She explains.

Hermione's eyes widen. "Is it illegal? It's not going to get you sent to Azkaban is it?" She asks concerned.

"It's not illegal but we get the feeling that The Ministry wouldn't want us to do it. We're kind of cheating the system a bit." She shrugs innocently.

"Okay, I don't want to know anything. I'm not going to be an accessory to whatever it is you have planned." She jokes.

"I still can't believe that we're going to be married in five months." Hermione sighs sadly.

"I know, I can't wait." Ginny sighs a lot happier than Hermione.

She shakes her head confused by her friend's excitement.

"I'm gonna go to bed. I don't want to be too tired for the start of lessons tomorrow." Hermione announces opening the curtains of Ginny's bed. "I'll see you in the morning."

"G'night."

Hermione ends up spending most of the night tossing and turning trying to get to sleep but her minds stuck thinking about what Ginny said about the questionnaire and the Ministry Officials. She decides to look in the library tomorrow to see if there are any books on marriage decrees. If not, she'll send an owl to Percy, who works at Flourish and Blotts, and ask if he can owl her a few books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	4. Chapter 4 - Draco's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 4 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Chapter 4

At first, Draco is unsure as to why he is awake. Usually, Mitty wakes him up by throwing his curtains back, blinding him in the process but there's no light coming from anywhere. It must be the early hours of the morning which begs the questions, why is he awake at this time. He's beginning to drift back off when he feels a weight on the other side of his bed. In one swift movement, he turns over brandishing his wand, pointing it towards the dip in his bed. He mumbles, "Lumos." He's not sure what he expected to see but Blaise's face a mere foot away from his own was not it. He pushes himself away with a gasp causing him to get the hiccoughs sending Blaise into a fit of giggles on his bed.

"You idiot." Draco manages to hit his friend with a pillow between hiccoughs and gasps of breath. "You could *hic* have told me *hic* you were coming *hic* over." He continues to hit him.

"Sorry, sorry. Ow, Draco, stop." Blaise apologises.

Draco throws the pillow at Blaise before lying back down, trying to calm himself. When his hiccoughs are gone he turns to face his friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Mum and Alberic decided to stay in Toulouse for a while. Al's got some family there so I told them I'd stay at yours the night before going back to school." Blaise explains shimmying under the quilt. "You don't mind do you?" He asks as he unbuttons his shirt then throws it on the floor.

Draco rolls his eyes. "No, just make yourself comfortable why don't you," He replies half sarcastically.

"Thanks." He starts to unbutton his jeans.

"Hey, you better be wearing underwear this time," Draco warns him.

"Don't worry. I put a special pair on just for you." Blaise teased and Draco's sure that he just winked as well. "Sorry for scaring you. Thought I'd be able to sneak in unnoticed."

"Better try next time." Draco yawns turning away. "I'm going back to sleep," He mumbles. "And no cuddling." He adds.

"Fine." Blaise sighs shuffling around to get comfortable.

The next time Draco is awoken, it is by the usual method of blindness. He throws his arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight. He feels Blaise shuffles down near the end of his bed to get away from the light.

"Why?" His friend groans from under his quilt. "Why?"

"Master, it is seven o'clock. Master's Mother asked Mitty to wake Master up for breakfast." Mitty announces from the foot of his bed.

"Yeah. We'll be down in a few minutes." He mumbles. "Make sure there's a place set for Blaise," He adds.

"Yes, Master." She bows then disappears.

With a long stretch and a yawn, Draco throws the quilt off himself and Blaise letting the crisp, icy air hit them. Draco is thankful he's actually wearing pyjamas, unlike Blaise who's only wearing a pair of boxers. He grabs his dressing gown then throws a spare one at Blaise before they make their way downstairs to the dining room where his mother is already reading the morning newspapers.

"Morning Draco." His mother greets him without looking up from the paper. "Blaise dear, I didn't know you were joining us this morning. How lovely." She glances over the top of the paper to offer Blaise a small smile before going back to whatever article she had been reading.

Draco and Blaise helped themselves to as much food as they could manage. They wouldn't be getting anything else to eat until later that night in the Great Hall. Draco didn't like to snack on the sweets the trolley lady brought down the train. Too much sugar makes his mouth feel dirty. Once finished they excuse themselves and head back upstairs to get dressed.

Blaise pulled on the clothes he had been wearing when he arrived earlier in the morning. The shirt was quite crinkled from spending the night on the floor so Draco offers him a jumper to wear over the top which he gladly takes.

Draco decides to wear a pair of black trousers and a white linen shirt he recently bought. It looked just enough like his uniform that all he would have to do is throw on his tie and cloak for the welcome back feast instead of changing his entire outfit.

Once they're both ready and they've checked that everything's in their trunks, they carry them downstairs and bid farewell to his mother and Mitty. They decide to make their own way to Kings Cross, not that his mother offered to take them, so they drag their trunks across the gardens until they reach the gate, where the protective charms end, and they can disapparate into the alleyway at the back of Kings Cross.

They take a slow stroll around to the front of Kings Cross. Draco always finds it interesting to watch what the Muggles do with their mornings. They all seem to be walking quickly in the same direction, towards Kings Cross Station or St Pancras. A few of them are holding something to their ears although Draco can't get a good enough look at what they actually are. Some of them are drinking or eating as they push their way through the crowds. 'Do they not have time to eat breakfast at home?' He wonders as they enter the station.

They're early by over an hour. When Draco was younger, his father told him how he used to sit in the first compartment on the train with his friends and how no one dared to even try to claim it as their own. Draco then begged his father to get to Platform 9 ¾ early so he could claim the compartment as his own as well. Now everyone knows that the first compartment on the train is Malfoy's. He used to be proud to occupy the same compartment as his father, now he can't wait for the last time he'll have to ride the Hogwarts Express.

Since the end of the war, The Ministry have been extra tight with security. They don't take the wards down until exactly an hour before the train leaves meaning they can't get through until eight o'clock. The end up sitting on a bench opposite the wall for ten minutes, until the nearby clock strikes eight o'clock. Draco picks up his trunk and walks straight through the wall into Platform 9 ¾, shortly followed by Blaise. They waste no time in boarding the train and finding their compartment where they store their trunks in the overhead compartments.

Draco takes his usual seat next to the window where he gazes out at a few other people who have decided to get there early. Most of them carry their trunks onto the train only to return to the platform a few minutes later to chat with their friends and family. He ends up getting lost in the sea of his thought. Wave after wave of 'marriage', 'wife' and 'children' splash at his mind. Before he knows it, the platform is full and Blaise is lying on the opposite bench snoring beneath today's copy of The Daily Prophet.

Suddenly their compartment door slams open. Draco jumps up pointing his wand at the intruder. He hears a crash beside him which he assumes is Blaise falling off the bench. Standing in front of him, looking very annoyed to have a wand in her face, is Pansy with her arms crossed. With a sigh, he puts his wand away and gives Blaise a hand up from the floor.

"You wouldn't have been much help lying down there on the floor if it had been a real threat," Draco complains.

"What do you mean 'real threat'?" He mumbles in Draco's ear who sniggers.

Draco sits back down in his usual seat and Blaise sits next to him with his newspaper. Pansy sits in front of them and starts babbling on about her holiday, neither Draco nor Blaise are listening to her. Draco chooses to gaze out the window, staring at all the families saying 'Goodbye' to their children. He can hear Blaise mumbling something behind him but he doesn't pay attention until he gets whacked on the head by the newspaper.

"What was that for?" He frowns rubbing the back of his head.

"I was trying to talk to you," He says. "What you looking at anyway? Trying to find your wife." Blaise teased.

Draco rolls her eyes. "No, I was just thinking."

"About your future wife." Blaise laughs.

Pansy wasn't laughing though at the change of conversation. "They shouldn't have applied this to us purebloods. It's going to dirty our bloodlines. I mean we could get paired with anyone. Even a Mudblood. Urgh, I don't even want to think about it…" Pansy rambles on.

She doesn't notice the way Draco flinches at the word but Blaise does.

"Are you alright?" He whispers concernedly.

"I'm fine," Draco replies before going back to staring out the window.

Blaise points out the window to a Ravenclaw girl in the year below them. "I wouldn't mind getting married to her."

"Why her?" Draco asks. He was unaware that Blaise knew her. Maybe she was the Ravenclaw he went out with before Christmas.

"My mother would like her. She was living in France until she was nine so she speaks French and she's very pretty. We'd make my mother some beautiful grandchildren." He explains.

Draco laughs. "Is she the one you went out with before Christmas?" He asks.

"No, my Ravenclaw is beautiful, amazing and a little bit crazy. I get the feeling mother wouldn't like her at all." Blaise sighs sadly looking out the window.

"Is she out there?" Draco asks skimming his eyes over the crowd.

"Yeah." He sighs again. "I can see your future wife too." He laughs.

Draco quickly cast a gaze around the platform, trying to find whoever Blaise was talking about. "Who are you on about?" He asks.

"That girl you met in Diagon Alley yesterday." Blaise continues to tease him which gains Pansy's attention.

"Who did you meet in Diagon Alley?" She tries to ask calmly but her left eyes are twitching nervously.

"No one." Draco sends Blaise a warning look. He can't remember seeing her on the platform yet but a second look finds her almost instantaneously. She's stood with the Weasley and Potter.

Pansy narrows her eyes at them. "Who are you talking about?" She almost growls at them.

"Just some girl Draco here kept bumping into." Blaise shrugs.

"She kept crashing into me," He replies defensively. "Twice. Covering me in ice-cream."

"Why aren't you telling me?" Pansy actually growls, this time, making Draco and Blaise stare at her for a moment.

Blaise turns to face Draco. "You came home yesterday complaining about her. I just got the feeling that you like her."

"Well, I don't so shut up about it." He threatens, knowing that if Pansy finds out she'll turn into a jealous girlfriend which just gets on his nerves since they have never been a couple.

"Draco, please tell me." Pansy pleads whiningly, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"Shut up, Pansy." Draco moans at the same time Blaise says, "Granger."

Draco groans. "Why Blaise?" as Pansy explodes in rage.

"Granger. You met that Mudblood in Diagon Alley?" She hisses.

"Stop using that word," He grumbles through gritted teeth.

"Oh Merlin, you're getting protective of her now. You like her, don't you?" She asks turning a sickly green colour.

"No, I don't." He sighs not seeing this conversation ending anytime soon.

"Why don't I believe you?" She continues to shout.

"Well, I'm telling you the truth. If you choose not to believe it then that's your problem." He gazes back out the window. Everyone is making their way on the train now. He looks down at his watch. Five more minutes before they leave.

"Come on Pansy. I was just teasing him." Blaise chuckles calmly. "You can't actually believe that Draco would like Granger," He says defending him.

Pansy huffs crossing her arms. "Of course, I do."

"You're being jealous." He sighs obviously tired of this conversation as well. "There's nothing to be jealous of. You've seen how they interact with each other. They hate each other." He points out.

"That was before the war before Draco turned his back on The Dark Lord. Maybe he's changed his mind on that Mudblood too." Pansy spits jealously at Draco.

He can't take it anymore. "I've told you to stop calling her that," He growls angrily as he stands up.

"Oh Merlin, you do like her." Pansy gasps covering her mouth.

"Erm, Draco. You told her to stop using the word." Blaise explain.

Draco freezes realising his mistake. The train starts to move knocking him back down into his seat.

"What difference does it make?" He shouts standing back up. "Just stop using that word." He turns abruptly on his heel, walking straight out of the compartment nearly crashing into Goyle who called after him confused.

He storms off angrily down the train not bothering to stop for anyone. People ate still trying to find empty compartments though most manage to step out the way as he made his way down the corridor. However, he does have to push two people out the way to get past them but he mumbles an apology as he carries on.

That is until he hear them say "Did Malfoy just apologise to us?" He recognises the voice as Potter so he carries on his not wanting to cause a commotion on the train. Though when he hears their voices walking away from him, he turns around and follows them discretely to their compartment. They're obviously still talking about him so he leans against their compartment window which, thankfully has its curtains pulled closed, to listen.

"What are you arguing about this time?" An annoyed voice he knows is Grangers asks.

"Malfoy," Weasley answers making him smile.

It's nice to know they have nothing better to do than argue about him. He tries not to think about how he, Blaise and Pansy had just been doing the same thing about Granger.

"What about him?" Granger asks.

"Ron here thinks our favourite Slytherin has gone crazy from watching his Dark Lord die making him lose the war." Potter laughs sarcastically.

Draco's flattered to be given the title of The Golden Trio's favourite Slytherin even if they think he's gone crazy. He silently chuckles to himself.

"Okay, then what's your stand in the argument," Granger asks.

"He's always been crazy but recently he's been acting crazier, as in more like a normal person," Potter told her.

So he's being branded as crazy because he's finally acting like a half decent person.

"Just two minutes ago he pushed past us then apologised. So very unlike Malfoy but very like a normal, polite, kind person." Potter carries on.

Draco shakes his head. It's not as if he can change who he is or anything.

"What do you think Hermione?" Weasley asks and Draco finds himself standing up straighter, curious as to what her thoughts of him are.

"I think that he's been forced to grow up a lot since the war ended and he's trying to change his ways. Of course, he's not going to completely do an 180. That's not who he is, but he's making an effort not to be such a judgemental idiot like you two obviously still are." Granger answers.

His stomach drops at her words. He's shocked but glad that at least she can realise that he's trying to change. Most people don't take the time even notice him anymore.

"But what if he's…" Weasley starts to complain.

"Ron," Granger interrupts him. "I think he's realised that he's going to be marked in five months. He's grown up. Maybe you should do the same."

He finds himself smiling at her and has to stop himself. He doesn't smile and definitely not at Granger.

"What are you talking about? We're practically men." Weasley announces and Draco has to cover his mouth to quieten his scoff.

"This coming from the 'man' who was whining to his Mother about corned beef sandwiches." Granger points out.

They fall quiet so Draco assumes that their conversation is over he's about to set off on his previously planned walk to the end of the train when Potter's girlfriend and that weird Lovegood girl shows up blocking his path.

"Hello, Draco." Lovegood greets him.

"Hello," He replies awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the moment will pass," She comments nodding her head.

"What moment?" Draco frowns confused.

"Whatever embarrassing moment is making the Cousites spread all over your face," She answers obviously.

Draco stares at her for a long moment still confused. "Okay," He says then pushes past them.

He only makes it halfway down the train when he gets bored and decides to head back to his compartment. Though on the way back, someone comes rushing out of their own compartment headbutting his chest. He rubs his chest glaring down at whoever it is. He should have known. Granger is stood staring up at him confused for a moment then glares at him. What's she glaring at him for? It's her fault.

He wants to shout at her to stop crashing into him but he remembers that they're stood directly outside her compartment where her friends are who wouldn't think twice about cursing him to protect her. So instead of shouting at her, he takes a few steps forward until they're stood mere inches away from each other. He leans down to her ear, smirking as she takes a sharp intake of breath. "I thought I told you not to make it a habit."

She huffs out a laugh that tickles the side of his face. "This time was your fault," She whispers back before stepping away from him. "What are you doing outside our compartment anyway? Eavesdropping on our conversations?" She asks raising her eyebrow.

He narrows his eyes not wanting to answer since he had been eavesdropping earlier. She gives him a sweet, innocent smile that tells him that she knows he was. She then takes a step around him then walks off down the corridor. When he makes it to his compartment, he pauses for a moment. He doesn't really want to go in and face Pansy or even Blaise right now, but he's got nowhere else to go. He sighs deeply, stands tall, then throws the compartment door open letting it slam.

Everyone looks up at him then quickly avoids his glare by looking down at magazines, food or even their hands. Draco smirks as he takes his usual seat then turns his glare onto the countryside that's quickly passing by. It takes him a few more minutes before he realises that Blaise isn't even in the compartment.

"Where's Blaise?" He grumbles to no one in particular.

"Went to see his girlfriend?" Goyle sniggers elbowing him in the ribs but shuffles away slightly upon receiving another one of his glares.

"I didn't know he has a girlfriend." Pansy frowns crossing her arms angrily.

"He doesn't," He announces. "They went on one date before Christmas and I doubt he's going to pursue her now." He points out.

"Mother wants me to move to America and marry some pureblood girl over there." Goyle mentions and everyone turns to face him. He doesn't usually say much unless it's an insult or a joke.

"Are you going to?" Theo asks.

They were never really that close, Theo and Draco, but at the Welcome Back Feast in September, he sat next to him and started to talk to Draco. He's never really stopped since. He's very talkative which is probably why he and Blaise get on so well.

"Nah, I ain't going to Azkaban. I'd never hear the end of it from my grandmother." He shrugs.

Draco's still pretty gobsmacked that Goyle is actually conversing with them. He supposes that anyone can change.

Blaise comes back a few minutes later and squeezes on the bench between Goyle and Draco. His friend doesn't like to admit it but he's a very jealous person. When Theo started talking to Draco, Blaise would just glare at them until he left. He thinks Theo realised and started including Blaise in on their conversations. Now they're like the Three Musketeers or whoever. Blaise keeps calling them it. Something to do with Muggles apparently. Draco lifts his feet up, resting them between Pansy and Theo on the opposite bench then grabs his tie from his trouser pocket and ties it around his neck. He doesn't have to look to know that's it's crooked but He can't find it within himself to care right now.

When the train stops at Hogsmeade, he simply moves his feet off the opposite bench to allow everyone to get their trunks down before he even bothers to stand up. Glancing out the window, he sees everyone rushing to get a carriage with their friends or to get into the warmth of one. Either way, there's a sea of people pushing each other to get there first. Goyle and Theo have rushed off but Blaise and Pansy are waiting for him.

"Why do you always take so long?" Pansy tries to hurry him along but if anything, it makes him dawdle even more. "We're always the last one to the castle," She grumbles.

He rolls his eyes and Blaise chuckled shaking his head as Pansy makes her way towards the last remaining carriage. She starts to climb aboard but then she groans exasperatedly. Draco peers past Pansy into the carriage to see what is getting on Pansy's nerves.

Of course, it's Granger and Weasel.

"Did you plan this Draco?" She asks him entering the carriage.

Draco climbs up behind her. "It's merely a coincidence," He grumbles, taking a seat as close to the door as possible.

Blaise climbs up last, smiling happily as if this is his first day. If he's not mistaken, Blaise sends Granger a wink then voluntarily take a seat next to the Weasel.

"What happened to your scarf Granger?" Blaise asks crossing his legs, kicking Weasel in the process.

"Watch it Zabini," He growls but Blaise is still talking to Granger.

"It's not part of the uniform so I took it off," Granger explains.

Draco huffs. Did Blaise even need to ask? She'd never break the rules.

"I was unaware that those tight were part of the Gryffindor uniform," Blaise asks feigning confusion.

Draco unintentionally glances down at Granger's legs and just before she covers them with her cloak, he gets a glimpse of her green tights. Green tights. Not just green tights but Slytherin Green tights. He finds himself smirking as he stares at her cloak covered legs.

"I'm not sitting next to that Mudblood." Pansy hissed crossing her arms with finality.

She's not looking at Draco so she doesn't see him flinch at the word. She's smirking down her nose at the little Ravenclaw who's cowering away from her.

"Do you want to come sit next to me?" Granger asks reaching over to comfort the other girl who nods with tears in her eyes.

Draco's heart clenches slightly. He's going to have to talk to Pansy about her choice of words again.

"Are you going to move over, Ron?" Granger asks her boyfriend who stares at her in confusion for a few seconds.

"Oh, right, yeah." He grumbles then turns towards Blaise who Draco knows is going to make a scene.

"Yes, Ronald." Blaise smiles fluttering his eyelashes.

"Move." Weasel tries to sound threatening but it just sounds rude.

Blaise uses all those months of Drama classes, his Mother married a Muggle once who taught a drama club, to act insulted. "Not until you ask me nicely, Ronald."

Weasley turns around to ask his girlfriend what to do which makes Draco sneer at him amusingly. Granger nods at him so, with probably the biggest sigh Draco's ever heard, he turns to face Blaise and mumbles, "Please."

"I don't think you mean it." Blaise huffs crossing his arms across his chest.

"Just move Blaise," Draco complains. The Thestrals don't move until all their passengers are sat down. At this rate, they won't make it to the Welcome Back Feast.

"No Draco, I won't," Blaise shouts feigning anger. "I am a human being. I deserve to be treated like one." He stands up pointing menacingly at Weasley who rolls his eyes then shuffles over to let the little girl sit next to Granger.

"I don't want to be sat opposite them either." Pansy spits at Granger and the girl in disgust.

Blaise seems to have had enough because he pushes past her to sit opposite the girl. He is tempted to make Pansy sit opposite Granger but no matter how much she annoys him, he doesn't want to be counteracting Granger's curses or whatever Granger would do to her so Draco reluctantly shuffles over next to Blaise.

Things are quiet for an awkward moment as the Thestrals start trotting. Then Granger glares at Pansy and it's a pretty impressive glare in Draco's opinion.

"We're human beings." Hermione says which confuses him to begin with but he realises what she doing when she starts to speak again. "We deserve to be treated like one," She adds.

Blaise bursts into hysterical laughter holding his hands up for Granger to high five him but she just turns her glare on him so he awkwardly drops his hand to his lap.

For the rest of the journey, Draco listens to Granger and the little Ravenclaw, called Lauren apparently, talk about their muggle life and their wizarding life. He listens until the carriage judders to a halt. He goes to stand up but Weasel beats him to it, opening the door and jumping down from the carriage. Granger's already stood up ready to exit when Blaise pushes past her but then he hold out a hand to her which she takes, using it to help her down the steps. Lauren and Pansy take his hand too. Of course, Lauren is a lot more thankful in that she actually says 'thank you' when he lets go of her hand.

Draco is climbing down from the carriage when a hand gets thrust in his face. He leans back slightly to see that it's Blaise's. He pushes his friends hand away and climbs down himself. Once he's stood on the grass, he looks up to find that Granger has been left alone with them.

"Where's your boyfriend gone?" Blaise voices Draco's own question as they all set of towards the castle. They've probably missed the Welcome Back Speech and the starters.

"He's not my boyfriend," Granger announces.

Draco's eyebrow raises. When did they break up?

"Oooh. What happened? Trouble in paradise." Blaise teases as he hooks their arms together.

He expects her to push his arm away but she doesn't.

"We were never a proper couple and now there's no point since we're all going to be married off in five months," She explains

Pansy's talking to him but he doesn't hear her. He thinking about what Granger just said. 'There's no point.' There really isn't any point of dating anyone. Not that he has any plans of asking someone out on a date. Not that anyone would ever say yes to him if he did ask anyone. Not anymore. There's plenty of couples at Hogwarts who, chances are, aren't going to be paired together.

"I suppose you're right," Blaise says thoughtfully. "Although I still like to have hope that I'll be paired with someone I will love." He looks up at the castle dramatically.

"You have a certain someone in mind." She jokes. It sounds strange to hear her joking. She usually so serious. It's not a bad strange. Just an unfamiliar strange.

Draco has never admitted it before but many times he has found himself thinking about Granger. It's not creepy. He thinks 'Would anything be different if she were a pure blood or even a half-blood?', 'Maybe they could have been friends if it weren't for Potter,' and 'Would she be a Gryffindor still or would she be a Slytherin?' Draco often thinks that she'd make a good Slytherin or maybe a Ravenclaw.

"Wouldn't you like to know Hermione?" Blaise answers her.

Draco's frowns at them in front of him. It doesn't sound right to call her, Hermione. Even in his head, it sounds weird. As they all get closer to the castle, Blaise unlinks his arms from Granger's but they're still talking. They're talking as though they're friends. As though they've been friends for years. When they reach the great hall they stop.

"I hope everything works out for you Blaise," Granger says his name with a smile.

"You too Hermione." He smiles back at her as she walks into the Great Hall.

Blaise stands at the door waiting for Draco and Pansy. He tunes back into Pansy just as they enter the Great Hall.

"So then my Mother told me not to even bother worrying about it because Father's going to sort it out for us." She finishes looking up expectantly at him so Draco nods and says "Good." because it sounds like the right thing to say.

She smiles excitedly, pulling him towards the Slytherin table. He's not sure what he's gotten himself into but he'll just have to deal with it later.

The Welcome Back Feast is just the same as any other Welcome Back Feast they've had at Hogwarts. The choir sings, the headmaster, or headmistress, in this case, makes a speech, they eat the feast and then they leave for their common rooms to rest up before their lessons start back up the following day.

Usually, Draco will fall straight to sleep, excited to learn, eager to be the top of his class. The competition for the top of the class is always close between him and Granger but this time, he's just not bothered. As long as he gets O's in his NEWTS he'll be happy or, at least, content. He doesn't have the motivation to fight Granger for the top of the class this time. When he finally falls asleep it only feels like he's been asleep for a few minutes when Blaise is shaking him awake the following morning because they're late for breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	5. Chapter 5 - Hermione's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 5 for you all.
> 
> I'm moving this fanfiction along quicker because I feel like there was a lot of rubbish that didn't add much to the plot in FORCED TOGETHER. I hope you all don't mind.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

The first few months of Hogwarts fly by and before Hermione knows it, it is the Easter Holidays. She had spent the last six weeks between her lessons, the great hall, the library and her dormitory. She barely had time to think about The Marriage Decree with all the studying she was doing for her NEWTs. She had to do her best if she wanted to become a Hogwarts professor at some point in her future. She had spent so much time studying that she barely had time to hang out with her friends, which was why she had promised them that she spend a whole day with them during the Easter Holidays. They had chosen the Hogsmeade trip day which she was thankful for since she was in desperate need of a few books and school supplies that she just hadn't had time to go and buy.

Hermione ended up staying in the library until well after the closing time the night before just to make up for the many study hours she would be missing today. By the time she makes it to bed, she only gets a few hours' sleep before Ginny is dragging her out of bed and down to breakfast. Ginny pours herself and Hermione a large goblet of strong coffee to help wake themselves up which only helps a little.

Harry and Ron were apparently on the Quidditch pitch getting a few hours of practice in before they set off for Hogsmeade at ten. Hermione's annoyed that they get to practise Quidditch for a few hours but she doesn't get to spend any time in the library.

On the walk down to Hogsmeade, Ginny, and Harry dawdle behind whispering to each other leaving Hermione and Ron walking ahead awkwardly making small talk about exams, the weather, and Quidditch. She can tell that Ron is trying to make conversation so she tries as well but it doesn't make it any less awkward. When they actually make it into Hogsmeade, Harry and Ginny tell them they have a table booked at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop so they leave, leaving Ron and Hermione stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"So, er… Where'd'yer wanna go?" Ron asks her shrugging.

"I need to go to Tomes and Scrolls then to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop," She tells him which results in a deep, bored sigh.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "If you want, I'll go to my shops, you can go to Spintwitches or Honeydukes or where ever you want to go and then I'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks in an hour?" She offers.

Ron smiles thankfully at her. "Yer know me t' well." He laughs. "See yer in an hour." He waves her goodbye before running off towards Honeydukes.

Hermione stares after him shaking her head. He's right. She knows him too well. So well that she can read him like a book. That she has nothing else to learn about him. She finds herself thinking about The Marriage Decree properly for the first time in weeks and she finds herself hoping behind hope that she isn't paired to Ron because honestly, she can't imagine a life more boring than being married to and spending the rest of her life with someone she knows as well as herself.

When she enters Tomes and Scrolls, she greets the owner politely then goes straight to the back of the shop where she hopes to find a book on The Marriage Decree. Her search of the library at the start of the term had turned up nothing. She asked Madam Pince but all she would tell her is 'The Ministry has ordered all books that mention the decree to be sent to the Department of Marriage.' When she asks what for Madam Pince had simply turned her back on her and refused to answer which she found rude.

She spent ages looking up and down every aisle of the bookshop looking for any book that even references the marriage law but there was nothing. She went up to the front desk to ask the owner and suspiciously, he gave the same answer as Madam Pince. Exactly the same answer.

"What is The Ministry up to?" She mumbles to herself as she goes back to the back of the shop to look for the transfiguration book she needs to study how to transfer a strand of animal hair into a perfect clone copy of the animal. She remembers Professor McGonagall telling them it was one of the hardest spells a wizard or witch could learn when they were in their first year. She is hoping to impress the examiners during their 'self-taught presentation' but she may have left it too late.

It takes her a few minutes to find it but she does on the top shelf. She ends up having to stand on her tip toes to try and reach it. As she tries to grab it, she accidentally pushes it causing a book on the other side of the shelf to fall off. She waits for the tell-tale sound of a book hitting the floor but instead she hears a painful scream then someone swear, "For Merlin's sake."

She rushes around the corner, an apology already leaving her lips. "I'm so sorry. I was trying to… Malfoy?" She questions when she realises it's him bent over picking up the book that she had pushed off the shelf.

"WHAT?" He growls angrily turning to face her. He must realise it's her because the anger slips from his face for a moment before reappearing but not as fiercely as it had been. "What?" He asks not nearly as angrily.

"I'm… sorry." She apologises nervously. Ever since the incident on the train back to Hogwarts she has been avoiding Malfoy as much as possible which isn't always easy since they share most of the same lessons and both like to study at the back of the library until late. Thankfully he never talks to her and she doesn't feel the need to talk to him. "I was trying to reach a book on the top shelf. I must have pushed it by accident." She explains pointing over her shoulder towards the shelves.

Malfoy looks over her shoulder towards the shelves. "So instead of crashing into me, you've moved on to hitting me with objects." He motions the book towards her.

She's not sure if he's joking or not. She's never heard him joke before so she can't be sure. He smirks at her which doesn't help her decipher whether it is a joke.

Suddenly, he takes a step towards her like he did that time on the train and also like that time on the train, she takes a sharp intake of breath unsure of what he may be about to do. Unlike the time on the train though he doesn't bend down to whisper in her ear, instead he reaches up to place the book back on the shelf where she had caused it to fall from. He's stood so close to her that his arm brushes past her hair as he reaches up. She looks down embarrassed when she finds herself gazing up at him only to find herself gazing down at a small slither of pale skin showing on his stomach where his shirt had risen up. When the book's back in its original place, he steps away from her, looking down at her curiously.

Hermione can tell she's blushing at being caught staring at his stomach so she apologises once more then makes her leave, paying for the book then making her way to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop where she buys herself a few new quills for her exams since she doesn't plan on coming back to Hogsmeade until after the NEWTS are over. She needs to spend as much time as she can studying.

Once she's done she takes a slow stroll to the other end of Hogsmeade where she had agreed to meet Ron in the Three Broomsticks. She's early, so she order two Butterbeers then grabs a table to wait. She starts reading the author's notes of her new transfiguration and that's how Ron finds her when he enters carrying a can of broom polish.

"Hey, yer get everything you need?" He asks politely taking a sip from his Butterbeer.

"Yeah, I bought a few new quills ready for the NEWTS. Just imagine if your quill snapped during a written exam." Hermione says putting her new book away.

"Yer could just charm it so it's impossible to break." Ron rolls his eyes.

"Then I'd run out of ink or the nib would become blunt. I just want to be prepared for anything." She explains.

"'m sure yer already plenty prepared. Yer could probably take the NEWTS now and get O's in all of 'em." He says.

She not sure if he means it to be a compliment but it warms her heart that she has so much faith in her.

"Thanks." She says taking a sip from her own Butterbeer glass. "What about you? How prepare are you for the NEWTS?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

"I ain't even started yet." He laughs.

"Oh, Ron." She sighs disappointedly.

"No, don't give me that look." He shakes his head. "And don't give me a lecture. I only need five Acceptables to go int' Auror trainin'. Anyway, 'Arry said they might let us in cos of what we did in the war. Yer know, cos it shows what we're capable of." Ron explains. "So I ain't too fussed." He shrugs again.

Hermione sighs again, tired of lecturing him over and over about the importance of their NEWTs.

"Fine, let's talk about something else," She suggests downing the rest of her Butterbeer.

"I'll go buy us some more." He downs his own glass then stands up taking their two empty glasses with him to the bar where Hannah Abbott is working.

She chose not to return to Hogwarts after the war deciding instead to settle for a simpler life behind her Aunt's bar where she still got to see her friends most weekends. Hermione watches as Ron stands to chat with her for a few minutes after paying for their drinks. Maybe he'll get paired with her. They seem to be getting on well.

Hermione and Ron end up staying at The Three Broomsticks for a few more hours before heading back to the castle. Ron leaves her at the Great Door to go polish his broomstick. Hermione goes up to her dormitory to check if Harry and Ginny are back yet but they don't appear to be so she takes the opportunity to lie on her bed reading her new transfiguration book. It's technically not studying because she's not making any notes or that's what she plans on telling Ginny when she returns.

When she doesn't see either of them at dinnertime she decides to break her promise and heads to the library where she rereads what's she had read so far, making notes in the margins. She decides not to spend too long studying, though, she does want to hang out with her friends so at ten o'clock she heads back up to the Gryffindor common room. For some reason, their common room is overcrowded. She has to push people out of the way to make it to the staircase leading up to the dormitories. She casts a quick eye around the common room seeing many of her friends, a few Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff and even two second year Slytherin's but no Harry and Ginny.

She decides that she'll see them in the morning and heads to bed. She's got a lot of sleep to catch up with. Since she's been studying so much, she's only been getting about three hours sleep a night so as soon as her head hits the pillow, she's fast asleep.

She's awoken early in the morning by the sound of someone falling over. She sits straight up, pointing her wand at the floor mumbling, "Lumos." She has to wait for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. To her surprise, she finds Ginny lying on the floor smiling like an idiot.

"Ginny?" She questions.

"Hmmm!" She hums.

"What are you doing on the floor? Where have you been?" She asks climbing out of bed to give her a hand up.

"I fell over. I couldn't see." She starts giggling uncontrollably as Hermione tries to walk her to her bed.

"Where have you been?" She repeats.

"Out with Harry." She sighs happily.

"All this time!" She stares at her confused.

"Yeah. We had to sneak back in with the cloak." She continues to giggle.

Hermione's not entirely sure if Ginny's intoxicated or just extremely happy for some reason but she decides not to question it. She helps her friend to bed, slipping her boots off then pulls her quilt over her body.

"Thanks, Hermione. You're such a good friend." She sighs contently once her giggles have subsided.

"Thanks, Ginny. Now you get some sleep." She smiles down at her friend pushing strands of her fiery hair out of her face.

Hermione then goes back to her own bed to try to get back to sleep but she just ends up lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling for an hour before she sits straight up again, annoyed with herself for not being able to fall back to sleep. In her self-annoyance, she throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt followed by a jumper, grabs her new transfiguration book and school supplies then sneaks out of the common room to the library. She doesn't come across anyone else in the corridors and makes it to the library without being noticed. She manages to get a good four hours of studying done by candlelight before she heads down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry and Ginny are actually there for this meal but they both look simultaneously exhausted and ecstatic. She takes a seat on the bench opposite them and next to Ron who tries to greet her "G'mornin'" but instead sprays her with an array of breakfast foods.

"Morning," She says with a glare, wiping his food off her face before turning to glare at Ginny and Harry. "Thanks for leaving us yesterday." She sarcastically reprimands them.

Harry blushes looking down at his plate. "Sorry," He mumbles sheepishly. "We were… er… busy."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolls her eyes. "Just don't expect me to have any more free time to hang out. I'm focusing all my time on studying." She says before eating her breakfast quickly and heading back to the library.

She studies her transfiguration book for the next six hours before going out into the school's gardens to practise turning the rat hairs she had cut from the rats in the potions classroom into cloned copies. She practices until the sun sets behind the Forbidden Forest and she still hasn't gotten anywhere. Annoyed with herself, she heads back to the library to go back over her notes. She loses track of the time and before she knows it a clock somewhere is striking midnight. She sighs tiredly resting her head in her arms for a few minutes rest.

The next thing she knows she's waking up with a creak in her neck and the sun in her eyes. She lifts her head up to find a few students sat at the surrounding desks and for some reason there is an apple in front of her. She glances around her wondering who left her an apple. She sees a few fifth years most likely studying for their OWLs, there's a first year sat on the window seat reading a book and then on the table next to her is Malfoy, with at least seven books laid out on his table, making notes.

She narrows her eyes at him, then looks back at the apple. He's the only one she knows in the library. 'Did he bring me the apple?' The thought alone makes her snort. Malfoy doesn't care about people other than himself and his Slytherin friend. Why would he bring her an apple? It was probably Ginny who came looking for her after she missed breakfast.

She packs up her things into her backpack, grabs the apple taking a bite. She hums gently at how fresh and juicy it is. Then she makes her way back to the common room wanting to take a sleep in an actual bed.

She bumps into Ginny on one of the many staircases and they walk back to the common room together. She's on her way back after walking Harry and Ron to the Quidditch pitch for training.

"Thanks for the apple." She motions to the object in her hands but Ginny frown at her.

"I didn't give you that apple." She looks Hermione in the eye confused.

"Who did then?" She mutter staring down at the half eaten fruit in her hands. 'Could it have been Malfoy?' She thinks but she's too tired to think too far into it.

Once in their common room, she heads straight to bed.

As the weeks went on, leading up to her NEWTs, it was a common occurrence to find an apple on her desk in the library. Sometimes it was there when she woke up from a nap, sometimes it was there after she had spent the night sleeping at one of the window seats with her blanket and sometimes it was there before she even arrived at the library. She had a few ideas of who it could be. At the top of the list was a younger student who had a crush on her. Then at the bottom of the list was Malfoy, who was coincidentally nearly always sat at his desk when she discovered it.

It's the day before her potions exam when something changes. She's sat at her desk, furiously scribbling down notes on the Draught of Peace trying to remember the subtle difference between it and the Draught of War when she decided she needs to stretch her legs. She left the library heading for the girls toilets a few corridors away.

When she returned, there's an apple sat atop her potions book. She glances around her, instantly spotting Malfoy, almost hiding behind a book. His strange behaviour bumps him up to number two on her list of 'Who's Giving Me Apples?' Number one is the third year boy sat blatantly staring at her from the opposite side of the library.

To show her gratitude to the boy, because she is beginning to feel a bit peckish, she picks up the apple taking a bite then nods her thanks to him. His eyes widen and he scurries off somewhere. She shakes her head in amusement as she picks up her book and begins to read. It isn't until she's read nearly an entire page that she realises she isn't reading about the Draught of Peace or the Draught of War but she's reading about the Patronus Charm, which she hadn't even bothered to study since she perfected it in her fifth year along with the rest of Dumbledore's Army.

Glancing at the front cover, she sees what she has already guessed. She's reading Defence Against the Dark Arts 7. She casts a quick eye suspiciously around the room trying to find whoever had stolen her potions book. She knows who it is the second her eyes fall on Malfoy hunched over a book.

With a defeated sigh, she makes her way over to his desk sitting down on the chair opposite him.

"Go away, Pansy. I'm trying to study for our potions exam tomorrow." He whines which she finds amusing for a few seconds before remembering that she needs to get back to studying for the potions exam too.

"So was I until somebody stole the book I was reading," She says pointedly.

Malfoy whips his head up as he slams the book shut. "What are you doing?" He snaps at her.

"You stole my book. I want it back. Now!" She demands, holding her hand out for him to hand her book back.

"I don't have your book so why don't you go back to your own desk and learn about the Patronus charm," He smirks before looking back down at the book he has taken to covering with his arms.

"For you information, I learned how to produce a corporeal Patronus charm in 5th year and that just proves it was you who stole it. Now give it back." She smirks back knowing she's won this argument.

At the mention of her corporal Patronus, Malfoy had looked slightly impressed which he quickly turned to a glare. "I'm finished with it anyway," He mentions handing it out for her to take which she does.

Hermione then turns on her heel, with her head held high, and returns to her table to continue studying the two Draughts she really didn't want to get mixed up in her exam.

She decides that she needs a decent night's sleep ready for her potions exam in the morning, so she packs up then sets off to the Great Hall for dinner planning on stuffing her face then going to bed for an early night.

Although, when she gets to dinner, she can barely manage to eat her bread roll with all her nerves about tomorrow. She watches sickeningly as Ginny, who has piled her plate high with some of everything behind served, was shovelling forkful after forkful into her mouth.

"How can you eat? I'm so nervous. I feel sick just looking at your plate." She mentions looking away from her friend's plate.

Ginny shrugs. "I dunno. I guess I already know I'm going to get an Acceptable in the exam tomorrow if they're generous, so there's no need for me to worry about it." She adds as she rips into another bread roll. "Hey, you're still staying at the Burrow on Tuesday night though aren't you?" She asks once she's swallowed.

"Of course, I am Ginny, although I have to meet my parents outside the ministry Wednesday morning so they can actually get into the ministry for the ceremony." She explains to which Ginny nods.

Everyone being partnered was sent two invitations last week for guests. It had been accompanied by a letter detailing the Partner Ceremony. Apparently there were two seating areas, one for those of us being partnered and one for our guests. After the ceremony, there will be a reception party where the couples will dine with their new partner and family before having their first dance. Afterwards, a bus will take them to their new residence in the Ministry Starter Estate.

Hermione has already sent her invitation to her parents, so has Ginny, Ron has sent his invitation to Bill and Fleur and Harry gave his to Dean so his two older brothers could attend as well as his parents.

Tomorrow is the potions exam, the last exam on Hermione's timetable. As she hoped, the exam required her to make the Draught of Peace. She smiles to herself as she memorises everything she had read yesterday in her book. She remembers to stir twice clockwise then twice anti-clockwise before letting it simmer for two minutes unlike the Draught of War which was twice anti-clockwise then twice clockwise before also letting it simmer for two minutes. Once she's finished, she collects a sample or the pure white liquid to submit to the examiner. She does so at the same time as Malfoy which is reassuring although she's annoyed to notice that his is a paler shade of white then hers.

"Five minutes left students." The examiner calls out.

Hermione feels herself physically relax as she walks back to her table knowing that she's done her best and her exams are all over and done with now. She scorigifies her cauldron then watches from her stool as the other students rush to finish.

Harry ends up turning in a light grey sample whereas Ron's is a shade lighter than black meaning he's made quite a good Draught of War but he'll end up with a T most likely since it's not what they asked for.

When they are finally dismissed, most the students head out into the gardens to celebrate with their friends, but Hermione heads back up to the common rooms to finish packing her trunk. She's been so preoccupied with studying for her NEWTs that she hadn't gotten very far. Once she finished, she ended up taking a nap that turned into a full fifteen-hour sleep. She woke up at six in the morning feeling better than she had in weeks.

The Hogwarts Express was due to leave Hogsmeade station at ten o'clock an hour after their end of year breakfast feast. For the first the first time in weeks or maybe months, Hermione sat with her friends for the full duration of the feast, chatting with everyone and eating more food than she had in the past week. Afterwards, she went back up to her dormitory with Ginny to take a final look at what had been her bedroom for nearly seven years. She is shocked to find how emotional she is. Ginny gives her a small hug before they leave. They meet the boys in the common room and they all walk down to Hogsmeade together joking, laughing and reminiscing about all the good times they had shared at Hogwarts in their eight years.

Once in Hogsmeade station, most of the younger students board the train but the older students, especially the last years, congregate on the platform hugging everyone goodbye. Hermione had already hugged her friends from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as well as a few Gryffindor's she might not see on the train.

They boarded the train just as the Clock is beginning to strike ten o'clock and manage to find an empty compartment straight away. A lot of the younger students, who just want to get one last look at them, come to say bye. In the end, they leave their compartment door open so anyone can just pop in. They've probably said farewell to every student in the school, including a few of the younger Slytherin's, when there's a knock at their compartment door.

Everyone looks up to find Blaise stood leaning against the compartment door, arms folded and ankles crossed, looking very relaxed.

"Well, if it isn't the Gryffindor Gang." He quirks his eyebrow teasingly as he glances around the compartment. "And Luna." He winks at her in the corner.

"Hello, Blaise." She greets him cheerfully.

"Wot ya want, Zabini?" Ron spits hatefully with his mouth full of a chocolate frog.

Blaise looks him up and down in disgust. "Nothing from you, Ronald." He spits back just as hatefully before leaning out of the compartment to check his surroundings are clear. He then enters, sliding the door shut behind him.

When he turns back around, he's smiling forcefully which worries Hermione. There must be something wrong if he's not natural smiling. He's always smiling.

"Can we help you with anything Blaise?" Luna asks politely.

"No dear, I'm not here for help but merely to ask something of you all," Blaise replies to Luna.

Hermione has never heard Blaise use any term of endearment before which slightly confuses her, but not for long as she is curious as to what he wants of them.

"Why should we give you anything?" Neville asks glaring at the Slytherin stood in front of us.

"I think we should hear him out." Luna voices her opinion from next to Hermione.

Harry nods. "Go on." He orders.

Blaise takes another look at everyone sat in the compartment, ensuring to make eye contact with everyone. "I'm here to apologise," He announces.

The compartment falls silent. Hermione thinks he's joking at first. Blaise has nothing really to apologise to them for. As far as she knows, he's done nothing to them other than being Malfoy's best friend. She never remembers seeing him at one of their conflict with Malfoy.

"I'm sorry, what?" Harry asks to ensure he heard correctly.

"No Harry, I'm the one who is apologising," He says slightly overdramatically before smiling nervously. "I want to apologise for everything I have ever done that has hurt anyone of you. I know it's too little too late but I need to say it so I don't go on to the next chapter of my lives with all these regrets and grudges." He explains.

Hermione's sure he's expecting someone to say something but nobody does. Everyone just continues to stare at him in shocked silence. After a full, awkward minute of Blaise just standing there waiting, he slides the compartment door open then slips out.

The defeated look on his face weighs Hermione's heart down. She jumps up from her seat, surprising everyone, then runs into the corridor.

"BLAISE!" She calls. He's only a few compartments away so he hears her stops dead in his tracks for a few seconds before turning around.

Hermione rushes towards him then throws her arms around his neck bring him into a tight hug. "Thank you, Blaise," She whispers in his ear before letting go. "But as I see it, you have nothing to apologise for. I can't recall you doing anything to any of us."

Blaise shakes his head. "I may not have been there when it happened but I was there when it was being planned. I even put a few ideas forward though nothing too traumatising." He admits.

Hermione just nods with a small smile playing on her lips. "Well, in that case, I forgive you."

Blaise returns her smile properly this time until it falls at the sight of something behind her. She turns around to find Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna stood there. Harry steps forward first, hand held out. Blaise takes hold of his hand, shaking it once. Harry nods once, then turns around, walking back towards Ginny without saying a word. Then again, sometimes action speak louder than words. Ginny steps forward next giving Blaise a quick hug and whispering something in his ear which leaves him staring after he slightly scared and nervous. Neville shakes his hand muttering a 'thank you' before retreating back into the compartment along with Harry and Ginny. Luna skips past Hermione to Blaise who has his arms open wide waiting for a hug. She wraps her arms tightly around his neck only for Blaise to snake his own arms around her waist. Hermione simply stares at them confused. Luna quickly presses her lips to Blaise's in a chaste kiss before spinning around and skipping back to their compartment.

"So, you and Luna." Hermione raises her eyebrows surprised.

Blaise shrugs and she would have taken that to mean he doesn't care, accept that he's blushing brightly.

"No Ronald I see," He comments, changing the topic of conversation.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "He might forgive you if you stop calling him Ronald."

"I somehow highly doubt that."

She sighs. "Yeah, Ron doesn't forgive easily."

They're just stood staring at each other for a few awkward moments before Blaise clears his throat.

"Well, I better be getting back to Draco, he can't function without me." Blaise winks before turning around then walking away.

A few hours later, they arrive at Kings Cross Station where everyone starts bidding their friends goodbye again. Hermione makes her way over to Molly and Arthur, who were stood in the centre of the platform. Molly pulls her into a tight hug when she finally managed to push her way through the crowd. She's going to miss everything Hogwarts and all her friends who she doesn't usually see outside of school. She can't stop the tears that fall down her cheeks. She tries to discreetly wipe the tears with the sleeve of her jumper but it wasn't discreetly enough as Percy pulls her straight into another hug.

"Shush, don't cry Hermione," He whispers into her hair, hugging her tightly.

"I don't want things to change Perce." She cries onto his shoulder.

"Don't worry." He gives her a small squeeze. "You'll be back at Hogwarts in no time, teaching students how to levitate a feather or transfigure a rat into a goblet." He chuckles making her laugh. "Or how to brew polyjuice potion in your second year." He pulls her back to look her in the eye.

"You know about that?" She asks shocked.

"I've always known. I came to check on you when you were in the Hospital Wing. It was kind of obvious that one of your experimentations had gone wrong. It only to an hour in the library to find out what you had done." Percy admits.

Hermione sighs. "It won't be the same without my friends."

"Well, for at least the next two years you're going to be living In the Ministry Starter Estate." He tries to help her feel better.

"That's not making me feel any better." She glares at him jokingly.

"You've got four days before the Partner Ceremony. Try not to think about it too much and spend some time with your family." He tells her to which she just nods giving him another quick hug before pulling completely away.

She turns around to say goodbye to the Weasley's then she exits the platform to find her parents. They're sat waiting on the bench opposite the wall for Platform 9 ¾. When they see her they both stand up. Her mother rushes forward to pull her into an almost bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, Hermione. I've missed you so much. I'm glad you're finally finished with school." She mumbles. When her Mum backs away her Dad pulls her into an equally tight hug.

"How are you love?" He asks her.

"Fine Dad. I'm quite tired and emotional." She shrugs. "I think I need a nap." She yawns.

"Let's get you home dear." Her Mum takes hold of her hand pulling her out of Kings Cross Station and toward their car.

She ends up falling asleep in the car ride home but her Mum wakes her up by gently shaking her shoulder.

"I think you should head straight to bed dear." Her Mum suggests to which she nods.

She shuffles her way tiredly into her house then up the stairs to her room. She only bothers to take her shoes and cloak off before climbing under her quilt and falling into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS, and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	6. Chapter 6 - Draco's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 6 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BigDsWisdom) for updates and sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters.
> 
> I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

The first few months of Hogwarts seemed to go far too quickly for Draco. He spent most of his time in lessons, studying for his NEWTs, hanging out with his friends and worrying about The Marriage Decree. His head was constantly cloudy with thoughts he couldn't clear. Every time his eyes fell upon a girl in their seventh or eighth year, he would ponder what it would be like to be married to them. It was doing no good for his studies. He was still fighting side by side with Granger to be the top of their classes. They were about tied with five classes each but he would no doubt end up with an O in every exam either way.

It's now Easter half-term, his mother had sent him am owl telling him not to come home for the holidays and to instead spend the holidays studying for his exams. So like any good son, he spent all his spare time studying in the library, following his mother's advice.

There's a Hogsmeade trip today and Draco wants to get there and back as quickly as possible so he can continue to study. He's awake much earlier than the rest of the Slytherin house since there's no one in the common room. He assumes everyone is catching up on their sleep. He had tried to wake Blaise up, hoping to drag him along with him, but after spending five minutes trying to coerce him out of bed, he gave up and made his way to the Great Hall alone.

He didn't expect to see anyone else in the hall, so when he turns to walk through the door and finds Granger sat at the Gryffindor table, he freezes a little surprised. He waits for her to look up at the appearance of another person in the hall but she seems too invested in her book so he ignores her to the best of his ability and takes a seat at the Slytherin table.

At his presence, breakfast appears on the table around him. He grabs himself a goblet of orange juice along with two slices of toast and a handful of strawberries. With nothing to distract him, he finds himself staring at Granger wondering what it would be like to be married to her.

Probably a nightmare. Although she does have some positive qualities. She enjoys reading so they could spend their nights ignoring each other and reading their books. If they wanted to converse, there would never be a lack of topics. They are both the brightest wizard and witch to walk Hogwarts Halls in generations. They could probably spend the rest of their lives talking together and never repeat themselves. Draco shakes his head. What is he thinking? His eyes focus, thankfully Granger doesn't seem to notice that he's staring at her. She's still reading her book. He narrows his eyes trying to read the cover of her book. 'Lost Spells from the Tenth Century'. He makes a mental note to have a look for it in Tomes and Scrolls later today.

When he finishes breakfast, he returns to his common room to grab a few things, namely his cloak and coins. He tries once more to rise Blaise out of bed but to no avail. It's still early, but the Hogsmeade shops open in ten minutes, so he sets off down the long path leading from the Grand Doors of Hogwarts to the Grand Gates. When he arrives in Hogsmeade, he decides that whilst he's here, and he might not be back for a while, he might as well browse in any shop that interests him, rather than just the ones he knows he needs to go in.

This might have been a mistake as he ends up spending a lot of coins in the Spintwitches, J. Pippin's Potions, and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop before he even made it to Tomes and Scrolls.

In Tomes and Scroll, he heads straight to the back where the books on charms are kept, hoping to find the book Granger had been reading for a quick flick through. He's curious to know what was so interesting that it made her less vigilant of her surroundings. 'Mad Eye Moody would surely be disappointed' he thinks with a smirk as he browsed the shelves.

He's only been searching for a few minutes when something very heavy and very hard hits him on the head.

"For Merlin's sake." He curses loudly rubbing the top of his head where the pain is pulsating furiously.

He bends down to pick up the offending item, a book when he hears someone apologising.

"I'm so sorry. I was trying to… Malfoy?"

"WHAT?" He shouts angrily as he straightens up only to find Granger stood in front of the bookshelf. The slight twitch of fear in her eyes makes all the anger drain from his face before he realises he doesn't care and reapplies it. "What?" He repeats trying to sound angry.

"I'm… sorry." She apologises ignoring the waver in her voice. "I was trying to reach a book on the top shelf. I must have pushed it by accident." She explains pointing at the book in Draco's hand.

He looks down at his hands then up at the space where it had fallen from on the top shelf and raises an eyebrow. "So instead of crashing into me, you've moved on to hitting me with objects." He motions to the book.

She stares at him rather blankly for a few moments, so he smirks to let her know that he was attempting to joke. Then, without much warning, he steps forward to place the book back on the top shelf. He's a good few inches taller than her so normally he would be able to reach, but she's stood in his way, still staring at him, so he has to stand on his toes to reach over the top of her. Once he steps back, he looks back down at Granger who's blushing and avoiding his eyes.

"Sorry." She mumbles then turns on her heel and rushing towards the front desk to pay for her items.

It's definitely not the strangest behaviour he's seen from Granger but it is near the top. He gave up on searching for the book, his head is still thumping, and instead heads to the Three Broomsticks for a drink.

He takes a seat at the bar, waiting to be served. It's not long before Madame Rosmerta saunters up to him with a playful gleam in her eye. "Draco." She smiles and his heart drops.

He still hasn't forgiven himself for what he did to Rosmerta. He probably never will. He should be in Azkaban with his father but the Wizengamot decided that, since he had still been a child at the time and Madame Rosmerta made a formal forgiveness speech at his court trail, all his charges would be dropped. It had been all over the Daily Prophet. 'Malfoy forgiven for unforgivable'.

"Rosmerta." He replied guiltily avoiding her eyes, instead choosing to look at her nose.

"Oh no!" She wags her finger in his face. "No one who Imperio's me gets to call me Rosmerta." She announces seriously.

His eyes widen. "I'm still very sorry for what I did Madam Rosmerta." He apologises again.

Her eyes soften. "What can I get you darl?" She asks, unnecessarily wiping the bar down.

"Just a Butterbeer please." He orders.

When she returns, he takes a sip then smiles at her. "You must frequently be Imperioed to have a rule for it." He mentions.

"No darl. You're the one and only." She winks at him before heading down to the other end of the bar to serve another customer.

Draco lets a small smile grace his face as he stares down at his glass of Butterbeer.

"Draco, I've been looking all over for you," Blaise announces his arrival by patting him on the shoulder then taking a seat next to him.

"I told you I was coming to Hogsmeade last night. I tried to wake you this morning but you were dead to the world. If it weren't for the snoring, I would have worried you were dead." He jokes.

"Aww, thanks, Draco." Blaise places a dramatic hand over his heart. "It's nice to know you'd care if I died." She sniffs.

"If you die?" Draco asks raising an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me you're the new Nicholas Flamel?"

"I'll make sure you die first so you'll never know." He laughs.

Draco shakes his head at his friend's antics before downing the rest of his Butterbeer.

"I need something stronger than this." He mutters placing his glass on the bar. "Madame Rosmerta." He calls her attention. "Two firewhiskey's please." He holds up to fingers.

"Why are we drinking firewhisky?" Blaise asks as Madame Rosmerta places their glasses in front of them.

Draco shrugs taking a sip from his glass then wincing as the fiery liquid burns his throat. "Why not?" He sighs rubbing his head as pain shoots down his spine from where Granger injured him.

"What's wrong with you?" Blaise asks downing his firewhisky in one.

"Nothing." He shrugs then follows Blaise in downing his own drink. He motions to Madame Rosmerta for two more glasses.

"I can tell when you're lying to me Draco." He points out sadly.

Draco rolls his eyes, which is a mistake since another sharp pain is sent down his spine.

"She dropped a book on my head?" He mutters choosing to sip his second shot.

"Who did?" Blaise asks confused.

"Who do you think?" Draco faces him with a glare.

Blaise stares into his eyes, seemingly searching for the answer. "Granger?" He asks.

He turns away thereby confirming Blaise's suspicions.

"'ow'd she do that? Ya're taller than 'er." He points out before downing his drink again.

Draco watches as Blaise motions Madame Rosmerta for another four shots.

"You might want to slow down there, Blaise." He eyes his friend down worriedly as he downs his third shot then passes another one to Draco who's still nursing his second.

"Nah, we ain't got long left 'ave we mate. We gonna be marrid in… in…" Draco watches as Blaise tries to count something on his fingers. "Soon."

"Six weeks." Draco helps trying not to laugh at Blaise. His accent always reverts back to his London upbringing when he's drunk.

"Dunut matta. I don't wanna fink bout it." He downs another shot then glares at Draco until he follows.

Draco downs the rest of his second shot then goes for his third before Blaise drinks them all. His friend can barely walk straight sober but it's nearly impossible when drunk. Draco downs his third trying not to cough at the burning sensation. He goes to grab his fourth but Blaise has already beaten him to it.

Dejectedly, Draco pulls Blaise's shoulder to get him off his stool.

"Come on, we're going?" He urges Blaise towards the door.

"Where we goin?" He questions frowning confusingly at Draco.

"We're going home so you can sleep. You're drunk." He points out.

Blaise huffs a laugh. "I ain't drunk. I been more drunker many times before." His friend boasts.

Draco laughs. "I'm sure you have but not when you need to sneak back into Hogwarts." He explains.

"Hmm, you right. Why not we go home for tonight? Come back tomorrow. Or we never come back." Blaise suggests excitedly jumping up and down. "Draco, Draco, Draco, we can run away." Draco knows he's trying to whisper but he's speaking louder than he would soberly speak. "Move to France and marry pretty French ladies."

"Then get caught by The Ministry and sent to Azkaban for Merlin knows how long with my Father." Draco glares pointedly at him. "Yes Blaise, great plan." He rolls his eyes.

He ends up dragging Blaise by the wrist up the hill towards the castle. In his drunken state, Blaise is dawdling behind moaning that they were moving too quickly.

"Will you shut up, Blaise. People are starting to stare at us." He complains.

"Fine." He grumps then stays quiet for the rest of the walk to the castle.

Draco pauses at Great Door and turns to intimidate Blaise.

"If you mutter one word as I try to sneak you down to our common room, I will personally ensure you don't make it to your wedding day?" He glares down the steps to his friend who audible swallows, nodding his head nervously.

He turns back around before he laughs at how easily lead his friend is when drunk. Draco tries to open the door silently but, at nearly two thousand years old, it squeaks open loudly. He closes his eyes, wincing at the noise, hoping that no professors were around to hear them. Luckily, he can't see anyone as he pulls his drunken friend through the door and rushes down the staircase leading to the dungeons. They're half-way down the corridor when one of the classroom doors swings open. Draco pulls Blaise quickly into an alcove, placing a finger over his lips to shush him. They wait until whoever it was is long gone before almost running the rest of the way to the portrait guarding their common room.

Draco gives the password then waits for the portrait to swing open before pulling Blaise to safety. He sighs in relief as the portrait slams shut behind them. Professor McGonagall had given a Hufflepuff two months of detentions when she came back after a Hogsmeade trip drunk. He doesn't want Blaise's last six weeks of Hogwarts to be spent in detention.

He puts Blaise into his bed, tucks him in, then grabs his books and heads down the library again to study. He only studies until dinnertime, deciding that he should probably spend some time with his other friends.

He finds Theo at the Slytherin table and takes a seat next to him. He's already tucked into his food when Draco starts piling food onto his own plate.

"Where is everyone else?" Draco asks glancing up and down the table, not finding any of their friends.

"Pansy said she had a large lunch and she's watching her weight. She wants to lose seven more pounds before the Partner Ceremony." Theo rolls his eyes. "I have no idea where Goyle is and I think you already know where Blaise is." He raises an amused eyebrow.

Draco nods taking a bite from his lamb chop. They sit in comfortable silence until they finish their dinner and they're left sipping tea from beautiful china cups.

"What happened to your head?" Theo frowns looking at the top of his head.

Draco lifts a hand, forgetting about his previous accident, to find a rather large bump. Pain pulsates from it at his gentle touch causing him to wince. "A book fell on my head in Tomes and Scrolls." He explains without going into too much detail.

"It looks really painful Draco. You might want to go see Madam Pomfrey about it." He advises.

"I'll be fine" He shrugs drink the rest of his tea. "I've got a potion in my trunk for the pain." He adds standing up from the bench and bidding Theo a goodnight.

He doesn't head back to the Slytherin common room, though. He goes back up to the library to finish his studying. He's not there long, however, as the pain becomes too much as he gives in, heading back to his room for the potion. He must have made it a bit too strong because as soon as he drank it, he began to feel drowsy. He barely had enough time to climb under his quilt before he fell unconscious.

When he wakes up, he doesn't recognise his surroundings but it's very dark. It must be early in the morning. He stretches his arms and back out before sitting up. Glancing around, he instantly realises where he is. He's in the hospital wing. He spots Madam Pomfrey through the window of her office. 'Why am I here?' He thinks, rubbing his eyes ridding them of sleep. Looking down at his body, he notices he's wearing a hospital gown. He confusingly glides a hand through his hair, before remembering he was swollen yesterday. The swelling has gone down considerably.

"Draco! You've finally awoken." Madam Pomfrey exclaims rushing over to him. She checks his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingernails and then the bruise on his head. "You had us all worried there for a moment Draco." She mutters as she checks him over.

"Why am I here?" He asks with a yawn.

"What do you last remember Draco?" She asks him perching on the edge of his bed.

He thinks back. "I drank a pain relief potion last night then went to bed." He explains.

"Well, that explains it then. Was the potion one of your own concoctions?" She asks curiously.

Draco frowns. 'Why isn't she telling me why I'm here?' He wonders as he nods. "Yeah, I might have made it too strong but it did its job. My head's not swollen and there's no pain." He shrugs but Madam Pomfrey shakes her head.

"Draco, you've been unconscious for thirty hours." She tells him softly.

He frowns at her. "What?" He asks confused.

"Blaise tried to wake you in the morning but you wouldn't move, he sent Theo to fetch me. You've been here for twenty hours now." She explains.

"Thirty hours!" He exclaims. He's missed an entire day. He's only got five weeks until the NEWTs. "When can I leave?" He asks trying to get out of bed but Madam Pomfrey pushes him back down.

"I need to run some tests to ensure your potion is out of your system." She says as she takes her wand out of her robes. "Then you can leave."

Draco huffs then reluctantly lies back down, as she starts waving her wand over his body and muttering medical spells. Once she's done and she's happy with the results from her medical checks, she pulls the curtain along giving him the privacy to get changed. When he's dressed, he bids Madam Pomfrey goodbye then goes back to his common room to grab his books. He doesn't feel tired so he might as well catch up on the entire days studying he missed yesterday.

He decides to stop by the kitchens to grab some food since he hasn't eaten in over thirty hours. The house-elves happily send him away with a bacon sandwich, some grapes and an apple. He's eaten the bacon sandwich before he's even made it up the stairs from the dungeons. He then munches on his vine of grapes as he walks up the staircases to the library. He shoves his apple in his bag planning on eating it around lunchtime.

As he makes his way to his usual table he spots Granger sat at her own usual table, fast asleep. He wonders how long she has been there but doesn't wonder on it for long. He can't afford to let his thoughts get away from him right now. He settles down at his table and starts his studying.

He glances up from his book and notes to check on granger. She's still not awake. He checks the time to find that breakfast is over now so she'd have to wait until lunchtime to eat now. He looks around the library. There're a few other people studying at their own tables. He takes his apple out of his bag and quietly as possible walks over to Granger's table, placing the apple in front of her before nonchalantly checking out the bookshelf behind her in case anyone looks over. He heads back to his own table to continue his studies.

About an hour later he senses movement from Granger's table. He glances out the corner of his eye, she's glancing around the library looking slightly confused. He goes back to making his notes trying to ignore the eyes he felt boring into the side of his head. He waits until she's left the library, eating his apple, until he relaxes and actually goes back to studying properly.

As the weeks leading up to the NEWTs went on, Draco found himself spending more and more time in the library. In fact, he spent more time there than he did in the Slytherin common room. Over the weeks, it became sort of like a routine. Draco would head down to the kitchen for breakfast at around five in the morning, then head up to the library where he would find Granger asleep either at her desk or at one of the window benches, he would leave her an apple before going back to his own studying. Granger would awake about ten, grab her thing and leave eating his apple.

That is until the day before their final exam. Their potion exam. This is the one exam that Draco cares about more than any other exam. When he arrives at the library this morning, he finds Granger's seat empty. All her books and notes are spread out but he can't see her anywhere. Draco goes over the potions section of the library to try and find the book he needs to check his notes but when he gets there he can't find the book he needs. Annoyed, he walks back to his desk. That is until he spots the potion book he needs on Granger's desk. He takes another glance around but she still doesn't appear to be in the library so he takes her potion book and replaces with a charms books off the shelf. He opens it to a random page on the Patronus Charm and takes the opportunity to leave her the apple atop of the book.

She returns a few minutes later. He watches as she stares suspiciously at the apple then glances around the library for whoever left it there. Draco tries to concentrate on his notes but can't stop the small smile that graces his face when she takes a bite of his apple. He goes back to the potion back and instantly gets entranced by his notes.

A shadow suddenly appears in front of him. Pansy has taken it upon herself the past couple of weeks to spend as much time as she can with him. He's told her not to bother him in the library since he needs to focus on his studying but every now and then she shows up. He doesn't get too annoyed though since she usually brings food but he's already eaten breakfast and it's not even eight o'clock yet.

"Go away, Pansy. I'm trying to study for out potions exam tomorrow." He's embarrassed to admit that he whines.

"So was I until somebody stole the book I was reading." A voice that is definitely not Pansy's says pointedly.

He lifts his head up, slamming the potions book shut. "What are you doing?" He snaps at her quickly trying to hide the cover of the book with his arms.

"You stole my book. I want it back. Now!" She demands, holding her hand out for the book.

"I don't have your book so why don't you go back to your own and learn about the Patronus Charm." He smirks, purposely giving himself up. He's finished with her potions book anyway.

"For your information, I learned how to produce a corporeal Patronus Charm in 5th year and that just proves it was you who stole it. Now give it back." She throws a smirk back at him.

Draco can't help but admit that he's impressed by the fact she can produce a corporeal Patronus. He's only been able to produce one once and he doesn't think he'll ever be able to produce one again. He doesn't have any powerfully happy memories left.

He glares at her. "I'm finished with it anyway." He hands it out for her to take which she does then walks away from him.

Draco stays in the library studying until dinnertime. He hasn't eaten since his early breakfast with the house-elves and his stomach is starting to audible rumble. He packs his books and notes away then heads straight to the great Hall where his friends are already sat eating. He squeezes onto the bench between Blaise and Pansy.

"How nice of you to join us." Blaise teases, passing him the bowl of carrots.

Draco rolls his eyes, taking the bowl and scooping a few spoonsful of carrots onto his plate. "The potions exam tomorrow is the most important exam I will probably ever take. I need to be prepared for anything they give us." He explains piling his plate with meat and more vegetables.

Pansy huffs bring his attention to her.

"What's wrong?" He asks as he starts eating his food. He wants to be back in the library in half an hour.

"I never get to spend any time with you anymore." She pouts.

"I don't know why you're complaining. I'm his best friend and I haven't spent time with him since Easter." Blaise pouts as well.

"Yeah well I'm…" She stops midsentence, eyes wide

"You're not his anything Pansy." Blaise points out with a laugh.

"We'll see." She mumbles glaring at who glares back.

Draco looks back and forth between his two friends. It's no secret that Blaise and Pansy don't like each other but arguing over him is definitely a new low.

"My father's done all he can so we'll just have to wait until Wednesday," Pansy whispers in his ears.

He nods slightly confused. He feels like he should know what she's talking about but she rambles on and on whenever he's with her that he can't help but tune out most of the time.

When he finishes his dinner he bids them goodnight then goes back to the library to study. He doesn't plan on staying there all night so when he hear a nearby clock strike midnight he packs his things away then heads back to his common room. There's still a few people milling around in front of the fireplace or playing wizards chess by the window but no one he personally knows so he makes his way up to the bedroom he shares with Blaise, Theo, and Goyle. They're all in bed, sleeping when he enters so he washes, gets changed into his pyjamas then climbs into bed hoping for a good night's sleep ready for the Potions exam in the morning.

The potion exam asks him to make the Draught of Peace. He sighs happily in relief. He could make this with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. He chuckled slightly as he gets started. Once he's done, he proudly collects a sample of his white liquid. There's no doubt in his mind that his potion is perfect. His only competition is Grangers but as he hands his in, he notices that hers is half a shade dark then his.

"Five minutes left students." The examiner calls out.

Draco goes back to his desk taking a seat on his stool where he feels himself deflate. He yawns tiredly. He's spent the last five weeks studying in the library and now that his last exam is over he feels like he could sleep for days. Unfortunately, the Hogwarts Express is leaving tomorrow morning so the most he can sleep is ten hours once he's packed all his things belongings in his trunk.

He wakes up the next morning to Blaise jumping on his bed excitedly.

"Draco, Draco, Draco, Draco!" He repeats over and over again until he opens his eyes.

"What?" He questions rolling onto his back and stretching his arms and back until they pop.

Blaise jumps on top of him, straddling stomach. "It's eight o'clock. You need to get up. We need breakfast" He shakes his shoulders. "The train is leaving in two hours. We're going home. We're getting married in four days. I can't wait." He squeals excitedly jumping up and down again.

"Do you mind not jumping up and down on my bladder?" Draco yawns pushing his best friend off of him.

Blaise fidgets excitedly as Draco goes to the bathroom then gets dressed. His friend doesn't shut up all the way down to the hall. Draco doesn't pay much attention though until Blaise punches him in the shoulder.

"What Blaise?" He complains, annoyingly rubbing his painful shoulder.

"This Tuesday night we're going out," Blaise announces excitedly hopping around.

"Why?" He grabs hold of his friend's shoulders keeping him still.

"For our stag do." He rolls his eyes. "It's what I was just talking about."

"What's a stag do?" He questions curiously.

"It's a muggle tradition we go out to celebrate out last night of freedom before becoming married men." He explains.

"Really." He raises and eyebrow. "We're going to celebrate the fact that we're being forced to having children with someone we probably don't know and who we're being forced to marry." He frowns at his friend.

"Okay, I'll celebrate and you can mourn. Either way, we're going out on Tuesday night." He says forcefully.

"Fine." Draco gives in. "We won't be out long anyway, you get drunk off two shots of Firewhisky," Draco smirks.

"I do not," Blaise argues defensively.

"Really, I must be remembering our last Hogsmeade trip differently." He laughs as Blaise avoids eye contact. "Don't you remember?" He teases. "I had to drag you back to the castle then you were unconscious for nearly eighteen hours."

"Since it's your last day at Hogwarts." An authorities voice behind them makes them stop mid-step. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that Mr Malfoy." Professor McGonagall steps in front of them giving them both a stern look before walking ahead of them towards the Grand Hall.

At half nine, Draco and Blaise set off with their trunks to Hogsmeade Station. Most of the younger students board the Hogwarts Express straight away leaving the last years on the station to say goodbye to everyone. Most of the Professors have made the journey to say goodbye as well. Draco shook Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn, and Madame Pomfrey hand before boarding the train with Blaise, Theo, and Pansy. They make their way to their compartment at the front of the train, put their trunk in the overhead storage, then sit in their usual seats awaiting the trains departure.

It's strange to think that this is the last time they will ever board the Hogwarts Express. Draco looks up towards the castle. It's probably the last time he'll ever see Hogwarts Castle. He'll probably have no need to visit Hogsmeade since the shops are only local branches. They stock a lot more in the Diagon Alley shops. He might come visit Madame Rosmerta every once in a while but over the years, his visits will most likely become less and less frequent until it's been so long that to visit would just be too awkward.

Draco shakes his head, closing his eye and leans his head back against the wall behind him. He tries to clear his thoughts but he can't. Everything is swimming around in his head. Thoughts of the marriage decree, his future wife, his future children, his NEWT results and other things that don't exactly make sense in his mind right now.

He's jostled awake by someone kicking his foot. He sits up straight looking confusingly out of the window at the crowds of people.

"We're at Kings Cross, Draco," Blaise announces offering his friend a hand up.

He's a little disappointed that he missed the entire train ride but he's still too tired to let it get to him. He pulls his trunk down from the overhead storage then exits the train with Blaise and Pansy.

Pansy throws herself at him once they're on the platform.

"I'll see you on Wednesday." She whispers in his ear then winks as she backs away and runs off towards her parents.

Blaise and Draco, having no one waiting for them, walk through the platform wall onto muggle Kings Cross. Blaise's Mum and stepdad, Alberic, were still in Toulouse. They had ended up buying a house over there and were in the process of making it their permanent residence. They were arriving at Malfoy Manor on Monday afternoon where they would be staying in the guest rooms until Thursday when they would return to Toulouse.

Once in the alleyway behind Kings Cross, they both disapparate to Malfoy Manor, where Blaise would be staying until the Partner Ceremony on Wednesday. They drag their trunks up the winding path up to the front door where Mitty is stood waiting for their arrival.

"Master Draco." She squeaks happily. "Master is home. Mitty made Master's favourite for dinner." She announces proudly.

"Ahh, spaghetti Bolognese with apple pie for desert." Blaise hums appreciatively.

"I can't wait, Mitty." He praises her. "Where's mother?"

"Master's mother is in the library, Master." She answers taking his and Blaise's cloaks.

"I'll take these up to your room." Blaise takes hold of their trunks then heads towards the stairs.

Draco heads towards the library. He knocks before entering to find his mother curled up on a chaise lounge with a book and a large glass of red wine. She looks up as he enters.

"Draco dear, I didn't hear you arrive." She beacons him over. "Mitty's making your favourite for dinner." She mentions giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"So I've heard." He says stepping out of her embrace.

His mother sits back down leaving him awkwardly standing before announcing, "I'll be in my room if you need me."

He enters his room to find Blaise already in his pyjama trousers sprawled out on his bed reading The Daily Prophet. His trunk is open at the side of his bed and half of his belongings are flung on the floor.

"Make yourself at home why don't you." He mutters as he starts to unpack his own clothes.

He grabs his own pair of pyjama trousers to change into then joins his friend on his bed. He doesn't plan on napping but the next thing he knows, Blaise is shaking him awake for the third time today.

"Come on Draco, dinner's ready. You can sleep all you want afterwards." He chuckles grabbing the spare dressing gown that he always wears when he stays over.

Draco has offered Blaise one of the spare bedrooms many times but his friend always refuses, preferring to share. Draco doesn't mind all that much. They're both only child's and it's nice to have someone to share with sometimes.

Dinner is delicious and he sends many compliments to the chef, much to his mother's annoyance. Afterwards, both he and Blaise head back up to his room after bidding his mother and Mitty goodnight. Draco is asleep within minutes after climbing into bed.

The next morning, he doesn't awake to Blaise shaking him or to Mitty blinding him. Instead, he wakes up completely naturally. He yawns and stretches his body out in odd angles. It's the first time in what must be years that he's felt like he's awoken fully rested. It's then that he realises that he's alone in bed. Blaise is probably in the kitchens with Mitty and Gharther. He checks the grandfather clock that stands next to his bedroom door. It's twenty past two. At first, he wonders why he's awake this early but one look at his curtained window tell him it's the afternoon. He can't find it within himself to care.

He dresses, washes, then makes his way downstairs into the kitchens but Blaise isn't there. Neither are Mitty and Gharther. He checks the lounge, the dining room before finding his mother in the library.

"Mother, have you seen Blaise today," He asks entering the room.

"Yes, dear." She places her book on the side table. "He mentioned going to Toulouse for the day to visit his mother and stepfather. He said he'll return either later tonight or in the morning." She explains before standing up.

She walks towards him then takes his hands in hers. "I've made an appointment at Madam Malkin's for you at four o'clock to have your wedding robes fitted. I designed them myself so I do hope you like them." She lovingly caresses his cheek.

"If you designed them I'm sure I'll love them, mother." He tells her.

"You're such a good boy." She slaps his cheek lightly. "Don't be late. You know how she hates to be kept waiting."

"I know, mother." He nods. "I think I'll have some lunch before I go." He gives her a small smile before leaving her to her book.

He goes back down to the kitchens where Gharther is stood over a chopping board.

"Gharther, could you make me a sandwich please?" He asks taking a seat on one of the stools.

"Gharther is already making Master one." He announces. "Gharther heard Master talking to Master's mother. Gharther is sorry." The house-elf bows his head awaiting his punishment.

Gharther was promoted to his father's house-elf after Dobby left so he can understand why he's stood shaking in anticipation of pain.

"Thank you Gharther." He says, watching as Gharther looks through his lashes at Draco before deciding that he isn't about to have something thrown at him so he goes back to the sandwich.

Draco stays in the kitchen to eat it, talking to Gharther. Although it is mainly one-sided as the house-elf keeps looking down at his oddly socked feet. As soon as he's finished his sandwich, Gharther takes his plate away to wash it up. Draco leaves him to it, going back upstairs to grab his shoes and summer cloak. He then takes a slow stroll through the Manor's garden. When he reaches the gates, he checks his watch. It's only ten past three. He decides to walk down the country lane a bit to clear his mind and just be surrounded by nature. He's only been walking for five minutes when a muggle car pulls up next to him.

"Hey, do you live locally?" A man in his mid-twenties leans out of the window to ask.

Draco stares back for a few seconds before answering. "Yes."

"Good, you're the first person I've seen hours." The man chuckles looking him up and down.

"I'm not surprised. I don't think many people live around here." Draco replies.

"What's with the cloak? You living in the nineteenth century." The man laughs.

Draco checks the man out. He's wearing a rather bright orange jacket that matches the bandana in his obviously dyed blonde hair. Is this what muggles think is fashionable?

"I look good, at least." He looks down his nose at the man.

"I can't deny that at all." The man winks at him making Draco slightly uncomfortable. "You need a lift somewhere? As far as I've seen there's nothing much out here." He shrugs looking around the countryside.

"No thank you." He declines setting off walking again.

"Come on man." He calls after Draco creeping his car closer and closer. "Okay, can you, at least, tell me how to get to the nearest town?" He asks.

"No, I don't know this area well." Draco keeps on walking.

"I thought you said you lived locally." The man points out.

"I do live locally but that doesn't mean I know the area well." Draco snaps at the man who is starting to get on his nerves.

"Calm down man. Where do you live anyway?" The man asks curiously. "You don't live in that mansion back there so you?"

Draco ignores him. He checks his watch. It's only twenty past three so he's still got plenty of time but he still wants to get rid of this muggle.

"You do, don't you? Damn man, you must be loaded." The man says making Draco stop.

"Mind your own business and leave me alone." Draco glares at him before walking off again.

"I've hit a sore spot haven't I?" The man teases making him angry. "Is the poor little rich boy tired of Daddy's money?" He laughs.

Draco pauses again dead in his track, whips his wand out and jabs it into the man's neck.

"You don't have any idea who I am or what I'm capable of doing muggle." He spits at the man who has the decency to look sacredly confused as he fumbles around with something inside his car.

Suddenly, he's driving very quickly away from him. Draco watches with a smirk as the man speeds off down the country road before disapparating into a dark alleyway down Diagon Alley. He makes his way towards Madam Malkin's shop. It's just gone half past three when he enters the shop and coincidentally, one of her clients has cancelled their appointment so she can see Draco now.

He doesn't get the chance to have a proper look at his robes before Madam Malkin makes him try them on but as soon as she places him in front of the wall-length mirror he can instantly see why his mother was so excited for him to see it.

She has chosen plain black trousers with a black shirt, a forest green velvet tie and waistcoat. Both have intricate gold designs stitched into the velvet which shines under the light. His cloak is made from the same forest green velvet material and flows gracefully down to the floor. A lesser man would cry at the beauty of the outfit. Draco, however, simply smiled at his reflection. He might be getting forced into marriage on Wednesday but at least, he will look good doing so.

He thanks, Madam Malkin, pays the bill, and then exits the shop back into Diagon Alley. Knowing what he'll be wearing for The Partner Ceremony makes him almost look forward to it.

He disapparates back to the gates of Malfoy Manor. Once inside he goes straight to his bedroom to hang his new outfit up before going off to find his mother. She's exactly where he expects to find her. In the library lounging on her chaise lounge. He rushes towards her happily.

"Mother, you have outdone yourself with my wedding robes. They are simply magnificent." He praises her.

"I'm glad you like them Draco." She smiles proudly. "I cannot wait to see you in them on Wednesday. You'll no doubt make it into the Daily Prophet as best dressed. Although I did hear…" She rambles on not noticing Draco's smile fall.

'Best Dressed.' He hadn't thought about how the magazines would publish a story on The Partner Ceremony but it made sense for them to take photographs of the best dressed and worst dressed couples. They'll probably dedicate the entire Daily Prophet to the ceremony. No doubt they'll be a write up about some of the most famous couples. Even before his involvement in the war was made publically known his family was frequently in The Daily Prophet so there's no doubt in his mind that he'd be in Thursday's copy alongside his new wife. The Golden trio will have their own write up too. Thankfully people care more about them then they do Draco so hopefully, no one will pay attention to him.

Blaise doesn't return that night so Draco expects to see him in the morning but he sent an owl to explain how he's staying in Toulouse with his mother and Alberic and will just come back with them tomorrow ready for their stag do.

Draco's busies himself with organising his wardrobe into clothes he wants to take to his new residence at The Ministry Starter House and clothes he doesn't mind leaving behind. It takes him a few hours to do this since he has a largely impressive wardrobe but also because he spends, at least, half an hour trying to decide whether seven pairs of shoes are too many. He decides that seven pairs are too many but then he can't decide which pairs to leave behind. After another half hour, he finally settles on five pairs of shoes but then he doesn't know how many ties to take since he has forty-three and all of them are different colours.

By eleven o'clock he's satisfied that he has his entire wardrobe planned out for the next two years and he's confident he's prepared for anything. He has clothes appropriate for all seasons, for all occasions and he even has some muggles clothes in case he's partnered to a Muggleborn or a half-blood. He doesn't want to have to visit his muggle in-laws wearing his cloaks. He ends up going to bed feeling proud of himself.

He wakes up the next morning at a reasonable time. Or at least, a more reasonable time than he had the previous day. He missed breakfast but is dressed and sat at the dining table ready for lunch. It's just tea, a few sandwiches, and cakes, since Mitty is preparing the guest room for Mr and Mrs Stonage and Gharther, is busy preparing something much more extravagant for dinner since they have guests.

They arrive by floo just after four o'clock. Draco greets them politely but Mrs Zabini, or rather Mrs Stonage, pulls him into a tight hug and kisses both his cheeks. He holds out his hand firmly for Mr Stonage to shake which he does then pulls him into another bone crushing hug. He's definitely not used to this sort of affection but he supposes he might have to get used to it if his future in-laws are similar to the Stonages.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, Mr Stonage," Draco says as he guides them up the stairs towards the guest bedroom.

"Draco, call me Alberic, please." He pats Draco's shoulder. "Are you not my son's best friend?" He asks rhetorically.

Draco turns around to raise a questioning eyebrow at Blaise who just shrugs.

Once he's shown them to their room and told them that dinner will be at seven o'clock, he leaves them to settle in. Blaise follows him back to his bedroom where he flops down onto his bed.

"Son?" Draco questions as he follows in Blaise's footsteps and flops down onto his own bed.

"He actually takes an interest in me and mother seems to genuinely be in love with him." He explains.

"Are you sure it's him she's in love with?" Draco asks cautiously.

"Yes." He answers forcefully. "Al comes from a wealthy family but he's the youngest of twelve children so he didn't get much inheritance when his father died. All he got was a house in the Scottish countryside which he just sold so he could buy the house in Toulouse with Mother." He explains further.

"Well, my first impressions of him are very positive." Draco offers to which Blaise just nods.

They end up laying there, chatting about nothing in particular until dinner time. Gharther really has outdone himself tonight. There is a variety of different meat dishes and fish dishes with many different vegetables and potatoes. Then there are five different types of dessert for afterwards which both Draco and Blaise feel oblige to try.

Blaise excuses himself and Draco then leads the way back to Draco's bedroom where he'd be more than happy to simply lie in his bed, dreading the following morning but Blaise throws his cloak at him.

"Are you excited?" Blaise asks almost running back down the staircase.

"For what? Where are we going?" He asks chasing after his friend who runs out into the gardens.

The sun is just about visible behind the trees of the surrounding forests turning the sky a calming pink shade.

"For our Stag do. Don't tell me you forgot." He shook his head. "Come on, we're going to the Leaky Cauldron." He runs off down the Manor's garden path then disapparates once he is outside the gate.

Draco follows his friend to the Leaky Cauldron where they start off slowly with a couple of Butterbeers each then Blaise insists that they move on to the harder stuff. He orders three shots of firewhisky each and then begs Draco to do them all in a row with him. He gives into peer pressure and does the shots. It leaves Blaise slurring and Draco desperate for the toilet. He leaves his friend whispering to a small tree next to the bar as he staggers to the toilet. He wouldn't say he's drunk yet. Just a little tipsy. He'd need at least another six shots to himself to be drunk. When he returns, Blaise has ordered another shot each which he raises in the air at Draco return.

"Here's to us getting partnered with intelligent, attractive ladies who will fall in love with us and make many babies with us and grow old with us." Blaise slurs happily.

Draco rolls his eyes but drinks anyway. There's no harm in hoping for that outcome. After another two shots, he's definitely starting to feel the effect of the alcohol. He nearly falls over on his next trip to the toilet and upon his return, he finds Blaise talking to Granger.

'What's she doing here?' He thinks walking over to them.

"Nice to meet you, Fern," Granger says then proceeds to shake the branch of the tree Blaise has his arm around.

"Are you having a stag do too?" Blaise asks her leaning back against the bar.

"We're having a small party to celebrate. I'm just here to collect the alcohol. Are you here alone Blaise?" She questions him.

"No, I'm here with Drakey." Blaise mentions and Draco takes that as his cue to step in before he's embarrassed any further.

"Here you go, ma'am." The bartender hands over five bottles of firewhisky to Granger.

"Thank you." She says to the bartender before turning back to face Blaise and now Draco.

Her eyes widen slightly at his appearance so he smirks at her.

"I need to get going but I'll see you tomorrow Blaise." She announces staring straight at Draco. "Malfoy." She nods before walking away from them.

"She didn't say goodbye to Fern." Blaise pouts stroking the leaves of the small tree.

"You do know that's a not a fern tree." Draco points out.

"Don't be so judgemental Drakey." He reprimands him then turns to whisper to Fern. "Don't listen to him Ferny. You can be whatever you want to be."

"Right, I think it's time we got home. You don't want a hangover on your wedding day, do you?" He points out, dragging Blaise off his stool bench and towards the door.

He knows he probably shouldn't disapparate in his inebriated state but it's the quickest way of getting home without paying the bartender for the use of his fireplace. Thankfully they made it back to the manor without getting splinched.

Draco looks at his watch as they try to quietly climb the staircase to his bedroom. It's not long after eleven o'clock. In twelve hours he'll be sat in The Ministry alongside about five hundred other people waiting to be partnered. His stomach flips and he uses all his self-control not to throw up all over the carpet. He lets Blaise flop down onto his bed as he goes brush his teeth and change into his pyjama bottoms. When he returns, Blaise is fast asleep on top of his quilt. Draco climbs under them and tried to get comfortable but he's unable to. His thoughts are stuck on The Partner Ceremony, wondering what it's going to be like, who he's going to be paired to and who his friends are going to be paired with. He manages to think about calming waves crashing peacefully into cliffs and rocks long enough for him to fall asleep at about five o'clock in the morning but even then it's a restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7 - Hermione's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 7 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Her Mum wakes her up the following morning with a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea. She gives her Mum a tight hug then follows her downstairs into the kitchen where her Dad is sat at the table eating his own bacon sandwich whilst reading the newspaper.

"Look who decides to join the land of the living." He teases as she kisses her Dad's cheek.

"What time is it?" She asks biting into her sandwich.

"Just gone half past twelve." Her Mum answers as she washes up some plates and mugs.

Hermione groans annoyed. "Why'd you leave me in bed this late? Half the day's gone now." She complains sipping at her tea.

"We've got a long day ahead of ourselves today. We need to go dress shopping in London then your Grandma Betty's having a barbeque tonight so we won't be getting home until late." She explained their day.

"Great, will everyone be at the barbeque?" She questions excitedly.

"I should think so." She says drying her hands on the tea towel. "You should go get dressed. We're leaving in half an hour." She mentions taking Hermione's plate away to wash up.

Hermione takes her cup of tea with her back upstairs to her bedroom. She spends ten minutes just filing through her wardrobe trying to decide what to wear. She wants to wear something pretty and summery since it's a lovely warm day and she's going to a barbeque but she needs something warm in case it gets chilly later on.

She decides on a black flowery dress with a pair of thick tights and her heeled ankle boots. She brushes her teeth then takes the remaining of her tea, which has gone cold, down to the kitchen. He parents are already ready, chatting in the kitchen. She pulls on her leather jacket then grabs her handbag with her purse and book in it.

It takes them half an hour to drive into central London. Her Dad drops them off outside a wedding dress shop then drives off to park the car. They arrange to meet at the local pub in two hours.

Her mum opens the door to the shop for her causing a bell to jingle. A lady in a smart dress comes over with two glasses of champagne on a tray.

"Good afternoon. Are you Mrs and Miss Granger?" The lady smiles at them.

"Yes, we are. We have an appointment at half one." Her Mum announces.

"Of course. Congratulations Miss Granger. Here's a complimentary glass of champagne." She holds her tray out for them to take the glasses.

"Thank you." Hermione tries to smile at the lady but one look in the mirror shows her it's more of a grimace.

How is she supposed to smile when she doesn't even know who her husband is going to be?

"My name is Annabel and I'll be your assistant." She motions for them to sit on the deep purple loveseat whilst she sits on an armchair of the same colour. "What style of dress are you searching for?" Annabel asks with a pen poised over her notepad.

"Erm… I don't know." She shrugs. "I haven't really thought about it." She looks up at her Mum.

Annabel looks back and forth between them confused. "When's the big day?"

"Wednesday," Hermione answers trying to smile politely.

Annabel's eyes widen. "This Wednesday?" She places her pen and paper down on the side table.

"Er… Yes, we want a short engagement." Hermione tries to explain.

"Oh, are you..?" Annabel looks down at her stomach.

"No, no. We just don't see any point in waiting to get married." She says.

"Oh, sorry. Why don't you look at our racks and see if anything catches your eyes?" She offers. "I'm afraid if anything needs adjusting you'll have to pay a little extra since it's short notice," Annabel explains.

"That's fine." Her Mum strokes Hermione's curly hair. "We only get to do this once. Well, we hope we only get to do this once." She chuckles.

Hermione starts at one end of the rack and her Mum starts at the other end then they make their way towards the middle looking at the different dresses. Her Mum pulls out a large puffy cream dress.

She shakes her head vigorously. "I hate too many ruffles and it has to be white." She explains.

Annabel writes this down on her notepad as they carry on searching. Hermione pulls out an A-line, white dress with a lace bodice to show her Mum but she shakes her head so she puts it back. They're just reaching the middle of the rack when Hermione spots the one.

The dress is pure white with an intricate lace design on the bodice and sleeves. The fabric is pulled in at the waist by a dark green sash tied in a bow at her back. The skirt falls gently down to her feet. She shows her Mum who nods excitedly.

"Go try it on, Hermione." She urges her towards the changing rooms.

Thankfully the dress is only a size too big so the seamstress won't have to take it in much. It fastens up at the back with twenty buttons. She counts as Annabel helps her. She looks at herself in the changing room mirror. The dress is beautiful. It's perfect. She spins around letting the soft material of the skirt spin out around her. She loves it.

Annabel throws the curtains to her changing room open then steps aside to let Hermione walk into the room.

"Oh my, Hermione, you're beautiful." Her Mum wipes her tearing eyes. "Is it the one?" She asks.

"Yes, Mum. This is definitely the one." She smiles at her own reflection.

Her Mum pays for the dress and shoes then arranges to pick it up the following afternoon after the dress has been altered. They make their way towards the pub they had agreed to meet her Dad at. He's already sat at a table with a pint of beer and two small glasses of red wine for his wife and daughter.

"How did it go?" He asks standing up to hug them both.

"Very well Chris. Wait until you see her in her dress. She's beautiful." Her Mum tears up again.

"I can't wait." He smiles.

They finish their drinks then make their way back to where her Dad parked the car. Her Mum drives back to their house where they have a cup of tea before the barbeque. Grandma Betty calls them at half four to ask if they have any ketchup they can bring with them. Her Mum goes for a rummage in their cupboard and finds a large bottle.

They let themselves into Grandma Betty's house placing the bottle of ketchup next to the other condiments on the table and placing a six pack of beers in the colour next to the barbeque that Hermione's Grandad Tom and Uncles David were stood chatting. Her Dad goes straight over with a beer can leaving Hermione and her Mum to sit at the picnic table with Grandma Betty, Aunt Louise and her Godmother Sharon. Her cousins Sophie, Mark, Mia, Lauren and Craig were taking it in turns to jump on the trampoline.

"Hermione!" Her Aunt squeals giving her a massive hug. Hermione can smell the alcohol on her breath already.

"Hi, Aunt Louise. How have you been?" She asks politely stepping away.

"I'm doing a lot better now. I'm completely over Darren." She nods proudly before sipping at her large glass of wine.

Hermione smiles back worriedly.

"How have you been Hermine?" Sharon asks pulling her towards the picnic table. "It's been so long. I don't know how your parents could send you away to that school. I couldn't do it. I'd miss Mark and Mia too much." She glances over to her twins.

"Hermione calls home on the phone every couple of days." Her Mum lies easily. She must be used to saying it after eight years.

"You've graduated now though haven't you?" Her Grandma asks hopefully.

"Yes, I have." She smiles.

"Good. Now you have no excuse not to come visit me." She winks.

Hermione laughs along with her family. She leaves them to go say hello to her Grandad and Uncle.

"Hermione darling! I can't believe how tall you've gotten." Her Grandad Tom brings her into a hug.

"I haven't grown for the past three years Grandad." She chuckles.

"You still look taller every time I see you." He says flipping the burgers.

"Sarah tells me that you've just graduated school. What are your plans for the future?" Her Uncle David asks sipping at his beer.

David, at fifty-five, is five years older than her Mum. He's always asking about her future plans or whether she has a boyfriend or girlfriend yet. He's had to raise his daughter, Sophie, by himself since his girlfriend left them eight years ago, a month after her birth, since then he's been a lot more parental.

"I've been accepted into the University of Edinburgh to study physics." She lies. Physics is the closest thing to transfiguration she can think of in the muggle world. "I hope to become a science teacher eventually, though." She adds on truthfully.

"A teacher." Her uncle raises his eyebrow. He's a history teacher at the local secondary school. The one she probably would have attended had she not been a witch. "We don't make much money, you know?" He points out.

"I don't want to do it for the money." She tells him earning an approving grin.

"Correct answer." He tells her.

Suddenly there's a scream from over near the trampoline. Everyone turns around to find Sophie crying on the pavement with blood trickling down her knees. David runs over to his daughter to comfort her leaving Hermione with her Dad and Grandad.

"Do you want children, Hermione?" Her Grandad asks.

Hermione glances at her Dad from the corner of her eye who just winks at her.

"Yeah, I do want children." She answers because according to The Marriage Decree, she'll be having a child within the next two years.

"David never did until he got that woman pregnant. Now look at him. It's good that you know what you want at this age. Just don't leave it too late." Her Grandad murmurs going back into the house for another beer.

Her dad shrugs his shoulders at her then goes back to attending the barbeque so Hermione leaves him to it, instead going over to her cousins. Mark and Mia are fighting over whose turn it is to go on the trampoline. Lauren rolls her eyes and comes over to Hermione pulling her over towards the bench.

"Hello Lauren, how are you liking school?" She asks sitting down next to her cousin.

Lauren rolls her eyes again. It's obvious she takes after her Mum with her attitude.

"I don't like it." She pouts crossing her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Why not?" She frowns concerned. Lauren is very similar to her in the way she loves learning new things. She was sure her cousin would love school.

"I want to stay home with Craig." She says eyes watering.

That makes sense. There's only one year between them and they're more like best friends than siblings.

"Well does Craig not go to nursery whilst you're at school?" She questions.

"Yeah but only in the morning. Then Mummy picks him up." She frowns over at her Mum.

"Craig will be starting school in September won't he? Then you'll see him all day." She tries to explain to her.

Lauren pauses to think about it then she nods in agreement.

"Will you be playing with us in the summer like last year?" She asks hopefully.

"Of course. In fact, I finished school last Friday so we can play together more often." She tells her.

Lauren jumps up excitedly then runs over to tell Craig then Mark and Mia who are both in attending St Stephens Primary School. Marka nd Mia are in Year One, though. They all look excited by the news which pleases her since she barely gets to see her cousins and she thought they might not remember her. Especially at five years old.

"The foods ready." Her Grandad calls and everyone flocks over to the barbeque.

Hermione and her parents make it home just before eleven o'clock. She goes straight to bed wanting to get up early to start packing her trunk with the clothes she wants to take with her to The Ministry Starter Estate.

When she wakes up in the morning, she checks her alarm clock. It's twenty past eight. She stays in bed for an extra ten minutes before getting up and dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She opens her trunk, takes out her wand and casts the undetectable extension charm. She starts with her shoes. She only has five pairs so she just places them all in her trunk. She opens her draws and wardrobe to have a look at the clothes she owns. She doesn't have much. She throws many pairs of jeans, tops, dresses, skirts and cardigans.

Once she's done, she checks her alarm clock again. Only an hour has passed since she started packing. It's such a tedious task that she'd rather spend as little time as possible doing. She heads downstairs to find Ginny sat at the kitchen table with her Mum and Dad.

"What are you doing here, Ginny?" She asks giving her best friend a hug.

"The boys have decided to spend the day playing Quidditch but I don't really feel like it. Mum's gone robes shopping for the boys so I thought you might like to go out for lunch then maybe do a bit of shopping. I still need to buy my shoes for Wednesday." Ginny explains sitting back down and sips her tea.

"That sounds great." Hermione agrees. "Let me go get changed." She glances down at her shorts and t-shirt.

"I'll wait here," Ginny smiles.

Hermione races back upstairs and throws on the dress she wore yesterday along with her tights, ankle boots and leather jacket. She has a quick wash then goes back downstairs where Ginny is just finishing off her tea.

"I know this lovely little café near The Leaky Cauldron we can go to for lunch." She mentions as they leave through the back door. "One of my muggle friends Grandma owns it." She adds, ignoring the flare of jealousy in Ginny's eyes at the mention of a muggle friend.

They disapparate into Diagon alley then leave through the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione leads the way down the street and then left down a side street until she stops in front of 'Mrs Morris' Café'.

Mrs Morris greets them as soon as they enter wearing a flowery pink apron.

"Hello, welcome to Mrs Norris' Café. I'm… Hermione Granger. Is that you dear?" She asks pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Yes, it's lovely to see you again Mrs Norris." She replies.

"Oh, my." She gasps pulling her over to the table next to the window. "How long has it been? I don't think I've seen you since Derek's eleventh birthday party."

"That's right. The summer before I went off to school." Hermione clarifies.

"Yes! You went up to Scotland and broke my Derek's heart. He still talks about you, you know?" Mrs Morris winks knowingly.

The last time Hermione saw Derek was summer holiday's three years ago. They'd come to his Nana's café for a cup of tea. He'd been her best friend since nursery school and it was nice to catch up but it was quite awkward. She'd changed considerably over the past five years whilst Derek hadn't changed much at all.

"Who's your friend, Hermione?" She asks handing them both a menu.

"This is Ginny, one of my best friends from school." She introduces her.

"It's lovely to meet you dear." Mrs Norris smiles.

"You too, Mrs Norris," Ginny replies politely.

Mrs Norris leaves them to go collect a teapot and a tray of sandwiches and cakes. She places them on the table then pulls a chair up to their table.

"How have you been Mrs Morris?" Hermione asks stirring a teaspoon of sugar into her tea.

"I've been grand dear. You know this place nearly got shut down a few years back. Business was slow and I was in debt. Derek wanted me to borrow from the bank but they only steal your money. I had three days left to play when I won the full house at the bingo with your Granny Betty. I won £10,000. More than enough to pay off the bill and do some renovations. I gave the rest to Derek. He's such a good boy. He put it in his savings account ready for university. Are you single dear?" She asks but doesn't pause for a reply. "Because Derek is. You two would make such a lovely couple."

"I actually have a boyfriend, Mrs Morris. I met him at school." She interrupts.

Mrs Morris's face falls disappointedly. "Oh, well that's nice. Is it serious?" She asks hopefully.

Hermione laughs awkwardly. "Yes, I love him." She lies.

"Go on then dear, tell me a bit about him. What's his name?" She asks.

Hermione looks quickly to Ginny begging her to help but her friend just shrugs uselessly.

"Erm… his name's… Ronald. Er… Ron." She announces, watching as Ginny smirks at her from behind her tuna sandwich.

"Ronald? That's a good name. Well, congratulations. I'll leave you two girls to your lunch." Mrs Morris leaves them.

"Ronald." Ginny raises her eyebrow.

"Shut up, he's the closest thing I have to a boyfriend until Wednesday." She retaliates making Ginny laugh.

"Can you believe that we're getting married in two days?" Her best friend sighs and Hermione wants nothing more than to slap her out of this fairy-tale of a daydream she appears to be in.

"No, I can't," Hermione mumbles, nibbling at her own sandwich, her appetite having disappeared.

"Don't worry Hermione. I just know that you're going to end up happy." Ginny tells her cheerfully which just annoys her even further.

"How can you possibly know that? Are you a seer now?" She questions.

Ginny frowns. "No, but we've all been through enough shit these last few years that we deserve a happy ending." She explains.

"It's just wishful thinking Ginny. As far as we know, we might not even be getting paired by compatibility. It could be completely random or some sick game The Ministry are playing with us. We're nothing more than puppets to them." Hermione complains.

"Okay, stop. You're starting to sound like Percy with all these conspiracy theories about The Ministry. Harry's been in contact with Kingsley and from what information he's gathered, Harry seems to think the questionnaires aren't pointless after all." Ginny explains.

"But who care about their partner's favourite number, colour, food or drink?" Hermione points out.

"Harry did mention that in one of his letters actually, apparently it helps to show what type of person you are. I'm not entirely sure how but it has something to do with muggle Sicolgy." Ginny tells her.

"Psychology." She corrects.

She still doesn't understand how the questionnaire comprised of twenty questions can determine what sort of a person you are and then match you with someone who you are compatible with. It doesn't make sense in her head. Also, if The Ministry aren't doing anything suspicious, why have they collected all book relating to The Marriage Decree? What are they hiding?

"Let's not talk about The Ministry anymore, it's giving me a headache." She rubs her forehead. "What time are you coming over tomorrow?" She asks instead.

"I should be over about five o'clock. My Mum wants to cook me a last supper." She laughs but stops when Ginny just stares confusingly at her. "I'm meeting my parents outside the ministry at ten o'clock on Wednesday so can you save me a seat in The Ministry Hall?" She asks her friend.

"Of course, Mum said she'll save a seat for your parents. She'll look after them." Ginny reassured her.

Hermione's always terrified something will happen to her parents when she brings them into the wizard world. Her fears have subsided some since the death of Voldemort and the imprisonment of his Death Eaters but she's still nervous about their being at The Ministry.

After lunch, Hermione and Ginny walk around muggle London for a few hours and collect her wedding dress before heading into Diagon Alley and towards Madam Malkin's. According to Ginny, it's wizarding tradition for the bride to wear a white cloak when walking down the aisle. The groom will remove their brides hood before joining hands for the marriage vow.

Apparently Madam Malkin has taken full advantage of The Marriage Decree and has stocked her shop full of wedding robes, dresses and cloaks. Hermione finds a white cloak with dark green stitching along the seams which she knows will accompany her wedding dress beautifully. Ginny buys a similar cloak but with red stitching. She refuses to tell Hermione what her dress looks like but she's sure they will go well together.

Hermione doesn't make it home until seven o'clock, much to the annoyance of her Mum who complains that she wanted to spend the last couple of days with her as a family not separated. To make up for it Hermione helps her Mum make dinner then suggests they all watch a video for her last night. Hermione chooses Grease: The Musical since it used to be her favourite film when she was a child. However, it's been years since she last watched it and no longer lives up to her expectations.

When the video ends, her Mum orders her to bed so she's fully rested for the following day. She doesn't know what her parents have planned but she's just excited to spend the day with her parents before she's married.

The next morning her Mum wakes her up bright and early at eight o'clock. Hermione groans as she gets up then continues to complain as she dresses and washes. Her Mum makes them all scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast with a pot of tea. Whilst her Mum washes up, Hermione and her Dad go next door to collect Bobby before meeting her Mum then setting off for a walk around their local park. Her Dad buys them each a ninety-nine ice-cream with sauce and sprinkles. It's a beautiful warm day so the park is full of people. Hermione loses count of how many children come running up to Bobby, cooing at how cute he is. Bobby, being the attention seeker he is, sits happily wagging his tail and panting excitedly.

Once they've returned home and given Bobby back to their next door neighbour, Hermione helps her Mum make some ham and coleslaw sandwiches with a bag of crisps and a slice of cake for her last supper and they watch another video. At about twelve o'clock, they drive over to her Grandma Emily's house. Hermione is her only grandchild so she always makes a point of visiting her when she's home from Hogwarts. Her Grandma Betty has Sophie, Craig and Lauren and also Mark and Mia since her Godmother Sharon is her Mum's best friend.

As always, her Grandma Emily tries to send her away with money which she refuses to take three times before her Grandma says, "If I can't spoil you, who can I spoil Hermione?" She reluctantly takes the money making a mental note to put it in her savings account.

Many times throughout the day, Hermione finds herself thinking that she's going to miss this. Just being surrounded by family.

At a quarter to five, she collects her overnight bag from her bedroom with her wedding dress and cloak in along with some pyjamas and her toiletries. She hugs her parents tightly reminding them to meet her outside The Ministry's doors at ten o'clock so they can get a seat next to the Weasley's. She then heads out the back door into the alleyway behind her house where she disapparates to just outside the wards of The Burrow.

Ginny is sat on the gate, swinging her legs and eating some fudge.

"Hermione!" She squeals jumping off the gate giving her a large hug.

"Hey Ginny, what are you doing?" Hermione asks as they walk towards the kitchen door.

"I was waiting for you. Mum's taken the boys to Madam Malkin's to get their robes fitted and Dad's at work." Ginny shrugs. "Mum should be back in another hour to get dinner ready for when Bill, Fleur and Charlie arrive. He's staying at their house until Thursday. He could only get three days off work, then he's going back to Romania." She sighs sadly.

"Well, at least, he's making it to the ceremony." She tries to comfort her.

"Yeah, I suppose so." She sighs again. "Do you want a drink?" She asks grabbing a couple of glasses from the cupboard.

"Just some water please," Hermione answers her. "Am I sleeping in your room tonight then?"

"Yeah, Harry sharing with Ron. We're disapparating to the Ministry tomorrow with Mum and the boys are going in the car with Dad."

"Why can't we all just go together?" She questions.

"I don't want Harry to see me before the ceremony," Ginny says obviously and Hermione just nods.

Hermione goes to hang her dress and cloak in Ginny's wardrobe so it doesn't crease in her bag then they end up just lying on her bed, talking. Before they know it Molly is calling them down for dinner. They go down to find everyone rushing around in the kitchen placing bowls, plates and cutlery on the table.

"Hey, Hermione." Harry waves at her from the fridge. Hermione waves back to him then helps Ginny fill eleven glasses with water and place them on the table as everyone takes their seat.

Everyone is chatting to each other until Fleur calls across the tables to Hermione and Ginny.

"'ermione and Geenny. Are you ladiez aving a cheeken partee?" She asks with a smile.

"A what?" Ginny looks at Hermione, wondering if she has a clue what Fleur's on about.

"A cheeken partee. Do you not ave em in Eengland?" She frowns at them both.

"Oh, a hen party. I hadn't really thought about it." Hermione thinks aloud.

"What's a hen party?" Ginny asks excitedly.

"Usually before their wedding, the bride and groom have separate parties with their friend to celebrate their last few days of being single," Hermione explains to the table.

"Mum, can we have one, please?" Ginny begs her Mum.

"Don't you think it's a bit late Ginny? You're getting married tomorrow." Molly points out.

"Come on Mum, let them have one last night of fun." Bill tries to convince her. "You and Dad can come over to ours for a few hours and let the kids enjoy themselves. I'm sure one of them can pop out to The Leaky Cauldron and pick up a few bottles of firewhisky." He looks over at Harry and Ron.

"I can go for them." Hermione volunteers when nobody else does.

"Can we play games?" Ginny asks fidgeting in her seat.

"Of course!" Harry laughs. "This is gonna be fun." He jumps out of his seat.

"Okay, okay but I'm leaving you all in charge of clearing up any mess." Molly agrees as she starts clearing the dinner plates from the table.

"Harry, Ron, George and Percy can move the furniture in the living room against the wall. We need as much floor space as we can get." Ginny orders the boys into the living room. "Shall we invite Neville and Luna?" She turns to face Hermione.

"I'll go over to their houses and ask on the way back from The Leaky Cauldron," Hermione announces grabbing her leather jacket.

She walks down The Burrows garden path to outside the protective wards then disapparates straight to The Leaky Cauldron. On her way over to the bar, she spots Blaise sat by himself so she goes over to him.

"Hello, Blaise." She greets him then waves the bartender, Tom, over and asks for five bottles of firewhisky.

"Hello, Hermione." He blinks rather dramatically at her. She assumes it was a failed wink. "Let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Fern?"

Hermione raises a confused and questioning eyebrow until Blaise turns around, placing his arm around a small Eucalyptus tree. She looks back at Blaise, who she realises now is drunk.

"Nice to meet you, Fern." She shakes one of the branches of the tree feeling like an idiot.

"Are you having a stag do too?" He asks her.

"We're having a small party to celebrate. I'm just here to collect the alcohol. Are you here alone Blaise?" She questions him. If he is, maybe he would like to join them. Ron wouldn't like it but everyone else has forgiven him.

"No, I'm here with Drakey." He says.

She smiles at Blaise's nickname for Malfoy and is about to make a comment when Tom returns with her firewhisky.

"Here you go, ma'am." He hands over the five bottles.

"Thank you." She politely nods to Tom then turns back to face Blaise.

She's slightly shocked to see Malfoy stood next to his friend, smirking at her.

"I need to get going but I'll see you tomorrow Blaise." She tells him. "Malfoy." She adds before walking the wrong way out of The Leaky Cauldron,

She ends up in muggle London instead of Diagon Alley but she doesn't want to go back inside and admit to Malfoy and Blaise that she went the wrong way so she walks until she reaches an alleyway where she disapparates to Luna's house in the countryside.

She knocks on the door but there's no answer so she knocks again, louder and longer. Finally, after knocking for a fifth time, Mr Lovegood answers. He takes one look at her and slams the door in her face before she can even ask if Luna is there. She's just about to turn around and leave when the door opens again revealing Luna.

"Hello, Hermine." She tilts her head dreamily. "Daddy's still feeling guilty about how he behaved last year." She explains.

"Oh, can you tell him that we forgive him. He was only trying to protect you. We can understand that." She explains to her friend.

"Thank you, thank you, Miss Granger." Mr Lovegood jumps out from behind the door vigorously shaking her hand before disappearing back into the house a lot more cheerfully.

Hermione stares after him for a moment before remembering why she is there in the first place.

"We're having a small party at The Burrow tonight. Would you like to join us?" She asks.

"Daddy, may I got to the party at The Burrow?" She asks her Father.

"Of course, my child." He calls down from somewhere upstairs.

"Goodbye, Daddy," Luna calls back closing the door behind her.

"We just need to visit Neville to invite him before we go back to The Burrow," Hermione explains to her friend so she knows where to disapparate to.

Neville answers the door a few seconds after they've knocked looking back and forth between them both.

"Hermione, Luna, what are you doing here?" He asks.

"Who's calling at this time of night, Neville?" His Grandmother calls from what Hermione remembers to be the living room. She's only been inside Neville's Grandmother's house once and she got the feeling that she wasn't welcome back.

"It's my friends." He calls back.

"Ask them what they're doing calling at this time of night." She shouts.

Neville sighs deeply pinching the bridge of his nose. "What are you doing here?" He questions.

"We're having a small party at The Burrow tonight. Do you want to come?" Hermione explains and chuckles as Neville stands a little taller, happy for an excuse to leave the house.

"They've invited me to a party tonight," Neville shouts back to his Grandmother.

"Well, you tell these friends of yours that you're getting married tomorrow and can't be gallivanting off to parties." She shouts back.

He sighs deeply again shaking his head before shrugging, grabbing his jacket and calling back into the house, "I'm going, see you later Grandmother." He then slams the door behind him and runs down the steps leading up to the house.

"Hurry up before she comes after me." He urges them to walk quicker.

They all disapparate back to The Burrow where they find that Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur and Charlie have already left.

"It's about time Hermione?" Ron complains when she walks into the living room with Neville and Luna.

Everyone's sat in a circle on the carpet of the living room chatting to each other. Hermione rolls her eyes as she places the bottles of firewhisky on the coffee table next to some glasses that someone had gotten out. She pours everyone a drink then takes a place between Percy and George on the carpet since there's a large enough gap between them. Luna sits down next to Ginny and they instantly start whispering to each other. Harry, Ron and Neville sit down on George's other side. Hermione glances around the circle feeling quite awkward. Harry, Ron and Neville were talking together next to Ginny and Luna then there's just her, Percy and George sat in silence. She glances at Percy who is sipping his firewhisky as he stares into thin air then at George who seems to be glaring at his glass of firewhisky.

"Do you want some milk instead?" She whispers to George who jumps. He must have been lost in his thoughts.

"Sorry Hermione?" He asks placing his glass down.

"I asked if you want some milk instead." She repeats.

George nods giving her a sad smile so she jumps up from the circle, heads into the kitchen and grabs George an almost full carton of milk.

"Really George, you're going to drink milk?" Ron teases his brother who just glares at him then takes a swig from the carton.

"Hey George, can I have some?" Ginny asks. "I don't want to be hungover on my wedding day." She explains placing her untouched glass of firewhisky back on the coffee table.

George passes her the carton which she pours into two glasses, one of which she hands back to her brother.

"It's unhygienic to drink it straight from the bottle." She tells him off.

"I thought we were going to play games," Harry interjects before an argument starts. "The only game I know is truth or dare." He adds with a shrug.

"Truth or dare it is then." Ginny agrees to grab an unopened bottle of firewhisky and placing it in the middle of the circle.

She spins it quickly and everyone watches as it spins around and around before finally stopping on Neville who groans.

"Neville, truth or dare?" She asks him.

Neville shrugs downing the rest of his firewhisky. "Truth."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" She asks him, eyes twinkling in anticipation.

Neville blushes deeply shaking his head. "No, I haven't." He admits sheepishly before spinning the bottle himself not giving anyone the opportunity to tease him about it.

The bottle lands on Harry who chooses dare.

"I dare you to… erm… go outside and run around the whole house naked." Neville finally decides, making everyone stare at him.

"I'm not nearly drunk enough for that," Harry mumbles before downing the rest of his drink then downing Ginny's forgotten firewhisky. "Let's get this over with." He sighs dejectedly before standing up and taking everything bar his underwear off.

"Hey, Neville said naked," Ginny calls as he walks over towards the kitchen door.

Harry exits the kitchen letting the bottom half of the stable style door shut behind him. He then wriggles out of his underwear, throwing them at his girlfriend, who catches them, then sets off running around the house. When he gets back he asks Ginny for them back but she refuses, making him use a tea towel to cover himself as he walks back inside, grabs his discarded clothes and retreats back to the kitchen to put them on.

"The gnomes were laughing at me." He pouts making everyone burst out laughing.

Hermione notices that George even cracks a smile before frowning again. Harry spins the bottle and it lands on Ron. Harry chuckles almost evilly as he asks his friend "truth or dare?"

Ron chooses dare. Harry dares him to mix his firewhisky with milk and down the whole glass. Ron, not being a coward as he puts it, does the dare then quickly rushes off to the kitchen to throw up in the sink. Upon his return, he spins the bottle and it lands on Percy.

Percy sits up a little straighter and picks truth.

"If you could kiss anyone here who would you kiss?" He asks making everyone frown at him.

"Well since I'm not gay or into incest and I don't really know Luna that well, I'll have to pick Hermione." He admits making most of the circle laugh but Ron glares at him.

Percy ignores his brother though and spins the bottle which lands on Luna who chooses truth as well.

"Do you have any concrete proof that the Nargles actually exist?" He asks.

Luna smiles wetly at Percy. "Nargles can easily be seen with the correct pair of glasses Percy." She points out as she spins the bottle. It lands on George who picks truth.

"How do you feel George?" She asks him making Hermione's stomach drop.

The room goes silent as everyone turns to looks at George. Hermione can't begin to understand how George must be feeling since the war. Especially with the one year anniversary having just passed.

"How do I feel?" George asks rhetorically, eyes already glossy with tears as his hand clutches his chest. "My life, my soul, my heart. They have all been ripped in two and I don't think I'll ever truly be happy again. He was my everything and… and now he's just gone. I've tried so hard this last year to hold everything together, to keep our business going, to keep myself going, like he would have wanted, when more than anything else, I want to give up. I want to end everything and just be with him again."

Nobody speaks for what feels like hours but can only be seconds. Suddenly, George stands up, grabs his milk carton and walks off upstairs to his bedroom. Still, nobody speaks, but it's far from silent. Ginny is crying into Harry's shoulder. Percy is subconsciously tapping his fingernails against his glass. Ron is scratching his fingers through the carpet. Neville is sniffling, obviously trying his hardest not to cry.

Hermione hugs her knees to her chest trying to ignore the emotional pain her heart is going through. She knows it's nothing compared to George's but it's still enough for her to get another glass of firewhisky to try and drown it.

The party pretty much ends there. Nobody talks much after George's departure and the game is definitely over. Neville and Luna bid their goodbyes together an hour later leaving everyone else to tidy up but there isn't much to do so by half ten everyone is in bed.

Molly had made Hermione a small bed on Ginny's floor made from about ten blankets and quilts and a few spare pillows. She hears Molly and Arthur return home around midnight and she can tell from her breathing pattern that Ginny is still awake but they don't talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 8 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter ( /BigDsWisdom) for updates, sneaky peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> I've decided to let you guys choose the names of the children of all couples. I'll post polls on twitter and you simply choose the one you like but obviously you have to be following me on TWITTER for this to work.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

They both must have fallen asleep at some point, though as they are awoken by Molly the next morning when she throws Ginny's bedroom door wide open.

"Rise and shine my dears. Breakfast is downstairs if you're hungry. You're probably feeling too nervous to eat…" Molly starts but stops when Ginny jumps out of bed, pulls on her dressing gown and races downstairs for food.

"I'm sorry Molly but I don't think I can stomach food right now." Hermione apologises holding her stomach. She feels like she might through up at any time.

"Don't worry Hermione," Molly reassures her then closes the door leaving her lying in her makeshift bed.

Blaise wakes him up far too early at nine o'clock. He's shaking his shoulders excitedly and Draco feels sorry for whoever's getting paired with his friend.

"Come on Draco. Today's the big day. Gharther's made us a feast for breakfast and we need a shower." Blaise rambles on until Draco climbs out of bed and heads into his bathroom to get away from him.

He stares at his reflection in his mirror above the sink. He looks shattered. He only got about four hours sleep last night. Or rather this morning. He has heavy bags under his eyes and his skin look grey. He splashes his face with cold water to wake himself up but it doesn't work very well. He grabs his dressing gown and makes his way down to the dining room where Blaise, Mr and Mrs Stonage and his Mother are already sat eating.

Draco sits down in his usual seat. Gharther really has outdone himself this morning. He takes a slice of toast, nibbling on it for a few minutes before giving up on food altogether. His stomach is flipping around inside him so much so that he feels like he might throw up at any moment.

"Excuse me." Draco excuses himself getting up from the table and going back upstairs to his bedroom.

He turns the shower on cold hoping that an ice cold shower will wake him up but he just ends up cold and shivering so he turns it up hot which help sooth his nerves a little. He stares at his reflections again once he's out the shower, with a fluffy blue towel wrapped around his hips. His face looks a little less grey but he still looks like crap. He picks his wand up and waves it over his face muttering a spell he perfected in his seventh year at Hogwarts when he lived off two hours' sleep every night. He watches as his face brightens considerably and the bags under his eyes completely disappear. He exits his bathroom to find Blaise lying on his bed reading today's Daily Prophet which must have just been delivered.

"Nearly the entire paper is dedicated to The Partner's Ceremony. There's a list of everybody who's getting paired with a picture of them. I'm not going to lie Draco but you look kind of intimidating." Blaise hands the paper over to him.

They've reused the picture that was taken at his trial last summer. It was taken as he stood tall in front of his Father, glaring him down. He was trying to give his Father the impression that he wasn't terrified of him anymore which was a complete lie at the time. Now his Father's in Azkaban he sees no point in being scared of him for the foreseeable future. When he gets out in fourteen years, Draco's sure everything will just go back to how it was beforehand with his Father scaring him into doing his dirty work. Maybe he can take his wife and child and just run away. They could go live in America. He's heard they have a great wizarding school over there. Draco shakes his head handing the paper back to Blaise. He isn't going to run away from his Father. It'll just prove him right.

Blaise throws the paper down on the Draco's desk then goes into the bathroom to take a shower. Draco takes advantage of having his bedroom to himself to get dressed in his wedding robes. His Mother really does know him well. He's always loved wearing velvet. He runs his fingers gently down his velvet torso. He loves the way the fabric feels beneath his fingertips. He checks his grandfather clock. It's twenty to ten. He knocks on his bathroom door.

"Blaise, you've got fifteen minutes." He calls through the door.

They're leaving in twenty minutes but Blaise has a tendency to be late and Draco doubts today will be any different. As Draco planned, seventeen minutes later Blaise exits the bathroom fully dressed in his robes. Draco looks him up and down with wide eyes.

"Well, you're definitely going to stand out." He mumbles which Blaise laughs at clapping Draco on his should as he walks past to grab his cloak.

Draco pulls on his own cloak, then together they descend the staircase to find Mr and Mrs Stonage and his Mother and Mitty waiting in the foyer.

"Blaise, you look magnificent my son." Alberic compliments him holding his arms out in appreciation.

Blaise takes the praise and spins around giving them a good look. "Thanks, Al." He gives his Step-father a quick hug before being fully encased by his Mother.

Draco's Mother is wearing an elegant black dress with her black cloak and a black, netted fascinator covering the top half of her face. She takes hold of Draco's arm and links it with hers as they leave, walking down their garden path. Mitty follows at his side wearing a dress she must have made out of an old, flowery pillowcase.

"You look beautiful dear." His Mother compliments him quietly.

Draco scoffs. "Couldn't you say handsome?" He asks.

"What's wrong with beautiful?" She asks in return.

"It makes me sound delicate." He complains.

"You are delicate my dear." She gives him a playful eye.

He rolls his eyes, not taking it too seriously. This is the most he's seen of his Mother true personality since his Father's sentence.

Once outside the wards, they disapparate straight into The Ministry. It had been mentioned in The Daily Prophet a few weeks ago that disapparation wards would be taken down between ten and half-past ten for people to disapparate into The Ministry. They apparate into the main foyer of The Ministry to find hundreds of people already waiting. A glance at the clock tells him it's only five past ten meaning most people probably arrived via the floo network or through the muggle entrance.

She's still lying there, thinking, when Ginny returns half an hour later after eating what she can safely assume was, at least, two platefuls. She'll never understand how her best friend is so slim when she eats what she eats. Ginny told her once that it was the Quidditch. Now she thinks about it, Ginny hasn't played any Quidditch for a few months now due to their NEWTs and she does look like she's gained a bit of weight. Maybe Quidditch really is her secret.

"You can't lie there all day Hermione," Ginny mentions as she picks up her wash bag. "I'm going for a shower and when I come back I want you up and ready for your own shower." She orders leaving the room.

Hermione continues to lie in her bed until she hears the bathroom door unlock so she quickly jumps off the floor and rushes over to her bag wear she tries to find her towel. She receives an approving smile of Ginny when she enters her bedroom in her dressing gown with a towel wrapped around her head.

Hermione ends up using 'accio' to summon her towel and wash bag then heads into the bathroom, which is thankfully still empty. She still doesn't know how nine people lived in The Burrow with only one bathroom.

Back in Ginny's bedroom after her quick show, she finds he friend drying her hair with her wand. Once she's done she sits Hermione down on a chair, that's always sat in the corner of her room, to dry her hair. Hermione has never bothered to learn many beauty spells. She'd never really seen the point but she's thankful that her friend did as Ginny to wave her wand muttering spells to bring her hair into a low bun with soft curls framing her face. She then walks around to face her then mutters some more spells to complete her makeup.

"It's perfect." She mumbles looking at her reflection in the mirror.

She feels pretty and she's happy to look pretty for herself but she can't help but feel like part of her is trying to impress her new husband and she hates herself for it. She shouldn't need to make a good impression. She shouldn't be in this situation at all. She can't help cursing The Ministry for what must be the millionth time since she received The Ministry's letter in January.

Hermione moves out of the way of the mirror so Ginny can do her own hair and makeup. She takes her dress out of Ginny's wardrobe hanging it off the doorframe. It's a little creased so she waves her wand, smoothing the fabric our nicely. Ginny squeals excitedly from the floor.

"It's gorgeous, Hermione." She tells her before going back to her makeup.

Hermione smiles appreciatively, she really loves her dress. It's a shame she'll only get to wear it once. She can't bring herself to put it on yet so she helps Ginny into hers first.

In the wizarding world, white dresses aren't very traditional, especially not in England. Most witches prefer to wear bold, bright colours. Ginny's dress is a deep, romantic shade of red. The dress is strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The skirt is made entirely of net but's it's not too puffy. Hermine helps her tie the corset then watches as her friend spins around showing herself off. The colour of her dress compliments her hair so well.

"You're going to be the most beautiful person at The Ceremony." Hermione compliments her best friend.

"Stop!" She laughs. "Wait until you see yourself in that dress." She points at Hermione's dress hanging off the doorframe.

"Fine, I suppose it's time." She sighs as Ginny grabs her dress.

Hermione stands still as Ginny buttons up the twenty buttons. She hasn't tried it on since it was adjusted but thankfully it fit perfectly.

"Oh my goodness, Hermione." Ginny tears up. "Don't make me cry, my makeup will run." She flaps her hand in front of her face.

Hermione rolls her eyes, turning to look in the mirror. "Shut up Gin-" She starts. Then she sees her reflections. She can't quite believe how different she looks. She barely recognises herself.

"Girls, are you ready, we're leaving soon," Molly shouts up the stairs.

"You go tell the boys to leave." Ginny passes her cloak over before pulling her own on. "I don't want Harry to see me yet."

Hermione walks down the stairs first. Her shoes echo around the living room drawing everyone's attention to her.

"Wow!" Ron gasps as Harry's eyes widen. "My God." He curses.

George and Percy just stare, mouths agape, as she enters the room.

"Hermione, my darling. You look so beautiful." Molly dabs her eyes with her handkerchief.

"Ginny wants the boys to leave. She doesn't want Harry to see her in her dress before the ceremony." Hermione announces looking towards Arthur.

"It's bad luck," Ginny shouts down from upstairs.

Arthur looks down at his muggle wristwatch. "Merlin's beard boys, its quarter to ten. We need to leave now." He quickly ushers them out of the door.

As soon as the kitchen door slams, Ginny descends the stairs excitedly and Molly tears up again.

"My beautiful girls." She coos pulling them into a joint hug. "We better get going. Ginny said you're meeting your parents outside The Ministry at ten o'clock?" She asks.

"Yes, will you save them both a seat next to you and Arthur? I want them to sit next to someone I know and trust." Hermione asks.

"Of course, dear. Ginny and I will meet your parents with you and we'll all go in together." Molly smiles as she locks the kitchen door behind her.

Once outside the wards, they disapparate to the alley just to the left of The Ministry of Magic, which is disguised on the outside as a rundown, one-star hotel. Some of the windows have iron bars across them whilst the rest are boarded up. There's scaffolding permanently erected at the front of the building and most of the roof tiles are missing. Hermione's not sure how many muggles enter the building annually but she doubts it makes it into the treble figures.

They're stood on the cracked steps leading up to the front doors waiting when Hermine seems to come to her senses. They're stood outside a dodgy looking building, in the middle of London, at ten o'clock on a Wednesday morning, wearing wedding dresses. No wonder people are staring at them funny as they walk past.

At a few minutes past ten, her parents show up complaining about nightmare parking but they stop when they see their daughter for the first time in her full wedding outfit. Her Mum gasps raising her hand to her mouth whilst her dad just stares at her, looking rather proud.

"Well don't you two ladies look lovely?" Her Dad compliments them.

Ginny thanks him as Hermione takes their hands and pull them up the stairs.

"Is this your Ministry?" Her Mum asks disapprovingly looking up at the scaffolding.

"It's just a disguise so muggles don't get curious." She explains as they enter the building.

An incredibly bored-looking old man glances up from his copy of The Daily Prophet. He chuckles, looking them up and down. "Let me guess, you're here for a court case with the Wizengamot?" He asks looking between them all before bursting out laughing. "And of course, I'm joking love." He continues to laugh. "Good luck ladies." He motions towards the door on his right which opens on cue.

"Thank you, sir." Hermione nods as they rush through the door and come out of one of the large fireplaces in the foyer of The Ministry.

The foyer was entirely filled with girls in brightly coloured dresses and cloaks, boys in smart suits and darkly colour cloaks, Mothers in dresses and over the top fascinators and Fathers in similar suits to the boys and looking glumly at their watches. There's no way they'll be able to find anyone in this crowd so they just stand together waiting to be told where to go.

At quarter past ten, a loud voice echoes around the foyer. "Attention, please. Attention." It calls. "Can all the grooms please make their way into the hall and take a seat on the right? Thank you." The voice announces.

Draco's stomach flips at the announcement. He looks worriedly at Blaise who's trying to find the closest door to them.

"Over there Draco." Blaise grabs hold of his hand and pulls him towards the door.

They end up finding two seats next to each other in the middle of the seating arrangements. It's not until the brides are making their way into the hall ten minutes later that Draco realises that they're sat directly behind Potter and his friends but they don't seem to have noticed their presence behind them yet. That is until Blaise leans forward between Potter and Weasel.

"Hey guys, are you all excited?" He asks making them jump.

"Zabini." The Weasel hisses but Blaise ignore him.

"Jesus, Blaise. I didn't know you were behind us." Potter chuckles. "I'm feeling pretty confident. What about you?" He twists around in his seat which is when he spots Draco.

Draco offers Potter a smirk which he returns with a glare.

"I'm pretty excited at the moment but I'm near the end of the list being Zabini so the nerves will probably show up later." He admits. "Hey Neville, I'm loving your robes." Blaise compliments Longbottom on Potter's other side.

Draco glances at him to find him blushing. He's wearing plum red robes with a black bowtie and black cloak. 'They are quite nice.' Draco admits to himself.

"Erm… thanks, Blaise. You look great." He returns the compliment.

"I try." Blaise laughs.

Potter and his friend turn back around to face the podium at the front of the hall.

"Since when have you been on a first name bases with the Gryffindor's?" Draco hisses down his friend's ear.

"Come on Draco, we've graduated. They're not Gryffindors anymore and we're not Slytherins. We're just a group of people stuck in the same situation." Blaise tells him which makes him think.

They really aren't Slytherins anymore. There's no more house rivalry between them and the Gryffindors or the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. There's no need for them be constantly at each other's necks anymore. They are all stuck in the same situation. They're all being forced into marriage. Without the Hogwarts house rivalry, it could make the situation a whole lot easier to get through.

He taps Potter on the shoulder before he can think about what he's doing. Potter turns around probably expecting Blaise but instead finding him.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Potter spits at him.

"Good luck Potter." He says as sincerely as he can when speaking to him, which still sounds like he's sneering but by the confused look on Potter's face, he knows he's being serious.

"Er… you too?" He says unsurely and Draco nods.

Potter turns back around and instantly starts muttering to the Weasel most likely about him but he doesn't mind. He's taken the first step in become civil with the Gryffindors.

"Can all the brides please make their way into the hall and take a seat on the left? Thank you." The voice echoes around the hall once more.

Hermione's stomach drops. She turns to face her parents. She feels like she might cry or throw up at any time. Her Mum has tears in her eyes as her Dad pulls her into a tight hug.

"Be brave." He whispers into her hair. "Be strong." He adds before Ginny pulls her away from them towards the doors to the hall.

Hermione feels her eyes welling up but she wills herself to be brave and strong like her Dad told her to be. She's a Gryffindor. She fought many battles in the war. She knows how to be brave. She knows how to be strong. She knows she can make it through this. She takes deep breaths and Ginny squeezes her hand gently to comfort her as she drags her to the seats on the left side of the hall. Somehow, they find Luna sat on the last row at the back of the hall so they join her. Ginny and Luna chat, fidgeting excitedly in their seats whereas Hermione's fidgeting nervously. She continues to take deep breaths as all the guest enter and take their seat at the back of the hall. She spots her parent and the Weasley's sat a few rows from the front. Her Mum waves to her and she waves back before turning back around to face the front. Her stomach feels as though it's competing in the British Olympic Gymnastics Team.

Suddenly, a bell rings out around the hall, quieting everyone as they sit straighter to get a glance at the podium at the front of the hall. Everyone watches as The Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, stands in front of the podium. He takes a moment to glance around the silent hall before raising his wand to his throat.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're all excited to be getting married today." He asks them all with a sincere smile but nobody answers him. Nobody makes a sound. "I understand that many of you do not wish to marry today but this for-"

"If he says 'the greater good' then I've lost all respect for him," Hermione whispers to Ginny whose eyes widen at the thought that Kingsley might use those words infamously used by Albus Dumbledore to explain why his overall plan ended with the death of Harry.

"the greater good of the wizarding world."

A few gasps are audible around the hall, Hermione, Ginny and Luna included. Hermione guesses that the rest of the gasps were from members of Dumbledore's Army and The Order of The Phoenix.

"Over the past five years, we have seen a decrease in magical births and an increase in magical death due to Voldemort's return." Much of the hall flinches. It's rather impressive that even in death, Voldemort can still install fear in most people. "Now is the time for looking forward, for looking into our future and the future of the wizarding world. Our future is in your children. So let's make our future happen." Kingsley finishes his speech leaving the hall in an awkward silence until the Ministry Officials surrounding the walls of the halls start clapping and everybody else joins in.

"I will call alphabetically call the grooms name. He will exit his row, make his way down the aisle towards me where I will prick your finger. A drop of his blood will be dropped into this goblet," He gestures towards the goblet atop his podium. "A parchment piece, where their brides name is written on it, will erupt from the goblet itself. The bride will then join her groom where you both take the marriage vow then retreat to the back of the hall. Let the ceremony begin." Kingsley claps his hands together causing all the lights to go out and thousands of floating candles above them to alight in the style of Hogwarts Great Hall.

"Gregory Aarden," Kingsley calls first.

Hermione watches as Gregory walks confidently down the aisle finger already held out ready to prick. She crosses her fingers, hoping that her name doesn't erupt from the goblet. Thankfully she's not. He's paired with a girl named Gemma Clark.

Her heart skips a beat as each parchment flutters down from the sky, as Kingsley catches it in his palm, as he reads the name in his head. Then her heart drops in relief when another girls name is called. She doesn't recognise many of the names called unless they were in her year or the one below. That is until Kingsley calls out, "Aster Edging."

He was the Slytherin fourth year prefect during her first year at Hogwarts. He'd taken fifteen points off Gryffindor reading a book whilst walking back to her common room. According to him, she was 'walking dangerously' through the corridors which annoyed her for months on end.

Luckily, for her at least, he's paired with Katie Bell who storms down the aisle angrily, thrusting her hand into Aster's so the marriage vow can be cast. Once it's complete, Katie rips her hand out of Aster's then almost runs to the back of the hall where all the newly married couples are sitting next to each other.

It's not long before Kingsley is calling the name of one of her friends. Hermione, Ginny and Luna sit up a little straighter to watch.

"Seamus Finnegan."

She scans her eyes over the grooms seating area trying to find Seamus but he hasn't stood up yet.

Draco glances over to Finnegan, who he noticed sitting next to Longbottom earlier, but he isn't standing up. He's whispering urgently into Thomas' ear who shakes his head and whispers something back. He's not close enough to hear but Thomas is probably giving his friend a pep talk.

"Seamus Finnegan." Kingsley repeats.

"What is he doing?" Ginny whispers looking over to near the middle of the grooms.

Hermione follows her gaze to find Seamus and Dean whispering to each other before finally Seamus stands but he still doesn't make his way to the end of his row. He just stands there staring down at Dean. He looks terrified.

"Mr Finnegan, please make your way to the podium or we will take your actions as a refusal to marry and you will be sentenced to Azkaban for four months imprisonment." Kingsley threatens which is enough to get Seamus moving along the row.

That is until Dean grabs hold of his hand pulling him into a quick hug before pushing him out into the aisle. Seamus does what must be the slowest walk down and aisle ever. She didn't know Seamus was so against The Marriage Decree. Although he doesn't look angry like Percy did. He looks terrified. Maybe he has a girlfriend that he's scared he won't get paired with. Hermione shakes her head. She sure she would have known if Seamus had a girlfriend. He stops just before the podium to turn back around. Hermione notices the tears streaming down his face. She doesn't know or understand his situation but she can sympathise with him. He takes a deep breath before stepping forward towards the podium.

Kingsley has to grab tightly hold of his wrist in order prick his finger then has to force it over the goblet to make sure a drop of his blood ends up in the liquid. Seamus watches intently as the parchment floats gently down into Kingsley's outstretched palm.

Kingsley reads it and smiles the biggest grin she's seen him smile since the war ended. Hermione doesn't understand until he reads out,

"Dean Thomas."

The hall falls silent in a matter of seconds as everyone stares at either Seamus or Dean. A memory from a few months ago flashes to the forefront of her mind. It was about three in the morning. She'd just awoken in the library with a stiff neck and decided that she'd actually sleep in her bed that night. There was nobody in the common room when entered through the portrait, or so she thought. She went over to the fireplace to close the fireguard when she saw them on the couch. Dean and Seamus were almost lying on top of each other, asleep on the couch. She hadn't thought much of it at the time. Many times in the past she had found herself falling asleep on Harry or Ron's shoulder either on the Hogwarts Express or in the common room after having one too many late nights.

Draco whips his head to Blaise to make sure he heard correctly but Blaise is staring, mouth agape at Thomas. He turns to face Thomas as well who looks just as shocked as everyone else.

"Mr Thomas, please make your way to the podi-" Kingsley starts his threat but he doesn't have time to finish it as Thomas quickly scrambles past everyone else on his row to get to the aisle. He pauses for a moment to look down the aisle at Finnegan, who's staring back at Thomas in disbelief.

Hermione watches as Dean looks at Seamus before literally running down the aisle and pulling his friend into one of the most loving hugs she has ever seen. She watches in awe as Seamus stands on his toes to kiss Dean's cheek.

The hall suddenly erupts into mumbling and whispers.

"Did you have any idea?" Ginny turns to ask her. "I had none and I dated Dean for almost a year." She adds shocked.

"Quieten down." Kingsley orders.

The noise slowly dies out and Kingsley carries on with the ceremony, casting the marriage vow around Dean and Seamus' hands before letting them retreat to the back of the hall. It reminds Hermione of why she's there and her nervous jitters return. Her happiness for Dean and Seamus distracted her for a few minutes but now it's gone leaving a steadily increasing heartbeat in its wake.

Ten minutes later, Gregory Goyle is called. He stands tall, shoulders back as he walks to the end of his row. Draco might believe his friend's calm and confident exterior if it hadn't been for the fact he's speed walking down the aisle. He's paired with Megan Jones, a small Hufflepuff from their year.

"Is she the Hufflepuff seeker in our year?" Blaise whispers in his ear.

Draco nods as Megan rushes down the aisle towards Goyle.

"She's eager." Blaise chuckles.

"Or just wants to get it over with." Draco mumbles but she does look quite pleased with her groom. Who knows, maybe they'll be happy together. He finds himself smiling at his friend as he walks back down the aisle with his new wife.

The whole ceremony is turning Hermione into a nervous wreck. Her hands shake as each parchment falls into Kingsley's had ready to be read out. After a while, the nerves subside a little, she looks down at her hands, which are fiddling with the seams of her cloak. She trusts Ginny to tell her if her name is called since she's stopped listening.

Sooner than she would have liked, Ginny elbows her in the ribs and she freezes. Her heart stops. Her eyes widen. She turns to face Ginny.

"It's Neville's turn." She whispers to her looking over to where he's sat next to Harry and Ron.

They watch as Neville runs his hand through his hair nervously as he stumbles out of his row. He trips over his own feet as he walks down the aisle towards Kingsley. Once at the podium, he turns around which is a mistake as his eyes widen at the amount of people staring at him.

"He deserves a nice girl." Luna dreamily announces from beside Ginny.

Hermione and Ginny nod in agreement. Her eyes follow the parchment that flutters down. She holds her breath hopeful for her friend.

"Hannah Abbott."

She sees Neville's shoulders relax in relief. He turns around to watch his bride-to-be walk down the aisle. Hannah looks happy with the announcement also and chuckles when Neville holds out his hand for her to shake. She instead grabs it so they're holding hands. Hermione's heart flutters happily for both Neville and Hannah.

She checks her watch for the time then inwardly groans. It's only half one. She thought it would be a lot later.

"It's the M's next." Blaise mentions earning himself a glare from Draco that roughly translated to 'Shut up or I'll make you.' "You don't look too good. Are you alright?" He asks concernedly.

Draco nods. Then shakes his head. "I can't do this Blaise. I need to get out of here." He panics trying to stand up but Blaise places a firm, steady hand on his thigh keeping him seated.

"Drink this." His friend hands him a small phial of amber liquid.

He recognises straight away as a calming draught and downs it in one gulp handing the phial back to Blaise, thanking him. He feels the effects take hold of him instantly. His hands stop shaking and the urge to throw up leaves him.

"I'm fine. I'm going to be okay." He mumbles mainly to himself but Blaise squeezes his thigh before removing his hand.

Far too soon "Draco Malfoy" is called and his stomach drops. He hopes Blaise wasn't the one who made the calming draught since Potions was never his strong suit. He might end up throwing up down the aisle in that case.

Blaise gives him a reassuring pat on the back as he stands up. He rolls his shoulders back standing tall trying to give the impression of confidence. He walks down the aisle at what he thinks is the perfect pace. Not too fast or too slow. 'Let people guess what I'm thinking.' He thinks to himself with a smirk which helps him look more confident. At the podium, he takes a deep breath holding his finger out to be pricked.

"Good luck, Mr Malfoy." The Minister whispers as he pricks his finger.

The sting doesn't bother him. Merlin knows he's been through a lot more painful situations. His heart stops as he sees a piece of parchment float to the top of the liquid in the goblet then erupt into the air. He watches it flutter down trying to catch a glimpse of a name before The Minister read it aloud but he has no luck.

The Minister catches the parchment in his palm then turns it over to read the name. Draco watches as he frowns at the name. He then turns the parchment over again to look at the back. Not feeling satisfied, he beacons to one of the officials stood against the back wall to come over.

"McAllister, tell me I'm reading this incorrectly." The minister sounds as though he's begging the official to correct him which scares Draco.

'Who is it? Why won't they tell me?' He thinks as he starts to shuffle from foot to foot nervously.

The official glances down at the parchment then up at Draco then back down at the parchment. "I'm sorry sir but the name is correct." He announces wide-eyed before retreating to the back wall.

The Minister shakes his head to himself before looking straight into Draco's eyes sadly.

"Hermione Granger."

"Is it stupid of me to say I'm tired of waiting?" Hermione whispers to Ginny who shakes her head.

"Of course not. I'm bored out of my mind. I just wish they could hurry up." She whispers back.

"Draco Malfoy," Kingsley calls out.

Hermione's heart drops suddenly into her stomach. "I take it back, I can wait a little longer." She mutters making Ginny chuckle.

She sees Malfoy stand up from over near where Harry and Ron are sat. She doesn't know how he looks so calm and collected as he walks confidently down the aisle towards Kingsley. The Minister says something to him. He hasn't said anything to anyone else that she's seen. She curiously wants to know what he said. That is until she's distracted by the parchment floating down into Kingsley's hand. He reads it and even from the back of the hall she can see the frown form on his face. He beacons one of the officials over where they proceed to whisper.

"What's going on?" Ginny mutters sitting taller trying to see above everybody else who were doing the same thing.

The official retreats back to his place as Kingsley shakes his head sadly looking at Malfoy.

"Hermione Granger." He reads out and Hermione falls back down into her seat.

She looks to Ginny begging her to tell her that she heard wrong but the look of absolute terror on her best friends face tells her otherwise.

"Oh!" She utters pointlessly.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice wavers as she grabs hold of her hand tightly. "What are you going to do?" She asks, her eyes wide in horror.

"What I have to do." She replies taking a deep breath. "I can do this." She mutters to herself as she stands up as gracefully as she can manage with weak knees.

Slowly, she makes her way to the end of the row. Luna pats her arm reassuringly as she passes her along with a few other people she doesn't know. She feels like crying but she won't let Malfoy see her tears. Not today, not ever. She looks back to where she saw her parents sat earlier and they smile encouragingly at her but her Mum has tears streaming down her face and her Dad looks angry. She takes another deep breath, sets her shoulders back and walks as confidently as she can muster up towards the podium.

"Hermione-" Kingsley sounds as though he wants to say something more but thinks better of it. "If you would please take hold of each other's left hand."

She notices the break in his voice. As if he suddenly realising that he's about to marry the brightest witch and wizard for generations together. A witch and wizard who were opposite sides of the war and have hated each other since their first year at Hogwarts. A witch and wizard who can easily curse him into oblivion if they wished to.

Hermione holds her left hand out for Malfoy to take but he's still glaring at Kingsley so she takes matters into her own hands. Rather literally. She reaches down and snatches hold of Malfoy's left hand. As soon as her warm, sweaty hand touches his cold one, his head snaps around to her and she realises that he's just as scared as she is. She half expects him to withdraw his hand but he doesn't, he grips on tighter not breaking eye contact with her.

He hears the hall behind him gasps at the reveal of his wife-to-be. He continues to stare at The Minister. He shakes his head slightly, asking if he heard correctly, The Minister nods back. He can't do this. He can't marry Granger. What is his Mother going to say? He's marrying a Muggleborn. That fact doesn't bother him anymore. What bothers him is the fact it's, Granger, he's marrying. He can't do it. But he can't go to Azkaban. He doesn't want to be anywhere near his Father.

"Hermione-" The Minister announces her arrival. "If you would please take hold of each other's left hand."

Oh Merlin, this really is happening. He's going to marry Granger. He's going to live with her. He's going to have children with her. He's going to grow old with her. Suddenly there's a warm hand in his. He whips his head to face Granger who's staring at him nervously. He watches her eyes soften as she looks him in the eye. He doesn't understand why but it reassures him that she doesn't look angry. He can remember clearly what happened the first time he was around an angry Granger.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, do you agree to marry Hermione Jean Granger?" The Minister asks him, bring his attention back to him.

He can do this. "I agree." He nods.

"Do you agree to follow the terms and conditions of your marriage?" He asks next.

"I agree." Draco nods again.

Kingsley then turns to face Hermione.

"Hermione Jean Granger, do you agree to marry Draco Lucius Malfoy?" He asks her.

If Malfoy can do this then she's definitely not going to disagree. "I agree." She's surprised at how confident she sounds.

"Do you agree to follow the terms and conditions of your marriage?" He asks next.

"I agree." She repeats.

Kingsley taps their joined hands thrice. She watches as white light wraps around their hands, magically joining them together. She watches in surprise as a white gold wedding band appear on both her and Malfoy's ring finger. She wasn't aware that would happen.

"You may now kiss the bride," Kingsley announces making them both freeze.

"W-what?" Malfoy stutters but Hermione just glares at him reclaiming her hand back.

"Really Kingsley?" She asks raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Too soon, Mrs Malfoy."

She flinches at her new name. "Yes Kingsley, I'm sure two seconds is too soon." She snaps before turning on her heel and storming back down the aisle towards the seating area for the newly wedded couples.

Draco stands, staring back and forth between The Minister and Granger as she snaps at him then storms off leaving him at the podium.

"You can go sit down now Mr Malfoy." The Minister tells him and he embarrassingly scrambles down the aisle to where Granger is sat.

He sits as far away from her as his chair will allow him. He doesn't think she'll want him very close. He tries to think of something to say to her but he has no idea. He toys with the idea of giving her his condolences but he doesn't think that will go down well. He could just apologise but it's not his fault that they're compatible.

Hermione can see Malfoy fidgeting next to her in his seat. She tries her best to ignore him and she does a good job of it until Kingsley calls out "Harry Potter."

Without thinking she reaches next to her for Ginny's hand, forgetting that she's no longer sat next to her best friend, and instead is holding Malfoy's hand again. When she realises, she turns to face Malfoy who's staring down at their hands. She quickly snatches her hand back, turning to see Harry already stood at the podium, seemingly having a nice chat with Kingsley as if they were meeting for tea, not marriage. Her eyes are on Ginny as Harry gets his finger pricked and then the parchment erupts for the goblet.

She's a picture of confidence. A few other people are watcher her too, obviously not expecting her to be paired with her boyfriend since many other couples have been split up by The Partner Ceremony. Ginny must feel her watching because she turns around giving her a calming smile. She doesn't understand how her best friend doesn't have even an ounce of doubt in her mind.

"Ginevra Weasley." Kingsley calls and Ginny jumps up from her seat as most of the hall applauds and cheers in congratulations.

Hermione's hands are raw with how hard she's clapping as her best friend walks down the aisle towards Harry. Her eyes start welling up with how happy she is with her two best friends. She watches as they smile lovingly at each other as they agree to their vows then kiss passionately once their wedding bands appear on their ring fingers. Once they're sat down, Hermione relaxes back down into her seat, accidentally brushing her shoulder against Malfoy's. She flinches away from him. She doubts he wants her touching him.

She checks her watch again. It's twenty to three. Time seems to be going far too slowly today. All she wants to do is go home and sleep. She doesn't want to go to the reception party afterwards and she definitely doesn't want to go to her new house on The Ministry Starter Estate with Malfoy.

She has to wait another hour before the Weasley's are called.

"George Weasley."

Hermione was wondering how they were going to call them. Apparently they have chosen to stick to alphabetically instead of by age.

A chill runs through her body at the look of pure sadness in George's eyes. He's wearing patchwork robes of ever colour known to man. It certainly doesn't match his recent emotions but they're perfect for who he once was. His right hand is tucked inside his robes clutching onto something. She wishes she knew what he is doing when he does that since she's seen him do it many times since the war.

George stands slouched over at the podium await his wife's name to be announced.

"Angeline Johnson."

She sees Georges' shoulders stiffen. He spins around looking around the brides seating area for Angelina. She stands up with a small smile playing on her lips. She only makes it half way down the aisle before George rushes over to her and just hugs her, burying his head in the crook of her neck. She hugs him back just as tightly, running her hands through his hair as she mumbles something to him. He pulls back from her with a tear stricken face, takes hold of her hand then walks her down the rest of the aisle towards Kingsley.

Hermione's happy for George. She happy he got paired with someone who knows what he's been through, who doesn't need to have anything explained to them. She hopes more than anything else that they'll make each other happy.

"Percy Weasley," Kingsley calls next.

She watches as he angrily storms down the aisle towards Kingsley who looks slightly taken aback. He thrusts his hand towards Kingsley for him to prick then snatches it back once he's done.

"Audrey Rankin," Kingsley calls once he's caught the flying piece of parchment.

A short girl with a blonde pixie hair cut walks down the aisle. She's the only bride Hermione's seen wearing a knee length dress. It's orange and very nineteen-fifties. She assertively grabs hold of Percy's hand for Kingsley to cast the marriage vow. As soon as he's done she pushes his hand away then stomps back down the aisle with Percy following quickly behind.

"Ronald Weasley."

Ron trudges down the aisle towards Kingsley obviously annoyed about something. She hopes it's not because they weren't paired together. She watches in disgust as he sucks on his pricked finger. She looks down at her own finger but gets distracted by her wedding ring. It really is a beautiful ring. She twists it absentmindedly around her finger as she waits for Kingsley to read out Ron's wife's name.

"Pansy Parkinson."

Hermione freezes in her seat, still holding onto her own wedding ring.

Draco nearly jumps out of his seat when Pansy's name is called out. He hadn't realised until now that she hadn't been paired off and now she has it's with The Weasel. He can't help but chuckle at this unexpected turn of events which earns him a glare from Granger.

"This isn't going to end well." He mutters mainly to himself but also for her sake.

"There must be a mistake," Weasel says to The Minister.

"I'm afraid not Ron." He shakes his head. "Pansy Parkinson, please make your way to the podium or we will take your actions as a refusal to marry and you will be sentenced to Azkaban for four months imprisonment." His voice echoes around the hall.

Pansy finally stands up and makes her way to the podium.

"If you would please take hold of each other's left hand." The Minister asks them wand at the ready.

He watches as Pansy looks down her nose at the Weasel.

"You can't do this to me." She shakes her head angrily.

"To you. What about me? I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life." Weasel looks her up and down in disgust.

"You can't expect me to marry this… this… this BLOOD TRAITOR." She shouts at The Minister.

From the back of the hall are the sounds of chairs screeching. Draco turns around to see the eldest Weasley being held back by the other Weasley who works with dragons. He watches as Fleur pulls her husband back down into his seat.

"Are you refusing to marry him?" The Minister goes back to the situation in front of them.

"YES." She shouts in his face.

"Don't be inconsiderate, child?" Mr Parkinson shouts from his seat.

Pansy turns to face her Father who must give her a knowing glare because she turns back around sighing defeat.

"Get it over with." She hisses grabbing hold of Weasels hand much to his annoyance.

Draco spends the next fifteen minutes staring down at his fingers as he wonders which pairing is more shocking his and Granger's or Pansy's and Weasley's when he hears The Minister call, "Blaise Zabini."

He looks up to find that Blaise is the only groom left in the hall. His friend seems to already be aware of this as he exits the end of the row. He glances over to the bride's side and Draco follows to find five brides still sat there. He only recognises three of them. Loony Lovegood, Pavarti Patil and Penelope Clearwater.

Blaise seems confident though so he tries not to feel too nervous for his friend as his hand is pricked.

"Luna Lovegood." The Minister announces.

Draco watches as Blaise laughs aloud in relief. He turns to face Luna in amazement as she happily skips down the aisle. When she reaches Blaise, she jumps up to wrap her arms around his neck and he lifts her up into a hug. He then proceeds to carry her back down the aisle to the podium where they take their vows then retreat to the seating area.

The Minister then looks down at the podium, where he assumes there are pieces of parchment.

"Penelope Clearwater." He calls out.

She walks nervously down to the podium where her finger is pricked. Draco follows the parchment curious as to who she's going to get paired with.

"Abigail Cummings." He announces.

Penelope's sigh of relief is audible from the back of the hall. When Abigail reaches the podium she smiles nervously at the other girl who smiles back taking her left hand in hers. On the way back up the aisle after taking their vows, they continue to hold hands. Draco's glad that at least a few of the couples being paired together today are happy.

"Pavarti Patil." The Minister calls out.

Pavarti's wearing a beautiful pale yellow sari. She walks like a queen down the aisle towards The Minister who shakes his head when she offers him her finger to prick.

"Charlotte Rossi." He calls next.

The name rings a bell for Draco but he doesn't recognise her face. Maybe she was a few years above him. She's the last bride in the hall. She confusingly walks towards Pavarti who smiles at er when she stops next to her. The Minister raises his wand to his throat and mutters "Quietus" countering his previous sonorus spell. He continues to talk to Pavarti and Charlotte but it's impossible to hear. Especially with everyone around him whispering to each other about what they could be discussing. Finally, after five minutes, the girls both retreat to the seating area without having taken any vow.

The Minister casts the sonorus charm once again. "Congratulations to you all. The Ministry and I wish you the best for your future. Now, if everyone can please retreat to the foyer where our officials will guide you to the reception hall where you will continue to celebrate." The Minister announces.

People start to slowly shuffle out of the hall. Draco stands up then just stands there wondering what he's supposed to do next. He's spent so many hours worrying about who he's going to get paired to but he hadn't thought much about how he'd go about his life once he is married. He glances down to Granger who's still sat down. She staring straight ahead of her, twisting her wedding ring. He looks down at his own ring. It's not something he would have chosen but it's nice none the less.

Hermione doesn't stand up until most people have left the hall. When she does stand up she comes face to face with Malfoy, who's been standing in front of her for the past five minutes looking down at his wedding ring. It's hard to tell what he's thinking.

"Sorry." He mumbles taking a step away from her.

She doesn't know what she should do next.

"Hermione!" She hears her Mum's voice from behind her.

She turns around to find her Mum running towards her, arm outstretched. Hermione runs straight into them crying onto her Mum's shoulder.

"Don't cry my dear. Please don't cry." She begs her as her Dad wraps his arms around the both of them.

Hermione pulls herself together remembering her promise to herself. She isn't going to let Malfoy see her cry. Not today. Not ever. When her parents release her, she pulls her wand out of cloak and waves it over her face muttering a spell to clean her face up. She doesn't want Malfoy to see her tear stricken face. She takes a deep breath then turns around to find Malfoy stood a few feet away staring awkwardly at them.

"Mum, Dad, this is Ma- Draco Malfoy." She introduces him.

Draco stares at her for a second until his Mother's etiquette training come back to him. He puts a smile on his face as he steps forward, hand outstretched.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Granger." He shakes her Mother's hand. "You as well, Mr Granger." He shakes her Father's hand.

Unexpectedly, Mr Granger pulls him into a hug. Draco freezes in his embrace unsure of how to proceed. Thankfully he lets him go after a few seconds. "Call me Chris." He adds patting him on the back. "And my wife is Sarah."

Draco nods in reply.

"Where are your parents, Draco?" Sarah asks looking around the nearly empty hall.

"My Mother's most likely left the hall already. She'll be waiting for me in the reception hall." He explains vaguely not wanting to bring up to his parent-in-laws that his father is in Azkaban. Not yet anyway.

"Shall we leave then?" Sarah leads the way out of the hall hand in hand with Chris as he follows behind with Granger.

He glances over to her but she's fiddling with her wedding ring again, staring absentmindedly down at her hands so he leaves her to her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Also, don't forget to follow (/BigDsWisdom) on Twitter for your say in what happens in this fanfiction.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 9 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> I've decided to let you guys choose the names of the children of all couples. I'll post polls on Tumblr and you simply put a | next to the name you prefer.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

She didn't know how he felt about being paired with her, a Muggleborn. He was a Death Eater, with the dark mark to prove it, and it's common knowledge that Death Eaters hate Muggles and Muggleborns above all others so she feels fully justified in worrying about introducing Malfoy to her parents. However, much to her surprise, he's polite. He shook their hands and didn't immediately jump out of her Father's embrace although he did look very uncomfortable.

Her parents lead the way out of the hall into the foyer and then into the reception hall. Hermione's taken by how beautiful the reception hall is. The hall itself is bigger than Hogwarts' Great Hall. There's a stage at one end of the hall with a drum set, a keyboard, three guitars and some microphones arranged. In front of the stage is a large dance floor with spotlights pointing down at it from many different angles. Across the entire opposite wall is a large bar with about twenty bartenders stood waiting to serve or already serving customers. In a horseshoe formation around the stage and dancefloor where around forty large circular tables seating twenty-five people each.

People have already started finding their table and were sitting down with their new partner and families. On an easel near the doors is a seating plan, Hermione points it out to her parents then goes over to see where they have been placed.

"I'll join you at the table momentarily, I need to find my Mother," Malfoy announces before he nods at her parents the walks off towards the stage.

Whoever did the seating arrangement must have already known who was being paired with who and also who's friends with who as she had been placed on the same table with the Weasley's and all their partners and their parents as well. Their table is between the bar and the dancefloor which Hermione doesn't mind since she needs a drink or two and she feels like dancing her worries away. She'll worry about everything tomorrow, for tonight she's going to celebrate her friends' marriage. She is going to enjoy herself.

The three of them head over to their table to find the Weasley's glaring at the Parkinson's. Ginny jumps up from her seat upon seeing Hermione and everyone looks at her for a second before going back to glaring at each other.

Hermione hugs her best friend tightly.

"Congratulations, Mrs Potter." She says making Ginny laugh.

"How are you doing?" Ginny asks her but she shakes her head.

"I'm not even going to think about it. I'm going to celebrate your and Harry's marriage and anyone else's who's happy with this." She explains.

"Well you're not going to be celebrating Ron's, are you?" She laughs, sitting back down.

Hermione takes a seat next to her. Her parents have gone over to congratulate Harry. She glances around the table. Molly and Arthur are glaring at Mr and Mrs Parkinson whilst Pansy cries into her Father's handkerchief and Ron nurses a rather large glass of firewhisky between them. Bill, Fleur and Charlie are sat next to their parents muttering to each other. What she assumes are George, Angelina and her parent's seats are empty. There's a man and a woman looking worriedly at Percy and Audrey who seem to be in a heated debate. She guesses that they're her parents. Harry's stood up talking to her Mum and Dad. Ginny's admiring her wedding band, which Hermione notices is different to hers. Between Hermione and Mr Parkinson are five seats for her parents, Malfoy and his Mum.

* * *

He spots his Mother stood over by the stage talking to Mr and Mrs Stonage. Mitty's stood behind her looking around nervously. He walks over to them to drag his Mother over to their table. He needs to introduce her to Granger and her parents before he can get a drink.

"Draco, did you know my son was courting that girl?" Blaise's Mother asks him.

"I was aware he was courting someone before Christmas but I was unaware they carried on after finding out about The Marriage Decree and I was unaware of whom he was courting." Draco answered truthfully. "But I can assure you that Loo- Luna is a very kind natured, clever girl worthy of Blaise's affections." He adds.

He barely knows Lovegood but he's heard a lot about her. How she frequent snuck into the Forbidden Forest to talk with the centaurs or feed the other creatures and if her reaction to being paired to his best friend is anything to go by, then he's more than happy for them.

"She's seems rather airy." She says.

"She definitely is but that isn't bad. Now if you please excuse us." Draco excuses himself, his Mother and Mitty.

"Are you going to introduce me to Hermione?" She asks him as they walk over to the seating arrangement board.

"Since when are you on a first name basis with her?" He questions her.

"She is my daughter-in-law, I'm not going to call her Mrs Malfoy, am I?" His Mother says making him cringe.

He highly doubts Granger would like his Mother if she called her that. The look at the board trying to find their names.

"Of course they've put us with the Weasel's." He mutters earning a slap on the arm from his Mother.

"There will be none of that. I raised you better." She starts to walk over to their table.

"Mother, wait!" He calls jogging after her. "You can't just go over there."

"I'm not going to hide from them, Draco." She carries on walking.

"Master Draco knows master cannot stop master's mother." Mitty speaks up from behind him.

"I know Mitty." He sighs then follows after his Mother who's stopped a few metres from the table.

"I'm not going to introduce myself, Draco." She points out.

Draco nods walking over to where Granger is sat with her parents. He places his hand on the back of her chair.

"Good afternoon." He says cringing at how formal he sounds but it does its job in gaining their attention as Granger and her parents stand up.

"We were beginning to wonder where you'd gotten to," Chris says.

"I'd like to formally introduce you to my Mother, Narcissa Malfoy." He motions to his Mother.

"Lovely to meet you Narcissa," Sarah says then proceeds to hug her a kiss both her cheeks.

Draco holds in his smirk. His Mother has never been one for hugging.

"This is Sarah, Chris and Gra- Hermione." He quickly corrects himself motioning to each person in turn.

Chris shakes his Mother's hand then sits down next to his wife leaving a chair between them and Granger for Draco to sit in.

"It's delightful to see you again Hermione." His Mother holds her hands out for Granger to shake.

"I somehow doubt that, Narcissa." She spits his Mother's names, refusing to shake her hand, then sits back down.

"Mitty likes mistress, master." Mitty mutters from behind his cloak.

* * *

Hermione hear a small voice coming from behind Malfoy so turns around to see a house-elf peering nervously from behind his cloak.

"Hello." She bends down to talk to the house-elf at her level. "What's your name?" She asks.

The house-elf looks up at Malfoy to ask permission to talk. Malfoy nods back to his house-elf.

"Mitty, mistress." She replies taking a deep bow.

"I'm happy to meet you." She holds her hand out for Mitty to shake but the house-elf looks back up to Malfoy who nods again.

Mitty grabs her hand with both of her small ones shaking it excitedly.

"Please call me, Hermione. I'm not your mistress." She tells Mitty who smiles looking up at Malfoy.

"Master asks Mitty to say Draco but it habits for Mitty to say, master," Mitty explains.

"Would you like to sit down?" Hermione motions to the seat next to Ginny that she was previously sat on.

She helps Mitty onto the chair where she stands looking nervously around the table. Hermione sits down between her and her Mum.

Draco watches Mitty and Granger's conversation fondly. Mitty has been his house-elf since he started walking and needed someone to look after him and ensure he didn't fall down any stairs. She'd been through everything with him. She one of the most important people in his life.

When they sit down, he continues to stand behind them unsure of what to do. Chris had moved to allow him to sit down next to Granger but now Mitty is sat there he'd have to sit with his Mother and Chris. His Father-in-law seems nice enough but he's not ready to have a proper conversation with him yet. No doubt he'll ask more questions about his Father and he doesn't think he'll be impressed to find out he's in Azkaban.

"I'm heading to the bar." He announces. He really needs a drink if he's going to make it through this whole night. "Can I get anyone anything?" He offers politely.

"I'd love a glass of white wine," Sarah asks.

"I'll have a beer son if you're offering," Chris says.

Draco's a little taken aback by being called son by Chris but he doesn't mention it. He looks at Granger awaiting her drink order.

"Draco dear, order a dozen bottles of firewhisky and butterbeer." His Mother tells him.

"Does anyone want anything different?" He asks but nobody answers him so he sets off for the bar.

"Can I help you, sir?" A bartender asks him.

"Yeah, I'll have a glass of wine, a bottle of beer, a dozen butterbeers and five bottles of firewhisky." He orders ignoring the annoyed look he receives from the bartender who slams two trays down on the bar in front of him.

The bartender places the butterbeer on one tray along with twelve glasses then places the five bottles of firewhisky on the other tray with the glass of wine and beer.

"How many glasses for the firewhisky, sir?" He asks sharply.

Draco shrugs.

"Twenty glasses please sir." Granger's voice comes from behind him.

* * *

"Hermione dear, why don't you go help Draco. It will give you the chance to talk." Narcissa suggests.

She feels her Mum reach over to place an encouraging hand on her elbow so she stands up, removes her cloak which would only restrict her arm movements. She folds it neatly then hangs it over the back of the chair.

"Hermione." Ginny grabs her wrist before she can leave. "Can you order me a pumpkin juice? I want to remember tonight." She winks at her making Hermione shudder.

She walks over to the bar where Malfoy's being served but a very annoyed looking bartender.

"How many glasses for the firewhisky, sir?" She hears the bartender ask.

Malfoy just shrugs so she steps forward.

"Twenty glasses please sir." She answers.

Malfoy turns to face her frowning.

"My parents have vowed never to touch firewhisky again, George doesn't drink anymore, Ginny wants a pumpkin juice and Audrey's Mum is pregnant so no alcohol for her." She explains but Malfoy continues to frown at her.

"Is that everything, sir?" The bartender asks looking hopeful.

"No, we'll be needing two pumpkin juices and a glass of milk," Hermione orders earning herself a confused look from both the bartender and Malfoy.

"Milk, ma'am?" He asks,

"Yes, milk."

The bartender rolls his eyes going off to get the order.

"I wouldn't give him a tip with that attitude." She says picking up the firewhisky tray and retreating back to their table.

She places it in the centre of the table, hands her parents their drinks, then grabs a glass, filling it with firewhisky before sitting back down in her seat.

"Would you like a drink, Mitty?" She asks the house-elf whose eyes sparkle.

"Mitty likes butterbeer, mistress Hermione." She tells her.

"I've got the butterbeer here," Malfoy announces placing the tray next to hers in the centre of the table.

He pours a drink out and hands it to Mitty.

"Mitty thanks you Master Draco." She says then takes a seat with her glass.

Hermione watches in amusement as Ginny glares at Malfoy when he places her pumpkin juice in front of her. He pulls his hand away from her quickly as though she might bite him. George, who returned to the table with Angelina and her parents whilst they were at the bar, unsurely thanks Malfoy when he places the glass of milk in front of him. It's not until Malfoy's taking a seat next to her that she realises that her parents have moved up a seat.

"I didn't tip him." He mumbles quietly with his firewhisky halfway to his mouth.

Hermione nods as an indication that she heard but doesn't answer him. She just continues to sip at her firewhisky. She watches as Ron grabs an entire bottle of firewhisky and a single glass then proceeds to drink five glasses one after the other. She looks to Ginny concerned but she's near enough sat on Harry's lap whispering into his ear.

Suddenly a bell rings out throughout the hall and everyone quietens down. All the spotlights from the dancefloor point at the stage to reveal Kingsley Shacklebolt standing in front of a microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" He asks pointlessly since everyone is already is already looking at The Minister. "You've had half an hour to settle down and bond with your partner but now it's time for your meal." He claps his hands and a banquet appears in front of them.

There are a few gasps around the hall, including from her parents. They seem a little dubious of the food but once they saw Hermione and the rest of the table eating, they help themselves. She grabs herself some lasagne and salad then a slice of banoffee pie for dessert. She notices that Malfoy places some lasagne on his plate too. He doesn't take any dessert. Not long after she finishes, the bell rings out again bringing everyone's attention back to Kingsley on the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention once more please?" The Minister calls for everyone's attention so he turns towards the stage. "I hope you enjoyed your meal, now for the fun to begin. For your first dance, I pres-"

* * *

"Dance." Draco gasps eyes wide.

Nothing was ever mentioned about dancing in the letters they'd received. He has nothing against dancing, in fact, he rather enjoys it. His Mother taught him to dance as a child and it came in handy during their fourth year but he doubts Granger wants him to dance with her. Dancing involves touching each other and standing very close.

"-so can all our couples make their way to the dancefloor."

A few couples make their way to the dancefloor. The happy couples, Draco notices. The ones like Potter and his wife, Blaise and Lovegood and Finnegan and Thomas. Most couples slowly, reluctantly make their way over too. He can't just sit here next to Granger whilst everyone else dances, letting her parents judge him for it. He knows he doesn't need to make a good impression on her parents since he doubts their marriage will last longer than the birth of their child but he finds himself wanting to make a good impression. They seem like nice enough people.

He abruptly stands up making Granger jump slightly. He offers her his hand but she just glares at it.

"Shall we dance, Granger?" He asks her not wanting to make a fool of himself now that everyone on the table is staring at him.

She's about to answer him when her Mother interrupts. "Go on Hermione, you love dancing."

Granger sighs deeply before standing up. She doesn't take his hand but she does make her way to the dancefloor. Draco follows closely behind her until they reach the dance floor where she abruptly stops in her tracks causing him to crash into her back.

"Ah, sorry." He mutters when she turns to face him.

Draco glances around the dance floor at the other couples. Most of them are doing the same as he is, avoiding looking at their partner, although a couple were talking to each other and a small few were already holding each other ready to dance. The band starts playing something he's never heard of. The couples around them start dancing. He glances down at Granger who's staring back up at him probably waiting for him to take lead. He reaches out to take her hand but she snatches it away, hiding them behind her back.

"What are you doing?" She snaps at him.

"I'm under the impression Granger, that in order to dance one must touch their partner." He sarcastically replies stepping towards her leaving a few inches between them as he reaches behind her back to grab hold of her hands.

She keeps them stiff for a second before letting him place one on his shoulder and keep one in his. He pauses before gently placing his other hand on her waist. He looks up from her waist into her eyes trying to decipher what she's thinking but her face isn't giving anything away.

"I'm under the impression Malfoy,-" She smirks at him. "That in order to dance one must move." She smiles obviously proud of herself.

Draco shakes his head trying not to smile. He doesn't want to give her the satisfaction of making him smile but he does start swaying them on the spot.

Suddenly the tempo picks up before there's a crash of symbols. He wasn't aware of the band having any symbols. Draco watches as many of the males lift their partners up into the air. He hears the music start to pick up the tempo again, so he moves her other hand to his shoulder then his to her waist all the while not breaking eye contact.

* * *

Hermione frowns confusingly at Malfoy as he moves her hand to her shoulder. She doesn't understand what he's doing, the music isn't slow enough to slow dance to. However, a few seconds later she understands as he lifts her up in time with the music and the other couples. She squeals in surprise having not been expecting it. Once she's back down on two feet she glares up at Malfoy who's smirking at her probably trying not to laugh.

"If you ever tell-" She hisses through gritted teeth before being interrupted.

"My lips are sealed." He mutters then squeeze his lips together to prove his point but a small smile breaks through.

She's never seen him smile before. She didn't think he was capable of doing so. The music goes back to its original tempo so they back to swaying on the spot.

Hermione glances around them at the other couples. She spots Harry and Ginny dancing in the centre of the dance floor, holding each other close, whispering to each other then she sees Ron and Pansy not far away from them. Stood about two feet away from each other, barely holding each other's hands. She feels sorry for Ron. He doesn't deserve to be married to Pansy and she doesn't deserve to be married to Malfoy. She chuckles to herself. It's just another thing she and Ron have in common.

The tempo picks up again. This time, she's prepared for the lift but what she's not prepared for is Malfoy spinning her around on the spot, her skirt spin around them at the motion. The rest of the dance goes well but when the music ends, it leaves them stood, still holding each other, awkwardly.

"Malfoy… you can let go of me now." She points out.

His hands fall limply to his side. "Since we're married now," He raises his left hand, showing off his ring. "I think you can stop calling me Malfoy." He says.

"Okay, then you can stop calling me Granger." She tells him.

"Okay." He says leaving an awkward pause. "I'm… going back to the table."

Hermione just nods her reply then follows him back. They find her Mum, Dad, Narcissa, Molly, Arthur and the Parkinson all sat together talking. There's not raised voices or upturned faces so at least it's a civil conversation. She sits down in her usual seat grabbing another glass of firewhisky as Malfoy, or rather Draco, sits down next to her with his own drink. They don't talk. They just drink. Until Percy comes over, sitting to her other side, reading a book.

"Who brings a book to their own wedding?" Draco comments.

"Someone who doesn't want to spend it sat around, drink his problems away," Percy answers monotonously without taking his eyes off his book.

Hermione watches Draco raise his glass to Percy then down the rest of his firewhisky. Then without excusing himself he gets up and leaves.

"I can't believe The Ministry paired you with him. I'll be surprised if one of you doesn't end up dead before the year ends." Percy announces closing his book.

"Have a little faith in me Percy. I doubt if I'll be seeing much of him in the house anyway. He'll probably spend most of his time in his Manor." She points out and Percy shrugs. "I wished I thought to bring a book. The ceremony droned on for hours." She adds nodding to his book.

"Would you care to dance, Hermione?" He suddenly asks, standing up.

Hermione glances over at the band, who were now playing a song she had heard recently off the radio at the Burrow. She could easily sway and bop to it so she nods and walks with him to the dancefloor.

Most the couples have retreated to their tables, leaving a much more open space to dance.

"How are you doing?" Percy asks does a terrible side stepping move. "I didn't ask before."

"I'm fine for now but that'll probably change in the morning when we're alone and not intoxicated." She answers truthfully.

"Intoxicated!" He chuckles. "You've had, what, two glasses of firewhisky?" He asks.

"Three actually but I plan on having more." She admits. "They calm my nerves."

The song ends before Percy can comment on her drinking habits. He claims not to be one for dancing and returns to the table. She's only alone for a few seconds before Harry takes hold of her hand, pulling her further onto the dancefloor.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" He asks her as he spins her under his arm.

"Yes, I'll be fine. There's no need to worry." She rolls her eye because that's exactly what he's doing.

"I can't help worrying. You're like my sister and now you're married to… to… that ferret." He hisses looking over at their table where Draco has returned and is talking to Mitty.

"Harry." She says warningly. "If you go about insulting him like that, you're just going to make things worse for me so please try to be civil with him?" She asks him.

He reluctantly nods his reply.

"Great. Now let's talk about you and your beautiful wife." She changes the topic.

At the mention of Ginny, Harry smiles widely. "We've been thinking about having another, smaller ceremony in August just for family and friends." He tells her. "Today just didn't feel personal and there's a few people we'd like to invite that weren't invited here." He mentions.

"That's sounds amazing. I can't wait."

"We've been planning it for a while, Ginny and I. Nobody knows this but I actually proposed to her on New Year's Eve." Harry leans closer to her ear to whisper. "We were devastated when we found out about The Marriage Decree."

Hermione suddenly remembers their first night back at Hogwarts after the Christmas holiday. Ginny had mentioned something about a fool proof plan. She smiles to herself. It obviously worked then.

"May I cut in, Harry?" Her Dad asks tapping him on the shoulder.

"Of course, I'll talk to you later." Harry promises.

As soon as Harry's walked off somewhere, her Dad opens his arms wide for her and she leaps into them, hugging him tightly.

"Before you ask, I'm fine." She mumbles into his chest.

Her Dad chuckles, stroking her hair. "So this Draco boy…" He starts hinting for her to finish the sentence.

She sighs looking up at her Dad. "He used to make our life a living Hell, Dad. He was constantly bullying us to the point that I actually punched him once."

He raises a disapproving eyebrow but she can see the proud smile behind them.

"But he has changed since the end of the war. Especially since his Father was sent to Azkaban."

"That explains why he changes the topic when I mention his Father." He nods. "As long as he doesn't do anything to hurt you, Hermione, then he's good in my books. He seems nice enough and he's very polite." He adds.

Hermione hugs her Dad again. "Thank you, Dad."

"I'm going to go ask your Mum to dance." He leaves her as the song ends.

She turns towards their table when Ron stumbles over to her, holding his hands out. She takes hold of them and they sway together with him spinning her around a few times.

"'m sorry, 'mione." He slurs.

She can smell firewhisky coming off his breath.

"How much have you had to drink?" She asks concerned.

He pulls her sharply into a hug, holding her tightly.

"'m sorry, 'mione." He repeats. "I fought we be t'getha. Probly ma fault. I didn't do questionnaire proply." He mumbles into her ear. "Now yer wiv 'im."

"Don't worry about me, Ron." She hugs him back just as tightly. "I'm more worried about you. How much have you drunk?" She asks again.

He shrugs in their embrace. "Lost count afta six or seven." He grumbles.

"Ron…" She starts but he doesn't let her finish.

"Don't 'mione. 'm tired ov yer judgin' me. 'm drinkin' til I can't rember nonthin'. I need a drink." He pushes her away walking off to the bar leaving her stood on the dancefloor, watching after him concernedly.

She's about to go to the bar herself when she spots George stood at the edge of the dancefloor watching his wife and her friends dancing. She stands next to him, nudging him slightly so he knows she's there.

"Is it awkward being married to Angelina?" She asks watching Angelina, Alicia and Katie dance.

"Because she dated him?" He asks meaning Fred.

"No, because she's one of your closest friends." She explains.

"Oh, not at all really. She seems happy." He shrugs looking over at her fondly.

"What about you?" She doesn't want to push him too much. "Do you think you can be happy?"

"I hope so. " He mumbles then look down at her. "I know it's been over a year but it still feels so… new." His eyes start watering but he whips them before any tears fall.

"I don't know what to say George. I don't know if that feeling's ever going to go away and you might not want to hear this but you need to try and be happy. For Angelina and your future child." She tells him.

"You're right." He nods. "As usual." He tries to smile but it comes out as a grimace. She returns it anyway. "I'm going to go ask her to dance." He says, grimace still present on his face as he walks over to Angelina.

She watches them for a while. He continues to smile in that way and Angelina returns with a real smile as she holds his hands, dancing and spinning around. After a few minutes she feels a bit creepy so she goes back over to their table.

* * *

He spots Blaise over near the bar with Lovegood so he makes his way over to them.

"Draco, how's married life treating you so far?" Blaise asks with his arm around his wife's waist.

Draco just glares at him, making him uncomfortable, until he laughs nervously.

"That bad, eh? I'm sure things will get better." His friend claps him on the back as he drags his wife to the dance floor.

"I doubt it." He mumbles to himself as he waves a bartender over. "A large glass of red wine please." He orders.

The bartender nods, "Yes, sir."

This bartender seems a lot politer. He gives the man a tip once he's handed the glass over.

"Th-thank you, sir." The bartender stutters nodding vigorously.

Draco takes a seat next to Mitty back at the table. She's on what he thinks is her second glass of butterbeer.

"Don't drink too much Mitty. I don't think Mother will appreciate supporting a drunk house-elf home." He teases her.

"Mitty don't drink much, Master. Mitty leave soon. Mitty needs to help Gharther cook breakfast for Master's Mother and Master's guests." She tells him.

"What do you think of Gr-Hermione?" He asks curiously.

"Mitty think Mistress Hermione is kind and beautiful." She admits happily.

"I'm glad you think that Mitty."

"Master Draco thinks what of Mistress Hermione?" She asks.

He pauses with his glass to his mouth then carries on to take a sip. "I think she's very kind and I suppose in certain lights she's pretty."

"Master Draco is blushing." Mitty tells him.

"No I'm not." He quickly denies.

He ignores Mitty's knowing stare instead looking over to the dancefloor where Hermione is dancing with Potter. He narrows his eyes, trying to look closer at them. They seem to be in the middle of a conversation until he leans in to whisper into her ear. He wonders curiously what they're whispering about.

He's thankful when Chris interrupts them for the next dance. He can tell she's very close to her Father. His heart beats quicker as he watches them talk. He looks quickly away a few minutes later when he walks over towards him.

"Don't worry son, I don't care about your past but just makes sure you don't hurt her in any way, otherwise we'll have a problem." Chris threatens.

Draco doubts Chris will be able to lay a hand on him before he has his wand out and a curse out of his mouth but he understands why he makes the threat.

"I will never do anything to purposely hurt her and will be nothing but apologetic if I unintentionally hurt her." He says without breaking Chris' eye contact.

Chris nods once then turns to face Sarah to ask her to dance. Draco looks back over at Hermione to find her hugging Weasel a little too comfortably. He can only see his face but he looks heartbroken. He was under the impression that they weren't a couple. Hermione had said so herself. He watches as Weasel pushes her away then storms off to the bar. He looks completely drunk. Worse than he's ever seen Blaise and he's seen Blaise in some very intoxicated states.

He drinks the last of his wine, which he found rather nice considering it was apparently a muggle variety. He places the glass back down on the table then excuses himself before heading back over to the bar.

The same bartender serves him as he orders another glass of the same red wine. As he awaits his return he turns to glance around the hall. It concerns him that in a crowded room full of around a thousand people, his eyes instantly find Hermione walking back to their table. They've barely been married four hours and she's already got a hold on him.

When the bartender comes back with his glass of wine he orders another. He leaves another tip then carries both glasses back to the table.

* * *

Hermione just sits down at their table when a glass of wine is placed in front of her. She looks up just as Draco sits down opposite her. She eyes the wine suspiciously.

"I didn't poison it." He snaps, offended.

"I know." She tells him picking the glass of wine up. "I was wondering why you got me it."

"Can't I buy my wife a drink?" He raises a questioning eyebrow which she returns with a pointed stare before taking a sip from her glass.

She gazes around the hall just watching as people interact with their partner, parents, families, friends and everyone else.

"Having fun?" Draco asks.

"I suppose I am." She answers staring disturbingly at a couple who were heavily making out at a table near the stage. "Considering." She adds as an afterthought.

"Considering you're married to me." He mutters glumly and she can't help feeling sorry for him. It's not his fault they got paired together.

"Considering I'm married in the first place." She explains. "I don't know about you Draco, but I didn't want to get married today."

Draco nods in agreement.

"I wanted to meet someone, get to know them, fall in love with them before I…" She realises she rambling. "Sorry, you don't care." She takes another sip of the red wine Draco got her.

"I planned on living out the rest of my life focussing solely on my career. Who'd want to marry me anyway? People either see me as a Death Eater or a blood traitor, depending on which side of the war they were on." He stands up, quickly walking off.

"Draco?" She calls after him, also standing up.

He stops but doesn't turn around so she walks a little closer to him.

"I see you as neither, Draco." She tells him but he walks off again.

This time, she lets him leave, returning to her table. Not long later the bell rings out again before Kingsley takes to the stage again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present you to one of the best up and coming bands this year. MB." Kingsley announces as the band enters the stage waving to the crowd.

"Hi guys, we're MB and we want as many of you on the dance floor as possible." The lead singer shouts into the microphone.

A few people make their way onto the dance floor but apparently not enough.

"Come on, if you've got muggle blood in your veins, make your way to the dancefloor now." She shouts.

Hermione frowns. What is she shouting about?

"Come on, Hermione." Ginny grabs hold of her hand pulling her up off her seat.

"Really, Ginny. I don't know this band." She complains but allows herself to be pulled onto the dance floor.

"Our first song is for one of our own. The inspirational Hermione Granger." The lead singer shouts pointing towards her.

"One of their own?" She repeats confused. "Who are they?" She asks Ginny.

"They're this new band. They got together about two weeks after the end of the war. They call themselves MB but that's short for Muggleborn or… erm… you know." She explains.

"Mudblood." Hermione mutters.

"Yeah." Ginny avoids her eyes. "They're starting to play, come on." She pulls her closer to the stage as the band starts playing a song Hermione instantly recognises from the muggle world. A song she hasn't heard for years.

"Sun is shining in the sky,

There ain't a cloud in sight,

It's stopped raining…"

"They play exclusively muggle songs," Ginny explains as they dance.

They end up dancing to a few other songs before Ginny complains her feet are tired and she needs a drink. Hermione accompanies to the bar.

"Can I have a glass of wine and what do you want Ginny?" She asks her friend.

"I'll have another pumpkin juice." She replies.

"Come on Ginny, you're not that much of a lightweight. One drink isn't going to cloud your memories." She tells her as the bartender glances back and forth between them.

"No, I'm fine with a pumpkin juice." She nods at the bartender who goes off to get their drinks.

"Here you go ma'am, is that everything?" He asks with a sincere smile.

"For now, yes." She reaches out her hand with a few coins. "Here you go, sir."

"No ma'am, your husband has already tipped me more than I earn in a week. I couldn't possibly take any more from you." He pushes her hand away.

"Oh… thank you." She thanks the bartender who keeps smiling them.

Back at their table, Ginny and Hermione sit down with Audrey, who's sipping her drink.

"Hi, Audrey." Ginny greets her new sister-in-law. "How are you finding my brother?" She asks.

"He's alright. We have a few things in common." Audrey answers. "Although, does he always read this much." She nods over to where Percy is sat next to Arthur, nose deep in his book.

Hermione and Ginny glance at each other before bursting out laughing. "Oh Audrey, this is nothing. Sometimes, when he finds a particularly interesting book, he reads it in one sitting. Even if that means going without sleep. Just make sure he eats something. He gets so caught up in the book and he just forgets." Ginny explains.

"Great." Audrey rolls her eyes sarcastically. "Well, he can do what he wants. I'm a little preoccupied with work at the moment anyway." She adds.

"What is it you do?" Hermine asks, making polite conversation.

"I'm afraid that's classified." She states breaking eye contact then leaving the table.

"Well, that was weird," Ginny mentions to which she nods in agreement.

"Hermione, there you are dear." Her Mum comes over to give her a hug. "I'm back at work tomorrow so we're going to leave now." She tells her.

"Oh, okay. I'll come walk you out." She makes a grab for her cloak.

"No, you stay. Narcissa said she'll walk us out. She's heading home too." Her Mum mentions turning to wave in Narcissa's direction.

"I'd prefer it if I walked out," Hermione tells her feeling uncomfortable.

"I know you worry about us dear, but we'll be fine." Her Mum tries to convince her.

"I don't trust her, Mum." She admits.

"Do you trust the elf?" She asks and Hermine nods understanding.

She trusts Mitty will do anything to serve both Draco and herself so she doubts the house-elf will let any harm come to her parents. Especially not from Narcissa.

"Okay, I'll come visit you tomorrow. I need to collect my things." She explains.

"We'll see you tomorrow then." Her Mum gives her another hug. "Come on Chris." She calls over to her Dad who's talking to Arthur about something.

"I'm coming over to see you tomorrow, Dad." She tells him as they hug goodbye.

She walks them over to the door, where Narcissa and Mitty are waiting.

"It's was lovely to meet you Mitty." She bends down to shake the house elf's hand. "Can you ensure my parents have a safe exit into the muggle world?" She whispers.

Mitty's eyes widen in delight at being given an order from her new mistress. "Mitty happy to help mistress Hermione." She squeaks.

* * *

"Draco dear, we're leaving. Mr and Mrs Stonage have already gone and I don't wish to leave them alone too long in our home." His Mother pats him lightly on the shoulder.

"Goodnight then Mother." He kisses her cheek.

"Don't forget to visit, Draco." She smiles gently.

"Of course not, Mother." He lets a small smile play on his face.

He walks her and Mitty over to the door where she stops.

"Chris and Sarah have asked me to walk them out. Apparently muggles can't leave The Ministry without one of us guiding them." She says quirking an eyebrow.

"Mother, be kind. This is important to me." He warns her.

"I'm always kind, dear." She says seriously which worries him. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, one of your friends is beckoning you over." She points behind him.

He turns to find Theo waving him over. He nods to let him know he's on his way.

"Please excuse me Mother and goodbye Mitty." He walks away towards Theo.

"Draco, Lisa and I are having a party Friday night. Are you coming?" He glances over to his table where Lisa is sat with her friends.

"Who else are you inviting?" He asks curiously.

"Blaise and Luna, Goyle and Megan, Pansy and Ron-"

Draco interrupts with an annoyed groan. "You're inviting the Weasel." He complains.

"Yeah but he isn't gonna come, is he?" Theo huffs out a laugh. "I'm just trying to be polite. For Pansy's sake."

"I don't think Pansy will care if you don't invite him." He points out.

Theo shrugs. "Then Lisa's inviting some of her friends. Mandy and Oliver, Sue and Richard, and Isobel and William. So are you coming?" He asks hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll come." He gives in.

"Bring Hermione too," Theo calls behind him as he makes his way back over to his wife.

He doubts she'll want to come but he'll ask her anyway. He wonders what their life is going to be like. How will they act around each other? Will they talk, get to know each other or will she just want to get the whole ordeal over and done with? The thought makes him shudder. He never wanted his first time to be loveless but he doesn't have a chance of having it any different now. Especially not with Hermione. He can't see himself falling in love with her and he definitely can't see Hermione falling in love with him. No matter how long they stay married.

* * *

She's starting to feel the effects of the alcohol on her so she makes it her last drink. She waiting for the same bartender as earlier to return with her drink when someone pokes her hard in the back. She turns around coming face to face with a very drunk and very angry Pansy Parkinson.

"Stay away from him, he's mine." She slurs, rocking as she stood in front of her.

Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow. This is definitely something she didn't see coming, Pansy threatening her over Ron.

"Don't worry Pansy, I don't feel that way anymore. The kiss was in the heat of the moment and didn't mean anything so he's all yours." She informs her but that doesn't seem to help.

"You kissed him." She glares at her, tears welling up. "When?" She prods her in the shoulder.

"It was near the end of the war. Over a year ago. I'm over it and I'm pretty sure he is too." She tries to calm the girl down but she starts pulling at her own hair.

"We'll see how you like it." She storms off leaving Hermione wondering what she was on about.

"Here's your drink, ma'am." The bartender pulls her attention away from Pansy.

"Thank you again. What's your name sir?" She asks him making him blush.

"My name's Stephen, ma'am." He bows slightly.

"Thank you, Stephen, you've been a great help to me tonight." She praises him causing him to blush deeper and walk off mumbling something about having to serve someone.

She chuckles to herself as she heads back to the table, sipping on her drink. She finds herself alone for the first time in hours so she takes the time to just sit and watch. She finds it fascinating how differently people are reacting to their partnership. Some are genuinely happy, laughing and dancing together on the dancefloor. Some are sat at their table nervously getting to know each other. Some are sat at their table ignoring their partner completely. Then a small few are drunkenly making out with their partner like the couple she saw earlier and the couple over near the bar who were properly going at it. The move slightly and Hermione nearly chokes on her drink as she realises the couple is Ron and Pansy. They must far drunker than she first thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please COMMENT and KUDOS.
> 
> Also some exciting news. Since Sunday 5th June is Draco's birthday I'll be uploading CHAPTER 10.
> 
> Thank you. Xx
> 
> P.S. Please follow me on Tumblr. I got questions for you all.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DRACO MALFOY!
> 
> Here's Chapter 10 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> I've decided to let you guys choose the names of the children of all couples. I'll post polls on Tumblr and you simply put a | next to the name you prefer.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

At about eleven o'clock, a bell rings out once more as Kingsley again takes to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm afraid your reception party is coming to an end. I thoroughly hope you enjoyed yourself. Now please listen carefully as I explain what is about to happen. Firstly, can all our guests please leave the hall?" Kingsley orders.

Hermione sits ups a little straighter, waiting for all the guests to leave so Kingsley can carry on. Draco comes back over to their table, sitting down next to her. Once all the guest have left, Kingsley clears his throat to regain their attention.

"Now, there are five buses wait to take you to The Ministry Starter House Estate. You will all board the buses alphabetically by surname where a Ministry Official will be your guide. Please ask them if you have any further questions." Kingsley glances around the hall to ensure everyone understands. "Can A through E please make their way to the door where your Ministry Official will guide you to your bus?"

The scrapping of chairs echoes around the hall as people shuffle slowly towards the hall door. Hermione sits quietly with Draco on one side and Ginny and Harry on the other.

"Now, can F through J please make their way to the door?" Kingsley announces next.

Hermione realises that she and Draco are in the next group without Harry and Ginny. She gives them both a quick hug.

"I'll come see you both on Friday, alright?" She promises them both.

"Now, can K through O please make their way to the door?" Kingsley announces next.

Ginny squeezes her hand encouragingly which she squeezes back as a thank you. Turning around, she finds Draco stood waiting for her. They walk together, silently, to the door where a few couples are already lining up waiting. At the front of the queue is a short, large woman with bright blonde hair. She's looking down at the many pieces of paper clipped to her clipboard.

"Hello." Her thick Devonshire accent is a surprise to not only Hermione but a few other people in her queue. "I hope all you young lovers are happy." Hermione cringes, looking awkwardly at Draco, who's looking at the woman is disgust. "If you'd like to follow me, I'll guide you to our bus then we'll be swiftly on our way." She leads them out of the muggle entrance which apparently a lot of people, especially purebloods and some half-bloods, have never seen before from the sounds of disapproval as they walk through the one-star hotel.

"Here we go, you can all sit where you'd like as long as it's with your partner." She announces before waving to the driver to open the door.

Hermione climbs aboard the bus before Draco so chooses the seat at the back of the bus. Once everyone is sat down ready, the woman signals the driver to go. The bus reminds her of the Knight bus in the way it swerves quickly between muggle traffic. Not before long, they're pulling up to a very large, walled-off estate in the middle of the countryside.

"This is The Ministry Starter House Estate. Each house is identical in layout and décor but you can redecorate as you please. We have five street in the shape of a pentagon. You will all be on the third street named Gamma. In the middle of the estate are a few food shops, cafes, a restaurant, sweet shop, book shop and robes shop along with a large playing green and a small playground. I will call out your name as we come to each house." She explains. "Let's go!" She signals the driver to move along.

The bus comes to a stop at the first front door of Gamma Street, which read '1G'.

The woman looks down at her clipboard before looking around the bus.

"Mr and Mrs Kay." She calls out.

* * *

Draco sits at the back of the bus for about twenty before the woman calls out, "Mr and Mrs Malfoy."

He feels her flinch from next to him at being called 'Mrs Malfoy.'

"Don't even think for one second that I'm changing my name to Malfoy." She glares at him as she squeezes past him then storms off the bus, snatching the keys from the woman.

Draco reluctantly follows her off the bus. The bus moves a few metres down the road before stopping at the house next to theirs. Hermione is stood staring up at their house. He wishes he knew what she's thinking because her face is void of all emotion. He follows her gaze to take in the outside of their new home for the next two year. His first thought is that it's small but after growing up in either his manor or Hogwarts he supposes most houses will look small to him. His second thought is why is their door is green. All the other doors he's seen were either black or white. Thoughts about their house and their new life keep popping into his mind until Hermione moves towards their door.

He follows her quickly as she unlocks the door. He's about to step inside when her hand comes to a rest on his chest, stopping him from entering their house.

"Take your shoes off." She orders him.

"What? Why?" He questions glancing down at his shoes.

"You're not going to dirty our cream carpets." She stares pointedly at him until he takes his shoes off.

She enters first, placing her shoes at the side of the door, then walks further into the hallway, stopping at a door on the right until he follows suit, leaving his shoes next to hers and making his way to the first door.

Hermione opens the door revealing a small but homely living room. There's a brown, two seater fabric couch facing the fireplace. There's a coffee table between them both. In front of the window, there's an armchair under the window next to a small bookshelf.

Draco walks over to the bookshelf, running his fingers gently across the spines. He recognised some books like 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' but some he had never heard of whilst a couple promise to teach him the best home improvement spells.

They enter through the archway at the back of the living room into a kitchen. Once again, Draco finds it small. He's going to have to get used to it. There's the usual kitchen application spread around the black kitchen, each one a different colour to brighten up the room. Then in front of the back door, which leads to a small garden, is a table and four chairs.

Hermione walks up the stairs in front of him. She pauses at the door directly in front of the stairs for a few seconds before turning on her heel and walking towards the next door.

"What's wrong with this room?" He asks from the top of the stairs.

"I think we both know what's in that room Draco." She tells him as she opens the next door to reveal a bathroom.

He doesn't know what's in that room so he plans to have a look later once Hermione's not watching him. The bathroom has a separate shower and bath which Draco approves of. The mirrors quite large, probably the only thing that's large in their house.

Hermione pauses once more before entering the next room. Draco actually knows what this next room is. It's the master room. The room he and Hermione are expected to share a bed. She slowly opens the door and he lets out a sigh of relief. The bed as big as his own one at the manor. It's probably big enough for four, fully grown adults to share, comfortably. It looks beautiful as well with a thick quilt and a heavy green comforter, folded at the end of the bed. Draco doesn't even look at the rest of the room. He just wants to climb into bed but he doesn't know how this is going to work. So he asks.

"How is this going to work?" He asks motioning to the bed.

"We're not children Draco, I'm sure we can share a bed big enough for four people." She says and he's convinced she's teasing him. "As long as you stay on your side and I stay on my side, there won't be a problem." She adds, walking over to a wardrobe he hadn't noticed before.

There's nothing inside, besides a few coat hangers. She takes her cloak off and hangs it in the wardrobe. Draco goes over and takes a few coat hangers out for himself. He then proceeds to take his cloak, waistcoat and shirt off before he remembers he didn't have any pyjamas to wear. This is going to be awkward. He keeps his trousers on as he hangs his clothes on his side of the wardrobe. He turns to Hermione to ask if she's okay with him sleeping in his underwear only to find her already looking at him, blushing slightly. He suddenly feels very self-conscious to have her eyes on his half naked body.

"Erm… Draco. I really don't want to ask you this but…" She pauses avoiding his eye contact.

He raises a questioning eyebrow, curious as to what she's about to ask him.

"I… need help with the buttons on my dress." She finally says, blushing a little deeper.

"Oh." Draco glances down at her dress. He hadn't really looked at it but now that he is, he notices how beautiful it is. Pure white with a green ribbon around her waist and the netted sleeves were a lovely addition.

"Are you going to help me or stare at me?" She asks hands on her hips.

He takes a step closer nodding. "Yeah, I'll help."

"Thank you." She says, moving her hair out of the way and turning around. She must have taken it out of her bun at some point during the night.

He rubs his hands together to warm them up. Blaise always complains of his cold hands whenever they brush hands. He starts at the top button and discovers that these buttons are especially fiddly for someone with long, bony fingers. It takes him longer than it should, to undo the first one, however, by the time he's on the sixth one, he's gotten the hang of it. Everything's going well until his fingers accidently graze her back.

"Oh my God! Draco, why are your hands so cold?" She flinches at his touch.

"I don't know." He says annoyed. "Why are you so warm?" He retaliated pathetically.

"Because I'm a warm-blooded mammal." She answers.

"Are you suggesting that I'm not?" He raises a questioning eyebrow that she can't see as he carries on with her buttons.

"Not at all." She says with her teasing tone. "All I'm saying is that snakes are cold-blooded too."

Draco huffs in what could be considered a small laugh. "Yes. My animagus is a snake. You know my secret." He tells her sarcastically.

He's almost certain that she's rolling her eyes at him which makes him smile, slightly. Being in her company is a lot easier than he thought it would be.

"Actually, my Patronus is a python so my animagus might very well be a snake." He admits.

"Well with that logic, my animagus form is an otter." Hermione chuckles.

"An otter?" He questions.

"Yeah, I suppose there's worse animagus forms. You could be a giraffe or an elephant. How do you explain that?" She continues to laugh which makes it difficult to undo her buttons.

"Or a shark. You'd only be able to change in the ocean." Draco points out.

"Good point but then again if you need to disappear from someone then there's no better or bigger place than the ocean." She counters his argument.

Draco nods in agreement as he undoes her last button. "That's the last one." He tells her, stepping away.

"Thank you." She turns around, smiling at him as she grabs her bag and heads off to the bathroom, most likely to change into her pyjamas.

Draco decides to climb into bed before she returns. Then he can sleep in his underwear and she won't know any different. Especially with how big the bed is. He hangs his trousers up in the wardrobe then climbs into the left side of the bed, which is closer to the door. He likes to sleep as close to the door as possible, he always has. He's lying on his bag, quilt pulled up to his chin when she returns from the bathroom wearing a pair of short and vest top as her pyjamas. She glances over at him and smiles before hanging her dress in the wardrobe.

"What are you smiling at?" He questions her.

"I'm just glad I don't have to fight you over the right side of the bed." She explains as she pads over to the right side and climbs under the covers.

"I sleep on whichever side is closer to the door." He explains to her, staring up at the ceiling.

"Is that an escaping mechanism?" She says teasingly.

He shrugs in reply. He doesn't know why he does it, he just always has. Silence blankets around them and at first it's awkward but it soon turns calming, lulling him to sleep. He turns over onto his side, facing the door, ready to go to sleep.

"Goodnight, Draco," Hermione whispers so quietly that he's not sure if she actually said it or if he's just imagining it.

"Goodnight." He whispers back before falling into a light sleep.

Hermione's not sure what time she falls asleep but she knows it was after Draco since she remembers listening to his soft snores and light breathing. She's used to sleeping in the same room as a snorer since Lavender Brown was notorious for it in their dormitory, so his snoring isn't going to be a problem in the future.

* * *

When she wakes up, it's to find the bed empty of his presence. She takes a few minutes just to lie in bed, thinking about the previous day. It hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be. She had been a bundle of nerves leading up to her name being called, then afterwards she'd been solely focussed on not crying in front of him. At the reception party, once she'd gotten a few drinks in her, she'd actually enjoyed herself. She managed to dance with most of her friends and she had a few civilised conversation with Draco, which proves they can get along. It very much doubts that this is going to be easy but at least she knows it's going to be doable.

She climbs out of bed, stretches then checks the time on the clock on top of their chest of draws. It's twenty past nine. A perfectly acceptable time to be getting up at after a party. Despite it being June, there's a slight chill in the air, so she finds her bag and rummages around for her summer dressing gown. She curses herself when she can't find it. She must have put it in her other bag, along with her other clothes apparently as she can't find them either. She has no idea what she's going to wear today, she'll most likely have to put her wedding dress back on until she gets to her parents' house. She decides not to think about it until later as her stomach grumbles. The food at the reception party had been lovely but she'd been too nervous to eat much and since she had skipped breakfast yesterday morning as well, she's starving.

She pulls on her wedding cloak, wrapping it tightly around her, then heads downstairs to the kitchen, hoping that The Ministry have provided them with some food. She finds Draco sitting on their couch, eating a slice of toast, without a plate.

"I hope you're planning on cleaning that couch when you're done." She warns him, making him jump slightly. "I don't want crumbs all over the place." She adds walking into the kitchen to make her own toast.

She hears him follow her into the kitchen but she carries on with making her breakfast and a cup of tea. When she turns around, he's leaning against the counter, dressed only in his trousers from yesterday, finishing his toast, with The Daily Prophet in his hands.

"I think you should look at this." He says thrusting the newspaper towards him. "They've dedicated the entire paper to The Partner Ceremony." He mentions as she glances at the front page.

The largest picture on the front page shows Harry and Ginny smiling lovingly at each other as the marriage vow was cast. She smiles at it until she notices in the corner under the title 'Most Surprising Couple' is a picture of both her and Draco as they held hands to take their own marriage vow. They're both looking nervously at each other.

"When did they even take this picture?" She questions.

"I don't know but it gets worse on the inside." He nods for her to open the paper.

One the first page, there's an explanation as to why The Marriage Decree was brought into place, along with a table of contents promising pages on the best and worst dressed brides and grooms, surprising and unsurprising couples, a list of all couples, who will be the first couple to get pregnant and couples pictures of every couple.

She turns the page to find another picture of Harry and Ginny during their first dance with a long article about them both and why they are their most unsurprising couple of The Partner Ceremony. On the next page, there's a similar picture of Draco and Hermione. The picture was a loop of the first time Draco lifted her up during their first dance. She avoided reading the article since she knew it would just anger her. The next page showed a picture of Dean and Seamus as another surprising couple.

She flicks through the rest of the paper and is proud of herself when she's listed as second best-dressed bride next to Ginny who did look gorgeous in the picture they showed. She notices that Draco's listed as the best dress groom. She takes a quick glance at the worst dressed bride and groom, chuckling slightly when she finds Ron is named the worst dressed. He had been wearing robes similar to those he had worn for the Yule Ball and they had been terrible.

Harry and Ginny were also listed as the couple most likely to get pregnant first due to the fact that they were the most in love couple.

Hermione ends up throwing the newspaper on the countertop annoyingly. She then continues to glare at it as she eats her toast and sips her tea.

"Did you read the part about our rings?" Draco asks as she takes a large bit of toast so she shakes her head as an answer. "They won't come off unless one of us breaks the conditions of our marriage vow or we file for divorce."

Her eyes widen at the news. She drops her toast onto her plate then proceeds to try and pull her ring off.

"Well, this is just perfect." She sighs in defeat picking her toast up again. "How am I supposed to visit my grandparents wearing a wedding ring?" She asks rhetorically.

"You could cast an invisibility charm on it." Draco offers.

"Of course." She brightens up.

"Here, let me." Draco points his wand at her ring, muttering the spell but nothing happens.

They both sigh dejectedly.

"I'll just have to wear a few more rings and pretend it's a fashion statement." She says.

They stand in silence as Hermione finishes her toast and tea then washes them up, leaving them to dry on a tea towel.

"Why don't you just charm them to wash?" He asks watching her.

"Just because I can use magic whenever I want, doesn't mean I have to, Draco." She tells him, drying her wet hands on another tea towel then turning to face him. "I'm going to collect my belongings from my parents' house today." She mentions for something to say.

Draco nods at her. "Do you mind if I accompany you? I'd like to see your parents again." He tells her.

She stares at him suspiciously wondering why he wants to see her parents again. He doesn't have to make an effort to like them for her. She honestly doesn't mind. She about to tell him so when he speaks up again.

"I also need to collect a few things from the manor. I'm sure Mitty would love to see you again if you wish to accompany me there after we've been to your house." He adds.

Hermione smiles at the thought of seeing Mitty again so she nods. "Okay, do you mind going to your house first? My parents won't be home until six o'clock tonight. They're at work." She explains.

"That's fine, although I don't wish to spend too long at the manor," Draco admits. "It's better if we set off soon. Any closer to lunchtime and Mother will ask us to stay."

Hermione smiles thankfully. "I'll go get changed then." She heads up the stairs.

Once again, she hears him following her but he goes into the bathroom rather than their bedroom. She remembers as she's stood in their bedroom that she hasn't brought any spare clothes with her and curses herself once again. She has no idea what she's going to do. She really doesn't want to wear her wedding dress again or wear her pyjamas if she's going to be seeing Narcissa again.

There's a short knock at the door from Draco asking for permission to enter which she grants him. He enters then stares at her confusingly.

"I thought you were getting changed." He asks her as walks over to a small bag she hadn't realised he'd brought with him.

"I forgot to bring some spare clothes so I'm trying to decide which is less embarrassing to wear when visiting your mother. My wedding dress or my pyjamas." She explains looking at herself in their mirror.

Draco's quiet for a second. "I brought a spare shirt which you could borrow."

"Really?" She asks hopefully.

"It'll be a lot less embarrassing than your options." He explains to which she nods.

"Thank you, Draco." She says as he hands her the black shirt he'd worn yesterday.

She retreats to the bathroom to get dressed, not comfortable in doing so in front of Draco. The shirt comes down to her mid-thigh which is a lot shorter than anything she usually wears but it's her best option so she keeps it on. She rolls the sleeves up to her elbows since they're too long for her. It's very baggy too, leaving her looking like a sack of potatoes.

After she's brushed her teeth she goes back into their bedroom, where Draco's pulled on a white shirt. She takes the dark green sash off her wedding dress then ties it around her waist. She glances at herself in the mirror. At least she doesn't look like a sack of potatoes anymore. She grabs her cloak, pulling it on, then heads downstairs with Draco following closely behind her.

* * *

Draco pulls on his shoes which he left next to the front door last night. He keeps looking at Hermione out of the corner of his eyes. He can't deny that he likes the way she looks wearing his shirt. Unfortunately, she's put her cloak on. Or maybe that's fortunate as he doesn't want her to catch him staring. He pulls his own wedding cloak on then leaves the house with her. She locks the door behind them then they set off down the street to the only gate out of the estate, down Alpha Street.

"What are your parents' professions?" He asks out of curiosity and to make polite conversation.

Hermione glances up at him with a confused, questioning look on her face for a few seconds before looking straight ahead.

"They're both dentists." She answers him.

"What's a dentist?" He asks having no idea what that word means.

"It's like a doctor for your teeth." She explains. "They own their own practice." She adds to which Draco just nods, unsure of what to say to that.

"Have you wondered why we were paired together?" He asks next.

She glances up at him again, this time suspiciously. "Of course, why?"

"I wouldn't have thought we have much in common." He tells her. "Besides our love of knowledge." He adds.

Hermione stares at him for a long moment then glances around their surroundings so he does the same. Whatever she's about to tell him, she obviously doesn't want anyone else to hear. However, not far behind them, is another couple holding hands as they walk towards the gate.

"We must have answered our questionnaires similarly." She glares at him pointedly.

There's more to that than she's saying. He'll ask her about it again later. As soon as they're out the gate, Draco holds his hand out for Hermione to hold but she just stares at it.

"It'll be easier if we disapparate together." He announces.

She reluctantly takes hold of his hand and he disapparates them to the manor. He watches Hermione's face for her first impressions. She looks terrified, which a look he's only ever seen once on her face and he suddenly remembers that this isn't the first time she's been to the manor. She'd been brought here with Potter and Weasel after they were caught by the snatchers. He'd completely forgotten. His Aunt had tortured Hermione in their dining room.

"We'll go through the back door. It's closer to the kitchens where Mitty will most likely be." He explains walking through the gate but she doesn't follow. She's still staring up at the manor.

He walks over to her, taking her hand in his again bringing her attention back to him. The fear disappears slightly, being masked by a look of confusion as she glances down at their hands then back up to his face.

"Hermione… I'm-" he doesn't know what to say to make her feel better. "I'm so sorry. For what happened last time you were here." He finally manages to say." We won't be here long." He adds he rubs his thump in what he hopes is a calming manner across the back fo her hand.

She snatches her hand out of his then uses it to cover her arm. He takes a step backwards through the gate again and this time, she follows him nervously. He guides her around the side of the manor, through the gardens, until they reach the back door. She pauses again for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and entering. He takes her to the kitchen where he was right about Mitty. She's helping Gharther with the preparations for lunch.

"Good morning, Mitty, Gharther." He greets them making them both jump, turning around.

The both bow deeply, then Gharther goes back to his duties whilst Mitty runs over to them.

"Good morning Master. Good morning Mistress." She greets them excitedly.

"Good morning Mitty. It's lovely to see you again." Hermione bends down to shake her hand again.

"Mitty happy Mistress comes here," Mitty tells her.

"Do you want to stay here whilst I collect my belongings? " He asks her.

"Yeah, Mitty and I will have a little chat." She answers taking a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen counters.

Draco exits the kitchens head straight for the stairs. He's hoping to avoid his Mother completely otherwise he'll probably be guilt tripped into staying for lunch, which he knows Hermione won't want to do. Thankfully, he makes his way up to his bedroom without bumping into anyone. He collects his bag then has a quick look through his wardrobe to ensure he's got everything he wants. He then goes into his bathroom to make sure he's got everything out of there. The whole trip to his bedroom takes five minutes. He takes a sneaky glance out of his bedroom door to see if there's anyone walking down the hall. There's no one there so he rushes down the stairs and nearly crashes into his Mother as she exits the library.

"Draco!" She gasps, hand over her heart. "I wasn't expecting you to visit so soon." She tells him.

"I'm just here to collect my belongings. I'll come visit you for lunch on Saturday but we need to get going." He tells her as he walks towards the kitchens.

"Is Hermione also here?" She asks with a smile.

"Yes, she's talking to Mitty in the kitchens. We really need to be leaving, though." Draco reminds her.

"Are you hiding her from me?" His Mother stops just in front of the kitchen doors.

"Do you remember what happened last time she was here?" He questions her but he doesn't need her answer. Her expression is enough. "Your sister tortured her in our dining room. Do you really think she's going to want to spend much time here after that?" He whispers rhetorically.

His Mother sighs. "Do ask her whether she'd like to join us for lunch on Saturday." She tells him before turning on her heel and walking off.

Draco enters the kitchen again to find Hermione and Mitty in the same place he left them. Both of them glance up at him, smiling, as he approaches.

"Did you get everything you need?" Hermione asks happily.

He doesn't know what they've been talking about but he thankful to Mitty for making Hermione feel happier.

"Yes, I bumped into my Mother. She's asked us over for lunch on Saturday." He tells her. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." He tells her as an afterthought.

"No, I'll come. It means I get to see Mitty again." She looks down fondly at the house-elf who blushes.

"We should get going." He announces.

"Goodbye, Master. Goodbye, Mistress." Mitty stands up to bow deeply again.

"Goodbye Mitty, I'll see you on Saturday." She shakes the house-elf's hand again.

They leave via the back door again, taking a slow stroll through the gardens.

"Theo and Lisa have invited us to a small party tomorrow night if you'd like to go?" He mentions. "A few of your friend have been invited too." He adds.

"Really? Who?" She asks.

"Just those who are now married to Theo's friends like Lovegood and your Weasel." He answers.

"My Weasel?" She chuckles. "You mean Ron?"

"Yeah, he's always been known as Weasel to the Slytherin's." He explains unapologetically.

He may be married to Hermine and he may have acted civilly to Potter during The Partner Ceremony but he still dislikes the Weasel, more so now he's married to Pansy.

"Well to the Gryffindor's you were known as the ferret." She continues to chuckle.

Memories of the fake Mad-Eye Moody turning him into a ferret flash to the forefront of his mind.

"Thank you for that." He sighs sarcastically. "I'm trying to suppress that memory." He adds making Hermione laugh again.

A small smile graces his face. It's surprisingly easy to make her laugh and he finds that he rather enjoys listening to her laugh. It's quite a calming noise.

"Shall we return home?" He asks. "Unless you need to go anywhere else before you visit your parents." He adds as they approach the gate.

Hermione's smile falters as she glances around them.

"I don't feel like returning to the estate yet. Can we just walk down the road for a bit?" She asks.

It doesn't escape him that she said 'the estate' rather than 'home'.

"Of course, I think the nearest town is a few miles down this road." He mentions as they set off walking.

They walk in silence, for the most part, just taking in their surroundings. He's never really taken the time to just look at the countryside that surrounds the manor which he regrets now that he is. He can just about see the town behind a wall of trees when he hears a car approach them. He instantly remembers the muggle he'd scared off a few days ago and turns to see if it's the same man. It is. The man parks his car up, gets out then walks over to them, standing a few feet away from them.

"Well if it isn't the poor little rich boy again." The man quips. "And who's this. Did you get yourself a girlfriend? You gave me the impression that girls weren't your area of expertise if you get my drift." He teases.

He watches as Hermine glances back and forth between him and the man. This muggle must have a death wish to rile him up like this again.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again after last time," Draco smirks at the man stepping forward intimidatingly.

"What?" The man chuckles. "After you poked me in the neck with that stick."

"Draco, you didn't?" Hermione gasps from behind him. "You could get arrested for that." She tells him.

The man burst out laughing. "Draco? What kind of a freak name is that? Anyway, I looked it up. You committed battery. I could get the police involved." He smirks at him.

Draco looks back at Hermione to question her about what a police is.

"Muggle Aurors." She answers without him asking.

He nods and turns back to the man whipping his wand out again. This muggle just keeps getting in his way. He smirks when the man flinches.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Hermione grabs hold of his wrist holding the wand, trying to pull it away from the man.

"He keeps getting in my way." He shrugs. "I'm going to obliviate him." He says nonchalantly.

"Then get arrested and sentences to a year in Azkaban." She says, looking him straight in the eyes.

He starts to lower his wand when the man laughs again. "Yeah, listen to your bitch."

With a quick flick of his wand he wordlessly casts 'Aguamenti' soaking the muggle head to foot. The man starts screaming staring at his wand in pure terror. He stumbles backwards tripping over his feet, falling flat on his back.

"Really Draco, Aguamenti?" She asks raising an eyebrow.

"It was either that or stupefy. I thought you'd be more likely to forgive me if I didn't knock him unconscious." He admits.

Hermione simply shakes her head disappointedly but he sees the hint of a smile on her lips.

"I suppose you have to obliviate him now." She points out.

He nods once raising his wand up once more, pointing it at the man who was shuffling backwards on his bottom, away from them.

"Don't! Please don't!" He begs.

"Obliviate." He mutters.

The man flinches awaiting something a lot worse than what he's getting. Draco watches as the man's features relax as he forgets. He hides his wand in his cloak as the man opens his eyes, looking around his surroundings.

"Are you okay, sir?" Hermione rushes forward. "You just tripped over. I think you hit your head." She says panicky, kneeling down next to the man.

He brings his hands up to his head, checking for any pain. "It doesn't hurt." He mumbles obviously confused.

Draco smirks to himself. He enjoys using the obliviate charm just for the confusion his victims have once they've forgotten.

"Why am I wet?" The man asks glancing down at his clothes.

"I don't know. You were like that when we got to you." Hermione lies looking up at Draco who nods not daring himself to speak in case he laughs.

"Oh, well thanks for helping me but I think I need to go home." He stands up shakily.

"Do you feel well enough to drive?" Hermione asks with genuine concern.

"I'll be fine, thanks." He mutters glancing at their cloaks. "Bye." He turns around heading back to his care.

Once the cars out of sight Hermione elbows him in the ribs. "You're a horrible man, Draco." She says as they set off walking again.

"Are you just figuring that out now?" He raises a sarcastic eyebrow making Hermione roll her eyes. "He deserved it, though." He mutters and Hermione stares up at him with an unfamiliar look.

"Thank you." She says looking back down at her feet. "We should apparate back to the estate. I think we need to go shopping." She mentions reaching her hand out for him to take, which he does, then she disapparates them back to the estate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please FOLLOW, FAVOURITE and REVIEW. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 11 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> I've decided to let you guys choose the names of the children of all couples. I'll post polls on Tumblr and you simply put a | next to the name you prefer.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Back at their house, Draco heads upstairs to their room to hang his clothes on the right side of their wardrobe which is apparently his side now. He doesn't know where Hermione's gone so he takes as much time as possible to hang his clothes up. He's not used to spending all this time with one person. Besides Blaise but when he's with him they both keep to themselves with the odd conversation here and there.

After about an hour of putting his clothes away, casting a few ironing spells for the clothes that need them, he makes his way downstairs to place the few books he brought with him on their bookshelf. He finds Hermione lying on the couch reading one of the books they had been provided with.

"I think we're going to have to enlarge the bookshelf." She mentions as he starts stacking his books alphabetically.

"How many books are you planning on bringing?" He asks. The bookshelf seems big enough already. He's only brought thirty-five books with him. It had taken him hours it narrows it down to those thirty-five.

"Not many, about sixty or so. I'm only bringing the ones I haven't read yet and one or two I'd like to reread." She tells him.

He turns around to check if she's joking or not. Her eyes are still on her book so he assumes she's being serious. He taps the bookshelf with his wand muttering the enlargement spell, doubling the bookshelf's size. Similar to their bed and wardrobe, Draco takes the right side of the bookshelf since there's a dividing section down the middle of the shelves. Once he's done, he turns to face Hermione to find her already looking at him.

"When do you want to go shopping?" He asks her standing up off the floor.

"I suppose we can go now and get it over with." She announces getting off the couch leaving her book open on their coffee table.

Draco pulls his cloak back on then grabs his shoes, taking them to the back door to put on since Hermione doesn't want their carpets to get dirty. Hermione's already waiting there with her cloak and shoes on ready to leave. She locks the door behind them then they set off down their garden path towards the large green in the centre of the estate. There's a few people already walking around the shops or sat in the café or restaurants. He notices that most of the people are alone or with their friends rather than with their partner.

The first shop they enter is the market. Hermione hands the basket to Draco as she fills it with bread, milk, eggs, butter and some fruit and vegetables. She finds out that he has 'a completely healthy addiction to apples' as he puts a bag of five in the basket.

They walk around the rest of the shops not really needing to buy anything else. She finds it funny that the restaurant is called 'The Pentagon'. There's a local branch of Tomes and Scrolls that they have a look inside. It's very small with only a few hundred books. Hermione and Draco probably have more books together than this bookshop. After circling the shops, they head back their house to put their shopping away.

Hermione ends up doing it by herself as Draco disappears upstairs somewhere. When she's done and she's tidied up a bit, she goes back to the book she left on the coffee table. She doesn't know how long she lies on the couch reading but it must have been a while and she hasn't heard anything for Draco since they returned from shopping. She places her book back on the coffee table with a sigh then heads upstairs.

She looks in their room but there's no sign of him in there so she knocks on the bathroom door. Nobody answers. She turns to face the third door upstairs. She really hopes he isn't in there. She's not ready to see that particular room yet. Just as she's about to knock on the door, she hears a creak from above. She nervously looks up to find the hatch to the attic, which she hadn't noticed before, is open.

"Draco!" She calls. "Are you in the attic?"

Suddenly, his head pops into view making her jump. "Yeah, we have a Christmas tree up here." He tells her.

"How did you get up there?" She asks walking closer to the opening to peer further inside.

"I used the bannister as leverage." He admits moving away from the opening.

She watches as he dangles his legs through the hatch then jumps down, landing impressively softly in front of her. He then produces his wand and uses it to move the hatch back into place.

"Is there anything else up there?" She asks curiously.

"No, just a Christmas tree and a box of decorations." He shrugs then glances down at his watch. "It's half past four. I'm going to make a sandwich." He announces stepping around her, careful not to touch her. "Would you like one?" He adds walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, thanks." She follows him downstairs. "What do you plan on putting in this sandwich since all we have is butter?" She asks curiously as she watches him turn a hob.

"Do you like fried eggs?" He asks as he pulls the carton out of the fridge.

"Yes." She answers jumping up to sit on the countertop next to the sink. "I'm surprised you know how to cook." She admits.

He turns to face her with an eyebrow raised. "You think eggs is cooking?" He asks chuckling slightly. "I'll cook you a proper meal on Sunday." He tells her going back to frying eggs on the hob.

She stays sat on the counter just watching him make their egg sandwiches. Nothing else is said until he hands her a plate and she thanks him. Draco leans against the counter next to her so she doesn't move to the table.

"I was thinking we could leave a little early for my parents and I can introduce you to Bobby," Hermione says hopping down from the counter, once she's finished.

"Who's Bobby?" Draco asks rather sharply with a frown

"My next door neighbour's dog." She answers taking his plate to the sink to wash up. "We could take him for a walk." She says before adding, "If you want to."

She keeps forgetting who she's talking to. This is Draco Malfoy. She's talking to him as if they were actually friends as if they could tolerate each other. A few weeks ago they were arguing over a potions book and now they're expected to live together. She's actually surprised they haven't had an argument yet. They have been acting very civilly towards each other. Maybe they can make it through this marriage without cursing each other.

"That sound great." He answers.

"Good." She answers nodding awkwardly.

She dries her hands on the tea towel and remembers she's still wearing one of Draco's shirts as a dress. She couldn't hide this under a cloak in the park.

"You don't happen to have a jacket I could borrow or anything less conspicuous than a cloak?" She asks hopefully.

Draco seems to think about it for a few seconds before nodding. "Blaise bought me a leather jacket for Christmas." He tells her.

She follows him up to their room where he rummages around in his side of the wardrobe. It takes him a while but he finally pulls the jacket out and hands it over to her. She pulls it on and it's only slightly big. She can thank Draco for being so twig thin for that.

"Thanks." She tells him as she checks herself out in the mirror.

"It suits you." He tells her.

She wasn't expecting him to compliment her and from the way he's starting to blush, he didn't mean to compliment her either so she lets it drop. She goes back downstairs as Draco looks another jacket that he can wear. Once he's ready, in a casual blazer that Hermione can't help but think looks really good on him. She looks away from him before he notices the blush that she's sure is spreading across her face.

Draco locks the door behind them before they set off for the gate where they can safely disapparate to her house.

"You mentioned your family this morning." He brings up so Hermione nods. "The only family I have left is my Mother. It never occurred to me that you probably have grandparents, aunts and uncles." He mentions.

Hermione's heart grows heavy as she realises that Draco really doesn't have much family and he probably never has since his Aunt and Uncle were in Azkaban most of his life.

"Yeah, you'll get to see everyone soon enough. We're always having barbeques, especially in the summer. You'll be tired of seeing them before long." She jokes remembering that if he doesn't want to meet them if he doesn't want to. She can feel herself falling further into this act of husband and wife.

"I doubt it." He shakes his head.

"I think my Uncle David is hosting the next barbeque. He has a daughter called Sophie. She's nearly nine. I also have an Auntie Louise who has two children, Lauren who's five now and Craig who's four. My Auntie and Uncle are both my Mum's siblings as my Dad's an only child." She looks out of the corner of her eye to see if he's even listening to find him already looking at her.

"Your cousins are quite a lot younger than you." He points out.

"Yeah, my uncle never wanted children but he got this twenty-something-year-old pregnant. She ran off as soon as she'd given birth, leaving him with Sophie. He's a great Dad, though. Loves her more than anything else in this world." She smiles to herself.

"What about your Auntie?" He asks as they come to the gate.

He then reaches down, grabbing hold of her hand. Her breath hitches, confused by the sudden touch until she remembers they need to disapparate to her house. They reappear in the alley at the back of her house, hidden behind the fences of the back garden. She drops his hand, then sets of down the alleyway towards the road.

"My Auntie Louise is still very young. She's only twenty-one and still likes to live the life of a childless twenty-one-year-old so be careful when you meet her because she will flirt with you." She laughs as Draco's eyes widen. "Don't worry. She prefers older men." She adds.

"My Grandma Betty and Grandad Tom have been together since they were nineteen and they're both seventy-three now and claim to be just as in love as they were fifty-four years ago. They're my Mam's parents. My Dad's Mam, Emily, is eighty and always tries to give me money since I'm her only grandchild. My Grandad Ellis died when my Dad was thirteen, so I never met him." She explains as they come up to Mrs Johnson's house. "That's my house there." She points at the house next door. "And this is Mrs Johnson's house." She says knocking on the door.

Mrs Johnson peers through the crack in the door, the latch still on.

"Hello, Mrs Johnson, it's Hermione Granger from next door." She greets her politely.

"Oh, hello dear." She closes the door to take the chain off then reopens it.

"We've come to take Bobby for a walk." She explains.

"Who's we? I thought your parents were at work." She asks suspiciously.

"My friend and I." She answers.

"Okay dear. Let me go put Bobby on his leash." She closes the door again, locking it.

"Ever since she went blind a few years back, she's been very careful with security," Hermione explains to Draco who just nods.

Once they have Bobby, who barks very excitedly at Draco until he reaches down to stroke him behind his ears. Draco takes hold of the leash then follows her down the street towards the park.

"Is that your whole family?" He asks.

"I have a Godmother called Sharon who's been my Mam's best friend since primary school. She's got twin six-year-olds, Mark and Mia, who are going through a fighting phase. They're constantly arguing with each other." She shakes her head fondly. "Then that's all of them." She shrugs as they enter the park. "I use to play here all the time with my best friend when I was in primary school." She mentions as they walk past the play park.

"What's primary school?" Draco asks.

She turns to face him a little confusedly. "It's where children go when they're four until they're eleven before they go to secondary school then college which is what Hogwarts is." She explains.

She watches as Draco takes it in.

"I should warn you that when you meet my Grandad Tom and Uncle David, they will question what your future plans are so say something about going to University to study chemistry. It's the closest thing to potions we have in the muggle world." She tells him.

"Which university should I say?" He asks curiously.

"I've told them I'm going to University of Edinburgh so you should probably say the same." She answers.

"Okay, so I'm studying chemistry at the University of Edinburgh." He repeats for confirmation to which she nods.

When they return, her parent's car is in the driveway. They quickly hand Bobby back to Mrs Johnson then head into her house. She's halfway down the hall when she realised Draco's no longer behind her. She turns around to find him awkwardly stood on her doorstep, glancing around her hallway, as if waiting to be invited in.

"You can come in, you know?" She tells him.

His eyes quickly flicker to hers questioningly so she gives a small, encouraging nod. He then clambers through the door closing it behind him as he continues to glance around her hallway.

"Come on!" She urged him when he doesn't move from the doormat. "They'll be in the kitchen." She explains.

She pushes the door open to reveal her Dad eating a sausage roll straight from the fridge and her Mum making two cups of tea.

"Hi, Mum. Have you been home long?" She asks giving her a quick hug before fetching two more cups from the cupboard.

"No, just five minutes." She places the kettle back on its stand then set the two cups of tea on the table. "You okay making your own, I'm shattered." Her Mum sits down, toeing her shoes off.

"Yeah, Draco, sit at the table." She orders him since he's just standing in the doorway staring at everyone.

"Do you need any help?" He asks stepping towards her.

"With making two cups of tea?" She places her hand on her hips. "No, I think I can manage." She turns to make the cups of tea.

"What are you wearing, Hermione?" Her Dad laughs taking his own seat at the table.

"I forgot to pack spare clothes." She turns around to find everyone sat at the table already. Draco is sitting next to her Dad so she takes the spare seat next to her Mum. "You been busy at work then?" She asks her parents trying to change the topic of conversation.

"You could say that?" Her Dad grumbles before taking a sip of tea.

"That stupid assistant, Lindsey, booked all our clients we missed yesterday in for today. We didn't get a minutes break until half three and even then it was a ten-minute sandwich break before being swept off our feet again." He Mum complains.

"Well, at least it's over with. It won't be as busy tomorrow." Hermione tries to be optimistic.

"Oh, and you won't guess who came in." Her Mum smiles knowingly.

"Who?" She takes the bait.

"Derek." Her Mum announces.

"As in Derek Merton." She asks for confirmation.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him since his eleventh birthday party. He's very handsome, isn't he?" She winks at her.

"I don't know, Last I saw him was three years ago." Hermione shrugs drinking her tea, trying to ignore Draco's stare.

"So Draco…" Her Mum starts until Draco starts choking on his cup of tea.

"Sorry… Sorry, Sarah." He apologises between coughs.

"Did you have a girlfriend before this stupid decree?" She curiously asks.

"Mum." Hermione groans. "It's none of your business. You can't just ask him that." She complains but curiously awaits Draco's answer. He does hang around Pansy a lot but they could just be really good friends, like her and Harry and Ron. There had also been a few rumours throughout the years of Draco dating various girls, mainly from Slytherin and Ravenclaw but there was the odd girl from Hufflepuff.

"No, it's fine Hermione." He says turning to face her Mum. "I didn't have a girlfriend. Although I have heard of many couples who broke up once they found out about the decree in fear of not being paired together. I'm thankful I didn't have to go through that."

"Well, a handsome man like you. I'm sure there were lines of girls wanting to be your girlfriend." She can tell her Mum is trying to comfort Draco.

"Not since the war." He mutters sipping his tea.

Her Mum glances towards her frowning.

"Why is that?" Her Dad asks suspiciously.

"My family was on the wrong side of the war." He admits looking between her parents, trying to determine their thoughts from their facial expression. "Everyone seems to be under the impression that I can't change or I'm unwilling to try." He adds.

"That's not true Draco," Hermione announces seriously, not wanting him to think she's under that impression. She sees the hurt expression flash across his expression before a stern, emotionless one replaces it. She realises how he's interpreted what she just said. This isn't a conversation she wants to have in front of her parents so she excuses them both.

"I'm going to go bring my boxes down. Draco, I would appreciate your help." She mentions.

He shrugs but follows her either way up the stairs to her bedroom, eyes trained on the floor until they enter her bedroom and he glances up. She watches as he takes the whole room in.

Draco stops at the doorframe of her bedroom glancing around. It's… not what he was expecting. He doesn't really know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't what he's staring at right now. A pale pink room with bright yellow, orange and blue flowers scattered around the walls. Her quilt cover is just as flowery. The rest of her furniture is brilliant white. He looks down at her, quirking an eyebrow.

Hermione rolls her eyes then shrugs. "It's been like this since I was seven. My parents didn't see any point in redecorating since I rarely use it. I suppose they'll turn it into a gym or something now I've left." She chuckles.

He frowns. "Why would they turn it into a gym?" He asks.

"That's what happens in the movies. Once the child's moved out they turn their room into an office or a gym. My parents already have an office in the spare bedroom." She explains but he still doesn't understand. Maybe it's something that commonly happens in the muggle world that he's not aware of.

He looks around the room to find two boxes at the bottom of her bed atop her trunk. He heads over to pick one up. That is until Hermione places a hand on his wrist stopping him in his tracks. He glances down at her hand then up to her eyes questioningly.

"Have a seat, Draco. We need to talk." She tells him.

His heart skips a beat as his stomach drops. He doesn't know what they need to talk about but it can't be good. No one ever says 'we need to talk' when they have good news. He glances around for a place to sit.

"My bed's fine." She pulls him by the wrist to sit next to her on her flowery bed.

He perches on the edge waiting for Hermione to start talking.

"It's about what you said downstairs." She says sounding quite nervous herself.

Draco thinks back to what he said. He can't think of anything he said that was wrong. Maybe he accidently offended her parents. Maybe she didn't want her parents to know about his family's involvement in the war. That would make sense.

"I'm sorry if I said too much." He apologises looking down at her hand which is still holding on to his wrist.

"What?" She sounds confused. "I'm talking about what you said about you changing. What are you talking about?" She questions.

Draco snatches his hand away from hers, standing up from her bed. He really doesn't want to hear her thoughts on the matter. She made it pretty clear earlier that she doesn't believe him.

"I don't care Hermione. You can think what you want." He heads over to the door but she jumps up putting herself between him and the door. "Move." He almost growls. He won't hurt her. He promised Chris he wouldn't.

"No. You don't know what I think. I want you to sit down so I can tell you that you're wrong." She glares up at him.

He continues to glare down at her. "Why would I want to listen to you tell me how I can't change. You don't even know me. Not really." He shouts.

"Please don't shout. I don't want my parents to hear." She asks him.

He sighs. "Just move so I can leave." He asks quietly.

"No. You've got it wrong, Draco. I -" She starts.

"What did I do to make you change your mind? I've done nothing but be kind and polite to you since The Partner Ceremony." He asks trying to avoid looking at her.

"What do you mean?" She frowns at him. "I haven't changed my mind."

"Really?" He glares her straight in the eye. "I overheard you on the Hogwarts Express back to school after Christmas telling Potter and Weasel that you think I'm trying to change and now you don't think I'm not capable of such a thing." His voice starts to raise again.

Hermione seems to be taking it all in. "Wait, so you were eavesdropping on us?" She asks rhetorically.

He scoffs throwing his arms in the air. "Yeah, just turn this back on me. I knew your little friends would go back to their compartment to talk about me. I think I have a right to know what's being said."

"Not when it's a private conversation, Draco." She shouts at him.

"Why were you talking about me anyway? Does nothing better happen in your lives that 'your favourite Slytherin' is the best topic of conversation." He raises a questioning eyebrow, smirking.

Hermione shakes her head looking disappointed. "Maybe I was wrong." She shouts at him. "Maybe you haven't changed. Maybe you can't change."

He feels everything fall. His smirk, his shoulders, his heart, his stomach. He already knew she felt that way but hearing her actually say it hurt more than he cares to admit. He grabs hold of her shoulders, a little harder than is necessary, to move her out of the way of the door then walks out of it leaving her behind. He heads downstairs to find Chris and Sarah stood at the kitchen door. They had obviously been listening to them. He stares at them for a moment before walking out of the house and disapparating back to the estate.

He doesn't want to go back to his and Hermione's house yet so he just stands in front of the gate unsure of where to go. He glances around spotting a suspiciously colourful door with a brass E12 on it. It looks like someone took just threw different coloured paint at the door. Since it's the last house number on the last street, he assumes that it's Blaise's house, so he heads over and knocks on the door then waits for someone to answer. Nobody does. He knocks again, a little louder. Finally, the door opens to reveal Luna in a very floaty, pale dress.

"Draco, come in. We're sat in the garden drinking tea. Would you care for a cup?" She asks leading the way into the kitchen, although he could have found his own way since the layout is identical to his own house.

"I would, thank you, Luna." He answers, leaving her in the kitchen and heading outside to wear Blaise is lying on a blanket.

He gently kicks his foot to gain his attention.

"Draco!" He cheers jumping up and pulling him into a tight hug. "Did you bring Hermione?" He looks behind him.

"No, we… had an argument." He admits taking a seat at their garden table.

"It was bound to happen Draco. Couples who are deeply in love with each other have arguments every now and then. To be honest, I'm surprised you weren't at each other's necks at the reception party." Blaise chuckles. "So tell me, what did you do?" He asks.

Draco faces his friend. "I didn't do anything." He shouts at him. "She said that I couldn't change." He tells him.

"That's where you're wrong Draco. It's very rarely the wife's fault. You must have done something to make her say that." Blaise explains.

"I told her I'd eavesdropped on a conversation she had with Potter and the Weasel." He admits.

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. First of all, you insulted one of her best friends. Who do you think she's going to stick up for, her best friend of eight years or her husband who she's been married to for a day and has hated for the past eight years?" He points out.

Draco shakes his head. "She didn't mention that?"

"Of course not, but I'm just letting you know that she's going to choose her friends over you so stop insulting them." He explains.

Luna exits the house carrying a cup of tea, placing it on the table. She then takes a seat next to Blaise.

"Next, you eavesdropped on her conversation. That's an invasion of her privacy. She has every right to get angry at you." He tells him.

Draco scowls at his friend. "The conversation was about me. Do I not have a right to know what they're saying about me?" He asks rhetorically.

"You wouldn't have known they were talking about you if you weren't eavesdropping on them."

Draco groans. He thought Blaise would take his side on this but apparently not.

"Now, I highly doubt she meant what she said. She was angry and wanted to hurt you so she said what she knew would hurt you the most. This isn't going to get any better until you apologise for eavesdropping on her then if all goes to plan she'll apologise for saying what she said and then you can go back to playing happy families." Blaise claps his hands to signify the end of the conversation.

"If you want to apologise properly, buy her some fish and chips and mushy peas for tea. It's her favourite." Luna adds.

Draco thinks for a moment. He knows he shouldn't have eavesdrop but he stands by his actions. He wanted to know what they were going to say about and he's glad he did. Hermione had shown faith in him and she wasn't saying it for his benefit since she didn't know he was listening. Maybe Blaise is right. Maybe she didn't mean it. He sighs deeply. He's going to have to apologise to her.

"Where do I buy fish and chips and mushy peas?" He turns to Luna.

"I'm not sure, you could always ask her parents." She tells him.

"Okay, thank you, Luna. I guess I'll be seeing you both at Theo's party tomorrow?" He asks standing up.

"Yeah, we'll be there and hopefully, you'll be there with Hermione." Blaise pats him on the shoulder as he heads back into their house.

Just as he's leaving the house, he spots Hermione walking through the gate looking rather angry, so he quickly jumps back into the house and waits for a minute. He opens the door slowly, peering around the corner. He can't see her anywhere so he quickly exits his friend's house, shutting the door behind him and quickly walks over to the gate where he disapparates back to his parent-in-laws back alley. He knocks on their front door and hopes they actually invite him in or at least listen to what he has to say.

Sarah opens the door. "Oh, Draco. What are you doing here?" She asks staring at him confusingly.

"I'm hoping I can talk to both you and Chris. May I come in?" He asks politely.

Sarah stares at him a little longer before nodding and letting him in. He stands awkwardly in their hallways waiting for her to lead the way. She takes him into the front room where Chris is sat in an armchair reading his newspaper.

"Ah, Draco, I didn't think we'll be seeing you anytime soon," Chris mentions.

Sarah takes her seat on the couch leaving Draco stood on their rug awkwardly holding his hands. They're both staring at him, waiting for him to say something.

"I'd firstly like to apologise for how I acted earlier. I knew there would come a point where Hermione and I would argue but I didn't expect to do so under your roof and loud enough for you to here." He tells them looking back and forth between them.

"I shouldn't get involved but you've both done wrong. You just need to apologise to each other and all will be fine." Chris explains

Draco nods. "That's why I'm here. One of her friends informed me that her favourite meal is fish and chips and mushy peas?" He asks for confirmation.

Sarah chuckles. "Yeah, when she was eight, she refused to eat anything else for a fortnight."

"I was wondering where I can acquire some fish and chips and mushy peas," Draco asks them glancing back and forth between them.

Chris sighs, standing up. "Come with me." He tells him.

Draco follows him to the front door where Chris pulls on his shoes and a jacket then exits his house. He follows behind his father-in-law for a few minutes before he speaks.

"Where are we going?" He asks curiously glancing around. It's starting to get dark.

"Our local chippie." He says which doesn't really clear much up.

"I'm not entirely sure what a 'chippie' is but would I be safe in assuming it has something to do with chips?" He asks.

"Do you always talk like that?" He asks looking him up and down.

"Like what?" Draco asks confused.

"All posh and proper?"

"My father taught me to speak formally to my elders. It shows respect." Draco explains.

"And calling me old is showing respect." Chris rolls his eyes.

"I'm not calling you old, I'm just saying you're older than me which is simply stating a fact." He counters as Chris points at a shop they're coming up to.

"Well, you don't have to speak like that to Sarah and I. We're family now." He says opening the door to the shop called 'Major's Fish and Chips'. "This is a fish and chip shop or a chippie. I'll order for you so you know how to next time you need to apologise to Hermione." Chris mentions stepping forward.

"Hey Howard, how's you doing?" Chris asks leaning against the counter.

Draco steps closer but doesn't feel comfortable leaning on the greasy counter.

"Ah, I'm doing fine. Did I tell ya Rebecca got herself pregnant?" The man, Howard, asks.

"No, how'd that happen. She's always grounded isn't she?" Chris says and they both laugh.

"I know. Some twenty-year-old she met on the bus. I'm gonna have to drop her off meself now." Howard says then looks directly at Draco as though he just noticed he's been standing there. "Who's this posh twat, Chris?" He asks, looking him up and down.

"Hermione's fella," Chris announces.

"How'd your girl get a fella? You shipped her off to Scotland, didn't ya?" Howards asks.

"Yeah, she met him at school."

"You never mentioned him before." Howard points out.

"Neither did Hermione. We went to pick her up from Kings Cross five days ago and she gets off the train with this guy." Chris says shoving his shoulder slightly at his mention.

"Ooh, the cheek of her. Pray to God that you have sons, lad. Daughters are a nightmare." Howard chuckles.

Draco tries to smile even though he's just unintentionally insulted him.

"Anyway, what can I do ya for?" He asks.

"Two fish and chips, large mushy peas and two baps mate," Chris orders for him.

"Is that all? You ain't ordering for your lasses then?" Howards asks grabbing two bread buns from a container.

"Nah, I'm ordering for him. Didn't even know what a chippie was?" Chris laughs.

"You posh twat." Howard joins in laughing at his expense as he places two battered fish and rather a lot of chips atop a newspaper then wraps it up. He places the wrapped up food in a bag with the bread buns, which Draco assumes are the baps and the large tub of mushy peas. "That'll be £5.40." He says looking at Draco who looks at Chris. He didn't have any muggle money.

"I don't have any of your money," Draco explains.

Chris stares at him confused for a moment for realising. "Oh right, yeah. Here Howard, keep the change."

Howard stares at the money for a moment before taking it. "Why ain't the posh twat buy his own?" He asks handing the bag over.

"He's foreign. From Canada or America or somewhere. He doesn't have any pounds." Chris explains heading towards the door. "See ya Friday Howard," Chris calls behind him as they leave.

"I'm not entirely sure what just happened. Will I have to talk to him like that next time I go in?" Draco asks.

"No, we went to school together. You just go in, ask for what you want, pay and then leave." Chris explains. "Here, you might as well teleport from here. Visit anytime." He hands over the bag then carries on walking leaving Draco behind.

Hermione stands in her room, staring at her open bedroom door. She flinches when the front door slams shut. This isn't her fault. Although, if it isn't her fault then why does she feel guilty. She sits back down on her bed, head in her hands. Being married to Draco is going to be a lot harder than first thought. They hadn't even made it twenty-four hours. She hears a small rap at her door and looks up to find her Mum stood there staring awkwardly at her.

"I suppose you heard all that then." She sighs shuffling over so her Mum can sit next to her.

"Yeah." Her Mum smiles softly stroking her hair.

"Sorry." Hermione mutters.

"I know you're not going to want to hear this but have you ever thought about how Draco feels?" She asks.

Hermione glares at her confused. Why would she care how he feels right now?

"His father's in prison and from what Narcissa was saying last night, she still has her beliefs. He doesn't have many friends since your war ended and those he does have, have been his friends for so long that they don't realise or notice that he's trying to change. It was wrong for him to eavesdrop on your conversation but he must have had reason to believe you were all going to talk about him and he's insecure enough that he just wanted to know what you were going to say. Then he hears you, a girl he's hate for years, defending him and believing in him. That obviously had a positive effect on him. Then you, the only person to have faith in him, has told him that maybe he can't change. I know you didn't mean it but he doesn't know that. He doesn't know you so you need to go and apologise to him even if it is partly his fault. If he's a half decent person he'll apologise to you for what he did." Her Mum tells her.

"When did you become a psychologist?" Hermione huffs, knowing she's right.

Her Mum laughs, standing up. "Come on, you can finish your cuppa before you go." She says pulling Hermione by the hand, down the stairs.

Hermione finishes her cup of tea quickly, wanting to get her apology over and done. She just hopes that Draco went back to their house and not the Manor or one of his friend's house. She gives her parents a quick hug before running out the back door towards the alleyway where she disapparates back to the Estate's gate.

She quickly walks down Alpha, Beta and Gamma until she reaches their house. She tries the door handle but it's looked. She reaches into the pocket of her borrowed leather jacket for the keys before remembering that Draco locked the door when they left. She sighs deeply staring up at their house. Maybe he's in the house but just locked it behind him? She knocks on the door multiple times before giving up and sitting on their doorstep.

It's starting to get dark. She checks her watch. Quarter past seven. Where could he be at quarter past seven? Maybe at a friend's house. The only one of his friends she would even consider visiting is Blaise but she doesn't know where his house. She would go visit one of her friends but she doesn't know where any of them live. Well, she could probably hazard a guess at where Neville lives since he was on their bus but she doesn't want to intrude on his and Hannah's evening. It's about dinner time so she decides that it's best to just wait on her doorstep. If he doesn't show up by eight o'clock then she'll head back to her parents' house for the night.

After about half an hour, Draco finally shows up carrying a carrier bag. He stops right in front of her and just stares at her for a moment. She doesn't give him the satisfaction of standing up, instead waiting for him to sit down on their doorstep next to her. He doesn't say anything as he sits down. In fact, neither of them say anything for about five minutes. Then Draco breaks the silence.

"Why are we sat on the doorstep?" He asks turning to face her.

She doesn't look at him when she answers, "You have the keys."

"Oh," Draco rummages around in his pocket before producing them. "Sorry." He mutters placing them back in his pocket.

He obviously has no intention of unlocking their front door then. Hermione decides that now is a good a time as any to apologise.

"Draco," She says to gain his attention. She sees him turn to face her out the corner of her eye so she turns to face him too. "I'm sorry for what I said. What you did was wrong but it didn't give me the right to say what I said. I know you've changed and you're still trying to change. One day everyone will see what I see." She looks him straight in the eye so he knows she's being sincere.

"What is it that you see?" He asks with a small smirk. Evidence that he's forgiven her.

"I see you, Draco." She smiles softly.

He scoffs rolling his eyes. "What kind of an answer is that? Everyone sees me as Draco."

"No, most people see you as your father or your father's puppet but that's in the past now. They'll soon see you as a unique individual not a copy of your father." She explains.

Draco turns away from her staring straight ahead of him. She leaves him to his thoughts.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation but I'm glad I did it." He says, still staring ahead.

"Okay, it's not the best apology I've ever heard but-"She starts.

"Wait, I'm glad I did because I got to hear what you really thought about me and it helped me for the rest of the year. There were so many times where I could have fallen into old habits and messed around with Potter and Weasel but the thought of my actions changing your thought of me stopped me." He admits.

Her heart fills with joy at the impact she had on his life. "Draco,-" She starts but doesn't know what she's going to say.

"It also helped that your friends still tried to get me to retaliate and the more I didn't the more they tried. It was rather fun to imagine them telling you their conspiracy theories of me and having you defend me." He chuckles before coughing and clearing his throat.

"You have a nice laugh." She comments then chuckles when Draco clears his throat again awkwardly.

'Who would have thought that their first fight wouldn't end up in curse flying back and forth?' She thinks with a laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" He scowls at her.

"This was our first fight." She smiles at him.

"Most likely our first of many." He adds giving the smallest of smiles. "I've brought you some apology dinner." He adds holding the white carrier bag she had forgotten about up.

"Apology dinner?" She questions.

"Luna suggested it." He explains.

"You visited Luna?" She asks confused.

"Well I went to visit Blaise but Luna was just as helpful." He adds.

"Oh, okay. So what did you get me?" She asks sitting up a little straighter. She hadn't realised how hungry she was.

"Fish and chips and mushy peas." He hands the bag over to her.

"Really?" She grabs the bag excitedly. "Where'd you get them from?" She asks.

"Well, I didn't know where to go so I asked your father for help. He took me to Major's Fish and Chips." Draco explains.

"Ah, so you met Howard," Hermione says putting a chip in her mouth.

"Yeah, he called me a posh twat." He mentions making her choke on her chip. "And told me to pray for sons because daughters are a nightmare." He shrugs.

"What has Becky done now?" She asks popping more chips in her mouth.

"A twenty-year-old she met on a bus got her pregnant." He explains.

Hermione stares at him for a moment to see if he's serious.

"Wow, didn't expect that." She says actually taking the bag of fish and chips out of the bag and resting them on her lap. She then pours the mushy peas on top of them. "Help yourself." She tells him.

"I'm fine, thank you." He says with a disgusted facial expression. "It doesn't look that appealing." He admits making Hermione pause with a chip halfway to her mouth.

"It's not about what it looks like. It's about what it tastes like and Howard's are the best fish and chips I've ever had." She takes out one of the bread buns, placing half a fish in it, some chips and some mushy peas. "Here." She hands it to Draco. "Just try some."

"Fine." He takes hold of the bread bun. He sniffs it suspiciously before taking a small bite and chewing carefully. "I suppose it's alright." He admits.

"Alright?" Hermione gasps offended. "You just don't want to admit that you're wrong." She says making her own fish, chip and mushy peas butty.

"I'm never wrong," Draco announces.

"Yeah, okay." Hermione scoffs taking a bite from her own bread bun.

Draco laughs softly again. They sit in silence whilst they eat their dinner. Draco finishes his bread buns and steals a few of Hermione's chips. When they're finished, Hermione puts all the wrappers in the carrier bag. They're sat in a comfortable silence that she doesn't want to break. By now it's nearly nine o'clock and its pitch black.

Hermione looks up at the sky. It's nothing compared to the sky above Hogwarts but it's still very beautiful.

"Do you see Ursa Major there?" Draco suddenly asks pointing up at the stars.

She nods. Her Dad pointed the big dipper out to her when she was five.

"Well starting at the end there's Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, down to Phecda, Merak and Dubhe. Those are the main stars that make up the Ursa Major constellation. If you look directly up from Dubhe, you'll see Gianfar then in a backwards 'S' shape you have, Shaowei, Thuban, Edasich, Theta, Aldibain, Alsafi, Batentaban Australis, Batentaban Borealis, Arrakis, Tyl, Altais then into a trapezium shape with Grumium, Kuma, Rastaban and Etamin. They are the main stars that make up the Draconis Constellation." He explains pointing at each star as he names them. Hermione follows his finger almost hypnotised by his gentle voice as he explains each name.

"Draconis as in Draco?" She asks sleepily, leaning her head against Draco's shoulder. He flinches but doesn't push her away so she doesn't move.

"Yes, my Mother loves star and constellation names. She had a few picked out for when I was born. She really wanted another child after me but it was hard enough for her to fall pregnant with me. After five years, they gave up. It's highly unlikely that a pureblood will have more than one child." He mutters.

"It's a good thing I'm a Muggleborn then, isn't it?" Hermione chuckles.

"How many children would you like?" Draco asks, sounding nervous.

"Hmm, I think three is a nice number." She answers.

Neither of them says anything else. Hermione continues to stare up at the stars. Particularly Draconis. She thinks she might agree with Narcissa. Star names are beautiful. She feels her eyes drooping shut and tries to keep them open but ultimately fails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 12 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> I've decided to let you guys choose the names of the children of all couples. I'll post polls on Tumblr and you simply put a | next to the name you prefer.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco's still staring at his constellation when he hears soft snores coming from his side. He glances down at Hermione, whose head is still resting on his shoulder, to find her eyes shut and her mouth slightly agape as she sleeps. He isn't sure what he's supposed to do in this situation. Blaise fell asleep on his shoulder once on the way back to Hogwarts a few years back. A simple elbow to the ribs had soon sorted that out and ensured he's never done it again. He doubts Hermione will appreciate an elbow to her ribs.

Suddenly she shivers and he remembers that all she's wearing is his shirt so he wraps her cloak around her. With a sigh, he realises that his best option is going to be carrying her inside their house. He reaches back into his pocket for the house keys, then from his position on the floor, he reaches up and unlocks the door, shoving the keys back in his pocket. He wraps his left arm around Hermione's back to stop her falling backwards into the house when he opens the door. He throws the carrier bag in first then uses his right arm to scoop her into a bridal carry. She unconsciously wraps her arms around his neck which makes him smile slightly to know that she's feels comfortable in his arms, even if it is only when she's asleep.

With a struggle, he stands up, holding onto her tightly. He really doesn't want to drop her. He enters their house, careful not to bump her head off the doorframe or the walls. He pushes the door shut with his back, toes off his shoes since he doesn't want Hermione to shout at him in the morning if he's dragged dirt or mud up the stairs, then he proceeds to carry her upstairs, one step at a time.

Since her head is resting against his left shoulder, he can only put her on the left side of their bed which he had claimed and his own. He didn't want to wake her though after he's gone through the trouble of carrying her all the way up to their bedroom. He places his knee on the side of the bed and gently sets her down in the middle of the bed, then he carefully rolls her over so she's closer to her side than his.

He gives a sigh of relief when she doesn't wake. Covering her with their quilt, he leaves the bedroom to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen. The fish and chips had left his mouth feeling greasy. He decides that he won't be eating them very often. He remembers to pick up the carrier bag with the rubbish in it in the bin then wash up his glass. Without thinking, he washes it up without using a charm but by hand. He's not really paying attention, instead staring out the kitchen window over their back garden. Well, that's what he tells himself rather than admitting Hermione is having an effect on him.

Once he's finished in the kitchen, he heads back upstairs to brush his teeth and get changed into a pair of pyjama trousers he unpacked earlier in the day. He glances over to Hermione, who's still facing her side of the bed, so he strips out of his clothes in the bedroom, quickly pulling his pyjama trousers on in case she wakes. When he's dressed he carefully peels the quilt back and climbs under trying not to wake her up. Thankfully, he's successful and within minutes, he's asleep.

Hermione is awoken early the next morning by the sun shining through the bedroom window. She turns her back on the window, swiftly drifting back off to sleep. She awoken a second time, mid-morning by shuffling in the bed next to her. She can see from behind her eyelids that it's bright in their bedroom. Too bright. She ponders for a moment why she didn't close the curtains last night before she got into bed but she can't even remember getting into bed. Last thing she remembers from last night was sitting on the doorstep with Draco, eating fish and chips and looking at the stars. She must have fallen asleep outside. Did Draco carry her to bed? He must have.

She squints her right eye open to check if Draco's awake only to find his a few inches away from hers. She freezes, eyes wide, not wanting to make any sudden movements that might wake him. Unfortunately, the lack of her movement must have woken him up as he opens his eyes with a yawn, only to gasp at how close she is. He jerks away from her but he's a lot closer to the edge of the bed then either of them realises since he falls straight off the bed. Instinctively, Hermione tries to grab his arm but it's too late. She hears him land on the floor.

Shuffling over to the edge of the bed, she peers over to see Draco lying on his back. She tries not to smile but she can't help it.

Draco glares up at her. "Stop smiling *hic*." He says then groans.

Hermione burst out laughing burying her head in the matrass trying to quieten her giggles.

"Shut *hic* up." He attempts to growl, sending Hermione further into hysterics.

She hears him stand up and leave the room, slamming the door behind him with a hiccough. After a few minutes, she calms down and manages to drag herself out of bed. She pulls on her wedding cloak since she'd forgotten to collect her boxes in all the arguing yesterday. She'll have to go over to her parents' house again today to collect them. She isn't bothered about waiting for her parents to come home again so she decides to go after breakfast.

She heads down stairs to find Draco in the kitchen, stood in front of the cooker, frying eggs whilst eating an apple. Upon hearing her approaching, he glances over his shoulder to glare at her before going back to the eggs in the pan.

She finds herself smiling again. "I'm sorry Draco but it was pretty funny." She jumps up onto the counter.

"Apology not accepted." He mumbles.

She chuckles. "Aw, come on Draco. How about if I take you out for lunch?" She offers, smiling.

Draco turns around looking confused. "What?" He asks.

Hermione starts to panic. Of course, he doesn't want to go out to lunch. He doesn't want to spend time with her outside their house and visiting their families. It's stupid of her to even think he would. Neither of them wanted to be in this situation, why should they try to make it more enjoyable.

"Doesn't matter?" She mumbles looking awkwardly down at her knees. She has goose bumps running up her legs and arms so she wraps her cloak around her.

She hears Draco sigh and then he switches the stove off. Without warning, he's stood directly in front of her, making her jump slightly when he places a hand on her arm to gain her attention.

She glances up. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too quite?" She asks him.

"Yes, my mother. What did you have in mind for lunch?" He asks removing his hand from her arm.

Hermione shrugs glancing back down. "My Grandma Betty's friend owns a café." She mentions. "I thought it would be a quiet place to talk about things." She hints at as an excuse but it doesn't look like he gets it. "Things that certain people might not want us to talk about." She hints again nodding at him.

He nods in return before shaking his head. She rolls her eyes taking hold of his shoulders and pulling him closer, until his chest his pressed against her knees, before whispering in his ear.

"You asked earlier about why we were paired together." She reminds him.

He turns his head to look her in the eyes. He's close to her again. Close enough to kiss if she wants. She leans away from him at that thought, unsure of where it came from. He smirks at her turning back to the fried eggs still in the frying pan. They'll probably be cold now but he doesn't seem bothered.

Draco places them both in a sandwich, cuts it in half and offers her half which she gladly takes, not bothered by how cold it is either.

"We're going to have to go back to my parents' house. With everything that happened last night, I forgot to get my boxes." She mentions before remembering that he doesn't have to come with her. "Or I can just go by myself if you've got something to do."

"I don't mind coming." He tells her. "And I doubt you'll be able to carry all three of those boxes by yourself." He points out with a soft smirk which she thinks might be the closest thing she's ever going to get to a smile.

"Thank you, Draco." She smiles back at him.

Once she's finished, she leaves Draco to charm the dishes clean and heads back upstairs to get changed back into the shirt Draco lent her yesterday along with his leather jacket. She brushes her teeth then reads the Daily Prophet as she waits for Draco to get changed himself. It's still mostly about The Partner Ceremony. Hermione tries her best to avoid any article about herself and Draco but it's difficult since they're listed as the most surprising couple and the best dressed couple, apparently due to their accidental colour matching outfits.

When Draco's ready, they leave their house. Hermione locks the door, this time, placing the keys in her handbag.

"We're going to have to get a second key cut?" She points out but Draco rolls his eyes. "What?" She asks.

"Or…" He pauses to take his wand out. "We could duplicate it." He suggests.

"Of course." She laughs at how easily she forgets about magic now she longer needs it to survive or to pass any exams. "You're a genius, Draco." She laughs as she takes the key out of her handbag.

"I never thought I'd ever hear you call him a genius." A voice comes from behind.

They both quickly spin around to find Ginny stood on, what Hermione assumes is their doorstep, whilst Harry exits the house.

"Ginny!" She cries pulling her best friend into a tight hug. "Is this your house?" She asks looking up at the house they're stood in front of.

"Yeah, this is our home sweet home." Ginny waves her arm over their house.

"Here Gin, you look after the key." Harry passes her the key before looking at Hermione. "What are you wearing?" He asks looking her up and down.

Hermione blushes furiously. "I haven't had chance to get my clothes yet from my parents' house and I wasn't exactly going to wear my wedding dress again or my pyjamas." She laughs forcefully. "We're off to their house now to get all my things. Where are you off to?" She asks trying to change the subject.

"We're off to Diagon Alley for ice-cream." Ginny answers.

"We'll walk to the gate with you," Harry suggests.

"Okay." Hermione nods placing the key back into her bag as they set off.

She notices that Draco is slumped quite close to her as though he's trying to hide behind her. Harry seems to notice as well since he leans forward to look at Hermione at Draco.

"What you got your wand out for, Malfoy?" Harry spits and Hermione rolls her eyes.

She had hoped they would be a lot more civil now she's married to him. She watches as Draco stands up taller as he glares down his nose at Harry.

"Hermione and I were in the middle of something." He smirks suggestively.

Harry stares open mouth between Hermione and Draco. "W-what where you doing?" He narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"Don't listen to him Harry. He's trying to wind you up." She chuckles awkwardly elbowing Draco in the arm who looks down at her with a smirk hinting in his eyes.

She smiles back at him as they get closer to the gate before turning back to Harry and Ginny.

"I'm not sure we're going to have time to visit you today but we can pop over on Saturday or Sunday?" She offers to which they both look at each other, then nods. "Great, see you then." She says.

Without really thinking, she grabs hold of Draco's hands as they reach the gate. Once they've exited the estate, Hermione disapparates them to the back alley behind her parents' house.

"I think they're concerned," Draco says as she opens the gate leading into the garden.

"Don't worry." She rolls her eyes. "When I see them tomorrow or Sunday, I'll make sure that they know you aren't going to kill me in my sleep." She laughs as they reach the backdoor.

Hermione rummages around in her bag for the keys to the house.

"I don't think that's what they're concerned about." He mumbles.

"What?" She asks confused but Draco shakes his head.

"Let's get these boxes back home then you can take me out for brunch." He smirks playfully heading for the stairs.

She follows him up to her bedroom where he's already holding two boxes.

"Can you manage the last one?" He asks nodding towards the only box left on her floor.

She glances through her eyelashes at him before easily picking up the box and following him back down the stairs and out the back door. They disapparate separately back to the gate. There's a few people leaving the estate when they arrive and they all stare at them as they make their way through the gate and towards their house. Hermione balances her box on her knee as she finds the key and opens the door. She kicks her shoes off and reminds Draco to do the same before heading up the stairs and placing her box on the floor next to the wardrobe.

"I'll empty these later." She mentions as Draco places his two boxes atop of hers. "Come on, I'm hungry." She announces, walking back down the stairs with Draco following her.

She's about to pull her boots on when she notices her ring. She can't let Mrs Morris see her wedding ring. "One second." She calls as she runs back upstairs to her boxes trying to find her jewellery box.

She finds it at the bottom of the box with all her dresses and shoes in. She rummages around trying to find as many rings as she can. She finds five, one of which was he Great Grandma Sarah's ring which she got in the will when she died ten years ago. She places three on her right hand and two on her left hand along with her wedding ring. Two of them she bought when she was nine and only just squeeze over her first knuckle but she leaves them on.

Draco's stood at the door waiting her when she runs back down the stairs. She wiggles her fingers in front of his face as an explanation to which he nods. They step outside and Hermione locks the door again but Draco's takes the key off her before she can put it away and mumbles, "Gemino." She watches as the key splits itself in two. He hands the original back to her and places the copy in his jacket pocket as they walk towards the gate.

"So where's this café you're taking me to?" Draco asks as hey near the gate.

"It's not far from The Leaky Cauldron actually. Just around the corner and down a side street." She explains grabbing hold of his hand once more as they're about to exit the gate.

Hermione's just about to disapparate when there's a flash in front of them. Instinctively, Hermione wordlessly and wandlessly casts 'Protego' over them both before their attacker can hit them but nothing hits them. Instead, Hermione finds a small man stood in front of them holding a camera. He reminds her of Colin Creevey. He keeps staring at them with a massive smile on his face.

"Did you just take a picture of us?" Draco asks as Hermione waves her arm to let the shield charm fall.

"Yes." The man admits still stood staring at them.

Hermione's not entirely sure if he's even blinked at them yet. She looks up at Draco who's glaring at the man.

"Why?" She asks.

"I work for The Daily Prophet." He answers then blinks.

"Okay." She says slowly. "So… you thought you'd come to the estate and take pictures of everyone in the privacy of their own home." She asks.

"No, you're not allowed through the gate unless you live there or have special permission from The Minister or one of the residence." The man explains.

"Right, well we'd appreciate it if you didn't publish the picture you just took of us," Hermione asks.

"Why?" He asks.

Hermione scoffs. "Because it's an invasion of our privacy." She raises her voice.

"No, it isn't. You're on public land and I'm a member of the public who just happens to be taking pictures of nature when you two walked in front of my camera." He shrugs.

"You just told us that you worked for The Daily Prophet," Draco mentions.

"Yeah, The Daily Prophet's nature column." The man shrugs.

"Why don't I believe you?" Hermione asks the man who just shrugs again before disapparating away. "Great." Hermione throws her arms in the air in annoyance. "We'll be in the paper tomorrow again." She complains grabbing Draco's hand again and disapparating them away to Diagon Alley.

"Why are we in Diagon Alley?" Draco asks as the apparate into one of the side alleys.

"There's nowhere in the Muggle world for us to appear near the café so I brought us here," Hermione explains.

Draco nods dropping Hermione's hand. He's still think about that photographer. All he'd gotten was a picture of them holding hands as they exited the estate. It isn't anything too incriminating but all their friends will see it, his mother will see it and every other person in the wizarding world will see it. He tries his best to forget about it as Hermione pulls him by his wrist out of the alley and towards The Leaky Cauldron where they walk through and exit into the Muggle world.

Draco hasn't spent much time in the Muggle world so he's rather surprised to find the streets very busy. People are walking in every direction, pushing and shoving past each other. There's cars and buses on the road driving in and out of London with bikes swerving in and out of the traffic.

"Come on. It's this way." Hermione mentions pulling him in the direction most people were going in.

At one point he loses Hermione in the crowd but then finds her just in front of a tall person. He jogs to catch up to her then grabs hold of her hand, holding on tight. She looks up at him looking both shocked and confused.

"I don't want to get lost. I don't have a clue where we're going." He tells her to which she nods and hold on just as tightly to his hand.

Suddenly, Hermione pulls him towards the edge of the steadily moving crowd and without warning drags him down a side street. There's a few shops either side of the side street but the one that stands out the most is a bright yellow shop with outdoor seating. As they get closer, he notices the sign painted in mauve says, 'Mrs Morris' Café'. It looks very grandmotherly. Or what Draco thinks is Grandmotherly since he never met either of his Grandmothers.

Hermione pushes the door open making a bell above the door jingle and announce their arrival. An old lady comes fluttering out of a swinging door. She's wearing a flowery dress and a yellow apron with flour smudge on it.

"Hello, welcome to Mrs Morris' Café. I'm... Hermione!" The old lady exclaims placing bother her hands on Hermione's cheeks. "It's so lovely to see you again." The old lady removes her hand.

Draco notices a smudge of flower on Hermione's right cheek and chuckles slightly. The old lady then looks at him. He stands up straighter wanting to make a good impression. He watches as she looks him up and down confused until her eyes land on his left hand and she smiles understandingly. He glances down at his left hand to find it still grasping Hermione's. As abruptly drops it as though it had just burnt him.

"You must be this boyfriend of hers." The old lady smiles at him and Draco nods unsure.

"Oh, no, Mrs Mo-" Hermione's starts to say before the lady who Draco now assumes is Mrs Morris, interrupts.

"Ronald, is it?" She asks.

Draco stops nodding as his face falls into a glare. Ronald. He thought Hermione hadn't been dating Ronald. She told Blaise that they had never been a proper couple. He looks down at Hermione to find her blushing. He folds his arms across his chest in annoyance.

"No, Mrs Morris. This is Draco." She introduces them.

He tries to smile at Mrs Morris for her sake but he just doesn't care enough to make it look like it's not forced.

"Oh, what happened to Ronald? He had such a good name." Mrs Morris asks.

"Yes Hermione, what happened to Ronald?" He spits the name as though it were poison on his tongue. She flashes a glare at him.

"There never was a Ronald. I didn't want my friend to know about Draco because she doesn't like him so I made the name up." She lies effortlessly.

"Why doesn't she like this boy? Is he a bad boy?" She asks elbowing Hermione suggestively in the arm.

"It's just a childish," He sees her glance at him quickly. "School house rivalry. Nothing serious." She fake laughs.

"Hmmm." Mrs Morris hums looking at him out the corner of her eye. "Take a seat dears, I'll be over in a moment."

Hermione leaves him stood at the door and heads over to a table near the window. He reluctantly follows behind, knowing this is going to be an awkward lunch. He remembers what Blaise told him yesterday. 'It's very rarely the wife's fault.'

Once he sits down, Hermione leans over the table and beacons him forward. He narrows his eyes at her but in the end leans closer.

"I'm sorry about that." She whispers and now he's confused.

"About what?" He questions.

"I brought Ginny here on Monday. Mrs Morris tried to set me up with her Grandson that I went to primary school with. I couldn't agree when I was getting married two days later so I told her I was in a serious relationship. Of course she asked for his name, Ron is the closest thing I've had to a boyfriend recently so I use his name. Anyway there was a chance I would be paired with him since we had kind of been-" She rambles on until Draco places a comforting hand on top of hers.

"I was being childish." He admits to which Hermione nods with a smile. "You don't need to apologise." He tells her.

Hermione tilts her head to the side curiously which makes him a little nervous.

"Are you jealous, Draco?" She questions him.

His eyes widen. Is he jealous? "No." He scoffs. "What do I have to be jealous of?" He asks running a hand through his hair. "Ginger hair and a bad complexion."

Hermione's blushing again. "Well, I know we're not a real married couple or even a real couple," She motions between the two of them. "But, I guess I'd be jealous if someone thought… I don't know, Pansy, was your girlfriend."

Draco huffs a laugh. "Pansy. Why are you jealous of her?"

"I'm not. I'm just saying that due to the Decree, we are married and I guess I don't like the thought of you being with someone else." She blushes. "Especially since we're going to… you know… have a child together. What would we tell them? Mummy and Daddy are married but Daddy also has a girlfriend who's married to Uncle Ron." She chuckles.

"Our children are not calling him 'Uncle Ron.'" Draco snarls.

"Why not? We're both only children. They're not going to have any blood Auntie's or Uncle's." Hermione counters. "They can call Blaise, Uncle Blaise." She suggests.

"Fine." He rolls his eyes. "But I don't want to be called 'Daddy' either." He mentions.

"You're not making them call you 'Father'." She warns him.

"No, I'd prefer Dad." He admits.

Someone clears their throat from next to them. They both look up to find a man about their age stood in an apron holding a notebook and pen.

"Hi, Hermione." He smiles down at Hermione.

Draco turns to look at her only to find her staring up at him in awe.

"My God Derek." She gasps standing up. "You've grown like a foot." She says pulling this Derek into a tight hug.

Draco leans back into his chair, a strange twinge in his stomach. Is this what it feels like to be jealous?

"Only seven inches actually but it has been three years." He laughs hugging Hermione just as tight. He flashes Draco a quick, disgusted look before smiling again when they pull apart.

"And who's this?" Derek asks looking down his nose at him.

He stands up to his full height which only comes up Derek's shoulders but Draco knows how to look intimidating. His father taught him well. He tilts his head back slightly and glares up at the other man.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, Hermione's boyfriend." He announces . The look of defeat on the other man's face gives him a sense of accomplishment. He flashes him a smirk for good measures as he holds out his hand.

"Pleasure." Derek takes his hand and shakes it once. "I'm Derek Merton, Hermione's Best Friend." He tries to smirk back but it's not very effective.

"Oh really." Draco raises a questioning eyebrow. "She's never mentioned you before."

"We went to primary school together," Derek explains.

"Well, we went to…" He can't remember what Hermione called the school after primary school.

"We went to secondary school and college together, Derek. We got together in year ten and have been together ever since." She looks up Draco, smiling happily. "It was our fourth anniversary two days ago actually."

"How… nice." Derek forces a smile. "Can I take your order?" He asks.

"Yeah, we'll have a pot of tea and an assortment of sandwiches and cakes. Thanks, Derek." Hermione gives him a polite smile before he walks away.

"Are you jealous, Draco?" Hermione asks for the second time in the space of ten minutes.

"What? No. Of course not." He answers, turning to look out the window.

"Sure, okay." She chuckles.

Derek comes back over a few minutes later with their pot of tea and two tea cups.

"I'll be back over shortly with your food." He smiles at Hermione before leaving their table.

Draco watches him leave. He really doesn't like him. Hermione pours out their tea, adds milk and a sugar to her own cup. He adds his own milk before leaning towards her, resting his elbows on the table.

"So, you brought me here for a reason." He narrows his eyes as he glances around the café to ensure no one is listening.

Hermione stares at him seemingly confused for a moment before a look of understanding appears on her face and she leans forward on the elbows as well.

"Yes, I did. You asked if I wondered about why we were paired together." She whispers.

Draco nods urging her on but another clearing of the throat interrupts them. Derek is stood holding a tier of small sandwiches and cakes. Draco sighs in the annoyance of being interrupted again. Derek places them in the middle of the table, blocking his view of Hermione.

"Thank you, Derek," Hermione tells him before he walks off looking annoyed.

He watches as Hermione shuffles her chair around to the adjacent side of the table then pushes the tier of food over to where she had previously been sitting. She takes a tuna sandwich off the tier, placing it on her plate then nods for Draco to do the same. He chooses a ham sandwich and places it on his plate.

"Well," She leans a little closer until their heads are almost touching. "When we first received the letters, Harry sent Kingsley an owl to see if he could us out of it. He owes us all a favour." She shrugs before taking a small bite from her tuna sandwich.

Draco follows suit, taking a bite from his own sandwich.

"Kingsley owled back basically telling Harry that everyone will be paired with someone they are compatible with according to their questionnaire answers." She mentions.

Draco rolls his eyes. "I'm sure we're very compatible because we both want three children." He huffs sarcastically but Hermione's eyes widen rather dramatically. "What?" He asks.

"Wait! You want three children? She asks to which he nods. "We both want three children." She states. "Of course." She throws her head down into her hands.

"Of course what?" He asks curiously, trying to understand what she's on about.

"We're going to have to do some research but it make sense. The aim of this decree is to increase the population of the wizarding war. Why not pair people who want the same amount of children?" She looks him excitedly in the eye.

Draco's eyes widen with understanding. "It does make sense but we can't have just been paired with each other, by the number of children we want."

"No, there'll be more behind it. There must be at least a hundred of us who answered the question with three children." She mentions as she rummages through her bag before pulling out a notebook and pen.

Draco watches as she scribbles notes down.

"Also, in his reply to Harry, Kingsley mentioned that the Ministry Officials will be pairing us. It sounds rather suspicious, doesn't it? I thought the process would have been done with magic rather than a group of officials rummaging through piles of questionnaires trying to find two people who are compatible. That must have taken hours." She stares at him pointedly.

"They probably sorted all the questionnaire by the number of children, then sieved through them and just paired random people together," Draco suggests.

"I don't think we were randomly paired together, Draco. If it has nothing to do with the questionnaires, then it was because some Ministry Official thought it would be funny or wanted to make out life miserable." She explains to which he nods.

It's highly unlikely that they were randomly paired together.

"If this is all some joke for them, then why did they pair Potter and Weasley together?" He asks.

"Ginny told me they had a 'fool proof plan' to ensure they got paired," Hermione mentioned as she wrote something else down.

"Anything else?" He asks, eating more of his sandwich.

"Yeah, I went to the library to try and find any books on marriage decree. I wanted to know if they'd been any in the past but I couldn't find any. I asks Madam Pince and she said 'The Ministry has ordered all books that mention the decree to be sent to the Department of Registration.' So I went to Tomes and Scrolls but couldn't find anything there either. I asked the man behind the desk and he gave me the exact same answers. They're obviously trying to hide something." She explains before writing it all down.

"But what?" Draco asks grabbing a tuna sandwich.

"I don't know, I tried to ignore the decree so I could concentrate on my exams. I haven't really thought mush into it since then." Hermione admits.

"We should check the manor's library tomorrow," Draco suggests.

Hermione looks up from her notes confused.

"My father has a rather large decree section. I'm pretty confident that we'll find something there." He explains.

She smiles excitedly and goes back to her notes. Draco can't find it within himself to look away from her face. Her smile in particular. She rarely hides her emotions which he finds endearing. His father trained him to hide all emotions from his face unless it was disgust.

"Also, Ginny told me the other day that Harry's been keeping in contact with Kingsley for the past couple of months. He mentioned how irrelevant some of the questionnaire questions were but Kingsley just told him it was to determine a person's personality and it was all to do with psychology." She mumbles as she continues to write.

"What's psychology?" He asks curiously.

"Oh, it's a muggle subject." She looks up. "It's the study of people's behaviour, mind and thoughts." She explains before going back to her notes.

"How does Kingsley know about muggle subjects?" He asks suspiciously. "He's a pureblood." He adds.

Hermione stares at him for a moment, trying to come up with an answer but obviously can't so she writes it down in her notebook.

"There's nothing more we can do until we've checked your father's library." She mentions putting her notebook back into her bag and finishing her sandwich.

"What exactly are we doing?" Draco asks not really sure on why she was making notes in the first place.

"We're trying to find answers as to why we were paired together." She answers before grabbing another sandwich.

Hermione moves her notebook to between herself and Draco so they can both go over them whilst they finished their lunch.

"I think we should use tonight to subtly question everyone at Theo's party on how many children they want. The more evidence we have the closer we'll be to an actual answer." She mutters to Draco.

"Okay, but we need to very subtle. Not everyone will be as open to their spouse as we are." He mentions.

She frowns at him. "I didn't realise we were that open." She mentions looking up at him as she takes a sip from her tea cup.

"Well, I don't know about you but I've been honest with you about myself." Draco points out.

"As I have about myself." She smiles at him. "I suppose we have been quite open to each other." She looks back down at her notebook.

He's right. They have been open to each other and if anything, it's helped them become more civil to each other. More like friends which she would never have thought would be possible.

"If I take Lisa's friends since I doubt your friends are going to want to talk to me. Except Blaise." She adds.

"That's fine. Most of them still find me intimidating. It'll be easy to get answers out of them." Draco smirks.

"You're not going to force it out of them, I hope?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Of course not, but with just a look Goyle will tell me exactly what I want." He continues to smirk at her.

"Well, I'm going for the divide and conquer technique. I'll get the partners split up then ask them individually." She announces her plan.

She's just finishing her tea when Draco checks his watch.

"We've only got two hours to the party, shall we go. You still need to hang your clothes up." He suggests.

"Oh, yeah. "I'll just go pay, can you grab our notes?" She asks as she leaves the table and heads to the counter where Derek is stood.

"You leaving so soon," Derek asks.

"Yeah, we've got a party to get ready for. I'm sure we'll be back, though." She explains.

"Hermione… I was wondering… If you'd like to go out for a few drinks… you know… so we can catch up. It's been three years." He winks at her.

She glances behind her to the table where Draco was still sat.

"I'm not asking you on a date." He scoffs. "I'll invite Verity as well. You haven't seen her in what… nine years?" He mentions.

"Verity?" She spits. "You're friends with Verity?" She asks as he presses buttons on the till.

Verity had bullied bother her and Derek throughout primary school. She was always pulling her hair or sticking chewing gum in it or telling the teacher o her for petty things or things she didn't even do. Once, Verity places the teacher's stapler in her tray the told the teacher that she saw Hermione take it. Her Mum was furious and wouldn't believe sweet, innocent Verity would try to frame her.

"Well, yeah." He shrugs. "I didn't have the choice of many people once you left. Verity was the only one from our school that went to St Gordon's. We stuck together. She's nothing like who she was at St Stephen's." He says defending her. "So, how about it? Just a few drinks at the local pub." He smiles widely.

"Fine." She rolls her eyes. "It'll be nice to catch up." She adds as she hands over a twenty-pound note.

"Great." He seems to stand taller. "Meet me tomorrow at eight o'clock at The Buffalo. It's near Howard's." He adds when she pulls an unsure face.

"See you then." She says before walking towards the door where Draco's stood waiting.

"See him when?" He asks looking straight ahead as they walk down the side street towards the main street of London.

"Tomorrow night at eight o'clock. We're meeting at a pub just to catch up with another girl we went to primary school with. I doubt I'll be out long, I hated Verity when I was at school." She tells him.

She can tell he's jealous of Derek, no matter what he says so she tried to sound uninterested.

"Great." He says sounding forcefully pleased. "I'll go see Blaise then." He adds.

When they return home, Hermione reminds Draco to take his shoes off then watches as he heads straight into the living room and flops down on the couch. Hermione goes upstairs to their bedroom where she proceeds to unpack all her boxes. She finds a nice summery dress that she decides to where for Theo and Lisa's party that night, so drapes it over the side of the bed along with her sandals and thin shawl.

An hour later, she's hung all her clothes on the right side of their wardrobe and placed all her books on the right side of their bookshelf. All while Draco lounges on the couch, reading a book. She heads back upstairs to get changed and brush her teeth again. She likes to have a fresh mouth if she's going out somewhere. Draco comes upstairs twenty before they're due to leave, grabs a mauve shirt and black jeans then goes into the bathroom to change.

Hermione fastens her sandals next to the door as she waits for Draco to descend the stairs which he does five minutes after they were supposed to be at the party.

"We're late, Draco." She jitters about in front of the door whilst Draco pulls his own shoes on and the leather jacket she had been wearing the past two days.

"We're fashionably late, Hermione." He retaliates opening the door for her.

"Is that you're way of telling me I look nice?" She flutters her eyelashes at him standing a lot more ladylike.

"Not at all. It's my way of bringing up that I look handsome." He shamelessly admits, opening his arms wide and spinning around.

"You're so narcissistic." She insults him as she laughs locking the door behind them.

"I get it from my Mother's side." He tells her sarcastically.

"Wow. That was terrible." She rolls her eyes, giving him a little shove.

She looks back up at him only to find him already looking down at her.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She asks as she starts rummaging around in her bag for her compact mirror.

"No." He answers simply before looking away from her. "You do look nice." He mumbles so quietly, Hermione's not sure if he actually said it or if she just imagined it. "You do know they live two doors away?" Draco asks as he stops dead in front of a house with a black door then knocks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please FOLLOW, FAVOURITE and REVIEW. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 13 for you all.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Theo answers in a pair of shorts and t-shirts with his arm around Lisa's waist. She's wearing a very pretty skirt and shirt combination.

"Draco, Hermione, come in." Theo invites them in. "You know, I didn't think you'd come, Hermione." He mentions as he leads them through to their back garden.

"Why wouldn't I? You're Draco's friends, I'd like to get to know you better than Slytherin's." She tells him and he nods.

"Well, when Pansy showed up alone, we kind of just assumed." He shrugs handing them both a bottle of butterbeer.

"That's probably for the best." Draco mumbles.

"Ron's one of my best friends but I have to agree. He wouldn't fit in here. He'd just sulk in the corner." She admits.

"Hermione, come with me." Lisa grabs hold of her hand, pulling her over to the far end of the garden, away from where she now realises most the men were sat and towards where all the women are sat.

"Hermione, you came." Luna pulls her into a large hug, then pulls her into the seat next to her.

"We're just discussing our better halves." Isobel chuckles.

"Unless you're being sarcastic, shut up." Megan sighs. "Look what I got paired with. You know, he's only said four words to me since we got to the estate. 'I'm going to bed'. All he does is eat, drink or sleep." She huffs.

"Gregory's a natural follower. All his life he's followed his father or Draco. You're going to have to be the dominant one in your relationship." Luna explains to which Megan pulls a face.

"Why do you think you got paired with him?" Hermione asks getting started straight away. "I wouldn't have thought you'd have much in common with him." She adds.

"I've been thinking that about Oliver and I," Mandy mentions. "It's all down to that stupid questionnaire, though." She shrugs, making Hermione sit a little taller and listen closely.

"Richard and I sat down and talked about our future yesterday morning and we both like the colour orange and want one child. That's the only thing we have in common. Although we did have fun painting our entire living room orange yesterday." Sue admits with a shy smile.

"Well, William and I want at least four children. We both come from large families and it's what we're used to." Isobel adds to the conversations.

This is better than she expected. They're all just giving her the information she wants.

"I haven't talked to Gregory but I've always wanted three children." Megan blushes.

"What about you Hermione? How's your marriage going so far?" Lisa asks turning the conversation back to her.

"Oh yes. How did we forget about our most surprising couple? I mean, did you hear the gasp that echoed around the room when your name was called?" Isobel says, eyes wide.

"No, I didn't. I was preoccupied with not throwing up." Hermione whispers to the group. A few of them laugh. "I suppose my 'marriage' has been okay so far. We did get into an argument at my parents' house yesterday but he apologised and bought me dinner." She shrugs expecting everybody else's past few days to have been similar.

"Wait, wait, wait. I don't know Draco but… he doesn't exactly hit me as the 'visit the in-laws' kind of man." Isobel interrupts her.

"Or the 'apologising by buying you dinner' kind of man," Mandy adds.

"Or the 'apologising' kind of man." Megan laughs.

"Well, he's changed a lot and we've been able to get on rather civilly. We're going to lunch at the manor tomorrow, then to my family's barbeque on Tuesday. I can actually see myself becoming his friend at some point." Hermione defends him.

"What about his lover?" Isobel winks.

Hermione shudders at the word. "We're already married. I don't think I can be called his… lover." She points out to which Isobel shrugs.

"You still haven't told us, Hermione, how many children do you want to have?" Luna asks and she sends her friend a glare.

"We'd both like three but I think Draco's worrying that we'll only have one since Purebloods rarely have more." She explains.

"So you plan on staying married to him then." Mandy frowns at her.

"What do you mean?" She asks confused.

"Don't you read The Daily Prophet?" She rolls her eyes. "A lot of couples are already planning on getting divorced as soon as they've had a child since nothing in the decree states they have to stay married afterwards," Mandy explains. "Oliver and I are getting divorced as soon as possible.

"I hadn't thought about that." Hermione mutters.

Is that why Draco told her about Purebloods only having one child? Because he plans on leaving her as soon as she's given birth. It makes sense. They may have gotten closer these past couples of days but they're still not friends. She might enjoy his company a lot more than she expected to but she has no idea how he feels about her.

"Richard's already told me he wants a divorce as soon as our child's born," Sue admits.

"I'm sure Pansy and Ron are the same. I mean, you and Draco were the most surprising couple but you took it all with dignity. Did you see how they acted at the ceremony? Then they were making out like savaged animals at the reception party." Isobel told the group.

"They were drunk." Hermione tried to defend her friend but it's not really an excuse.

"Yeah and so were half the room." Mandy retaliates.

"That's true." Megan agrees. "I was in that half the room." She laughs. "I'm going to get another drink, does anyone want one?" She asks standing up.

"I'll have one." Isobel raises her hand.

"Yeah me too." Mandy stands up. "I'll come with you. I might grab a snack."

"If we're snacking then I'm coming too," Isobel announces following Mandy and Megan.

"I'm just going to pop to the bathroom." Sue excuses herself before walking back into the house.

"How have you and Blaise been?" Hermione asks her friend, who's the only person left int heir group.

"Wonderfully, Hermione." Luna sighs glancing over to where most of the men were sat.

Hermione notices that Pansy is sat with them too. Right next to Draco actually. She looks away when she starts to feel the beginning pangs of jealousy form in her stomach.

"So how many children do you both plan on having?" Hermione asks the question. "I'm sure you've both talked about it already along with the names of each one." She teases her friend slightly.

"We'd both like two children. Hopefully one of each." She explains. "And we have discussed a few names." Luna blushes slightly.

"I'm so glad that you're happy and are actually planning a future with your partner," Hermione tell her friend.

"You'll be happy too, Hermione. One day soon you'll realise." Luna nods at her but she doesn't understand.

"I'll realise what?" She asks frowning at her friend.

"You'll know when that day comes." She says vaguely before standing up and leaving.

Hermione watches her friend walk over to the snack table, grab two slices of pizza then walk over to Blaise to hand him one. She then proceeds to sit on his lap as they both eat and listen to the conversation.

When left alone her thoughts return back to Draco leaving her. It makes sense for him to ask for a divorce. They hate each other. Well, they did hate each other. Hermione certainly doesn't hate him anymore but she doesn't know how he feels. She angrily stands up, looking over at Draco's who's laughing along to something that had just been said. If he's going to leave her then she wants legal custody of their child. She storms back into the house, ignoring Draco and a few others who are calling out behind her.

"Hermione!" Draco calls after her as she sweeps past him looking angry.

Has he done something? They were fine before they arrived at the party and since then they haven't talked to each other. Maybe it's something one of the other girls said.

"What were you all talking about, Luna?" He asks curiously.

"We were discussing our futures with our partners." She says between bites of pizza.

"What did Hermione say?" He asks curiously.

"All good things. I can promise you that." Luna smiles.

"Then why did she just angrily storm out of here?" He asks, raising his voice.

"She wasn't aware of most people's plans to divorce after the birth of their first child," Luna explains.

"What? Are you getting divorced?" He frowns at his friends.

"NO!" Blaise almost shouts.

"We're not planning to but who know what might happen in the future," Luna tells him then kisses Blaise's temple.

"Is anyone here getting divorced?" He asks the group.

"As soon as possible." Pansy spits disgusted.

"Nah, Lisa and I are going to try and make it work. We've got a lot in common and I enjoy her company." Theo shrugs draining his bottle.

"Isobel and I have been dating for three years and we'd already talked about getting married so I find it highly unlikely that we're going to get divorced." William chuckles.

"Well, I've already told Sue that I want a divorce as soon as the child's born and she can have sole custody," Richard admits.

"That's a little harsh." Blaise points out.

"I never asked to be married. I didn't want to get married or have a child. I want to focus on my career. Sue knows that and she's happy to raise the child. I'll obviously pay towards it but I don't want anything to do with it." Richard shrugs

"Mandy and I are getting a divorce but we plan on having joint custody of our child," Oliver explains. "There's no reason to blame the child for this whole situation." He adds

"I need to go speak to Hermione. I'm sure I'll see most of you later." He says before leaving.

He walks the short distance home trying to figure out what to say to her but he has no idea. He's assuming she thinks he's going to want to divorce her once they've a child. Is that what she wants? His parents had an arranged marriage and they've always stood by each other. He's always assumed that's what people do. He assumed that's what he and his partner would be like. Together forever even if they never grew to love each other. But now he's married to Hermione and he's slowly starting to like her for who she is. He doesn't know if he'll ever love her but he doesn't want their child come from a broken home. He doesn't want to divorce her, however, if she asked him to, he would. He's not going to force her to stay married to him when she could be happy with someone else.

He goes to open the door, deciding to just ask Hermione what her future plans are for their marriage but the door's looked. He fishes his key out of his pocket and enters the house, remembering to take his shoes off and leave them alone next to the door. Hermione mustn't have come home.

"Hermione!" He calls into the house just to make sure and there's no answer as he expected.

He assumes she's gone to Potter's house or to her parents so he enters the living room where he lies down to wait for her return.

He must have fallen asleep though as he woken up by the front door slamming shut. He assumes it's Hermione returning from wherever she's been. He checks his watch for the time. It's half past twelve. Where has she been this late? He wanders over to the hall where he finds her sitting on the bottom step of their stairs taking her shoes off.

"Where have you been?" He asks curiously maki9ng her jump.

"Oh," She places a hand over her heart, takes a deep breathe then shakes her head. "Just out. I didn't think I'd be out this long. I assumed you'd still be at the party." She mentions.

"No, I left not long after you. It was very boring but I did get the information I needed." He smirks at her.

"Great, I'm going to bed. We'll exchange notes in the morning." She tells him as she heads up the stairs.

He gets the feeling that she needs her own space right now so he makes himself a sandwich, since he didn't get the chance to eat anything at the party, and read a book for an hour or so before going to bed himself.

He finds Hermione curled up on the bed very close to her edge. There's obviously something bothering her and he's got a pretty good idea what it's about. He'll have to talk to her about it tomorrow but for now, he climbs into his own side of the bed and drifts off to sleep pretty quickly.

Hermione wakes up very early in the morning. So early the sun is just starting to rise itself. She wraps herself in her dressing gown, heads downstairs where she makes herself a cup of tea, then sits in the garden on one of their chairs to watch the sunrise. She can't remember the last time she just sat and watched a sunrise. It was definitely before Hogwarts.

Suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder which makes her jump slightly but she turns around to find Draco looking worriedly down at her. She turns back to watch the sun. She knows he's going to want to talk about last night but she's not ready to hear how he's leaving her as soon as their child's been born. She doesn't know why she's so upset by it. She doesn't even like Draco. She should be excited by the thought of him divorcing her. She should be the one planning to divorce him after everything he's done. She knows that's harsh, though. She knows he's changed and she can't judge him for what he once was.

Draco takes the seat next to her with his own cup of tea then proceeds to watch the sunrise with her. They don't exchange any words until the whole sun is visible above the horizon.

"Would you like some breakfast?" He asks, standing up.

"No thank you, I'm not hungry." She tells him, not looking away from the fiery colour of the sky.

Draco disappears for a few minutes before returning with a plate of toast. They continue to sit in silence. Hermione's unsure whether she should just come out and ask him about their future or lack of one but she doesn't want to hear his answer. Not yet anyway. Without warning she jumps out of her chair, leaving him alone outside as she heads upstairs to get dressed.

Whether or not their marriage will last or not, Hermione feels the need to impress Narcissa, so she takes out of the wardrobe the dress she wore to Lauren and Craig's christening two years ago. She hasn't had the chance to wear it since. It's a pretty flowery summer dress that flows down to her knees. She pairs them with a pair of tights and her yellow flat shoes.

Once she's brushed her teeth, she heads back downstairs, where she finds Draco in the kitchen washing up his plate. By hand. She watches him for a moment before entering the kitchen and gaining his attention.

"I'm going to visit Harry and Ginny. I'll be back for eleven." She announces as she pulls on a light summer jacket.

"Didn't you see them last night?" He asks as he turns around to face her, drying his hands on a tea towel.

She freezes for a moment. So that's where he thinks she went. She rolls her shoulders, relaxing before answering.

"Yes, but I'd like to see them again. Is that a problem?" She asks tilting her head slightly, daring him to argue with her.

"Not at all. I'll see you at eleven." He tells her, brushing past her as he leaves the kitchen.

Hermione smirks to herself as she leaves by the back door in the hopes of finding Harry and Ginny in their back garden. She thinks there were only seven people between herself being paired to Draco and her two best friends being paired. She starts to count along seven house but just as she's reaching the fourth house, she spots them a few back gardens away, eating breakfast at their garden table.

"Hello." She greets them as she stands at their back garden gate.

Ginny, upon seeing her, jumps up from her seat and runs over to her.

"Hermione!" She opens the gate letting her in and pulls her into a tight hug. "What are you doing here so early? We've just gotten up." She pulls her towards the table. "Do you want something to eat?" She offers but Hermione shakes her head.

"No thank you. I'm having lunch at Malfoy Manor this afternoon." She mentions as she takes a seat at the table between her two best friends.

She watches them share a glance before Harry clears his throat.

"Are you in love with Draco?" Harry blurts out.

"Harry!" Ginny whines. "We were supposed to be subtle."

"I am not in love with Draco." Hermione glares at them both. "And I have no idea why you'd think I am." She adds.

"Have you seen The Daily Prophet this morning?" Ginny asks softly.

"No, I left out of the back door." She answers not sure she wants to look at the paper.

"Here." Harry passes it to her.

The picture that the 'nature photographer' had taken was on the front page. It shows them both holding hands as they exit the gates of the estate. She has a small smile on her face but it's Draco she can't stop looking at. He's looking down at her with surprise and wonder in his eyes. The headline reads 'Is our most surprising couple really that surprising?' then below it says 'We spoke to the people who know them best to find out.'

Hermione looks up at her friends. They wouldn't, would they? Before she even has the chance to ask Ginny shakes her head.

"It wasn't us but we don't know who the quotes are from. They're all anonymous." She explains.

"Well, it's pretty easy to work out who wrote a few of them." Harry chuckles.

Hermione opens the newspaper and flicks through until she finds another picture of herself with Draco. It's the one from The Partner Ceremony where they're wearing their wedding robes. Surrounding the picture are few paragraphs with quotes from 'the people who know them best'.

She looks at the first one.

'I'm not at all surprised that they were paired together. Not many people know that they went on a date during the Christmas break. I don't think it went very well though since, as far as I know, they never went out again but he was always defending her in the Slytherin Common room whenever anyone called her a M******d.'

Hermione looks up after reading it to find both Harry and Ron reading the same quote from over her shoulder.

"Did you really go on a date with him?" Harry asks a look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Of course not Harry. I just bumped into him in a few shops. I actually spilt my ice-cream on him in Florean Fortescue's." She chuckles at the memory before looking back down at the article.

'I've known Hermione for years and we all knew her brief fling with Ron (Ronald Weasley) wouldn't last. They have nothing in common unlike her and Draco. They both into books and learning and… stuff. They're perfect for each other. Also, Hermione's such an independent and determined woman, she needs a man who's going to walk side by side with her through life not follow behind her like a lost puppy. No offence to Ron though.'

Hermione laughs at that one. "Do you know who wrote this one? Books and learning and… stuff. And they think they've known me for years."

"I think it's just some Gryffindor who's just jumped on the bandwagon. They've obviously seen you around the common room and translated that to mean they've known you for years." Ginny shrugs.

"My favourite's the next one." Harry chuckles pointing at the next quote.

Hermione reads it aloud. "Whoever said I was a lost puppy can shove it. They don't know anything about me and Hermione. We were in love and Kingsley tore us apart. Now get away from me."

She looks at Ginny. "Your brother, I assume."

She nods stifling a laugh. "He's not really in the right frame of mind at the moment. I don't think he's stopped drinking since Wednesday night. He hasn't actually been to their house since Thursday morning. He's been staying at the Burrow. Oh, and by the way, Mum's invited you and Draco over for dinner next Wednesday night. It's to celebrate our week anniversary." She rolls her eyes.

"Maybe I should go visit Ron before that. It doesn't sound like he's coping very well." Hermione suggests.

"That's an understatement," Harry mutters under his breath.

Hermione ignores him and goes back to the article.

'I don't know either of them but I did use to see them nearly every day in the library during the months leading up to the NEWTs. They always sat at the two desks at the back of the library. A few times I saw them talking to each other rather civilly. It really shows how much he's changed since the end of the war.'

"I only ever talked to him once when he stole my book when I went to the bathroom," Hermione admits throwing the paper back on the table.

"There's two more you haven't read." Ginny picks the paper again.

"I don't want to read it. I've avoided reading The Daily Prophet since The Partner Ceremony. I don't want to know what they have to say about Draco and I. They don't know either of us and they certainly don't know what happens in the privacy of our own home." She complains.

"What exactly do you both do?" Harry asks. "Read books all day." He laughs.

Hermione sends him a dirty look. "No. We haven't really spent much time in our house. We went to my parents' house and the Manor on Thursday then we went out to a café and to Theo and Lisa's party yesterday. We're off to the Manor again today for lunch with Narcissa."

"You went to a café. Like on a date?" Harry asks frowning.

"No, not like a date." Hermione glares at him. "You know this isn't exactly easy for me and it doesn't make it any easier, with you two judging everything we do." She stands up. "I'll see you both at The Burrow on Monday night." She tells them before leaving out of their back gate and making her way back to her own house.

As soon as Draco hears the back door close he races upstairs. With Hermione being gone for a few hours, it gives him plenty of time to check out the first room at the top of their stairs. He's finally figured out that it's probably a nursery for their child but he's still eager to look inside the room. He pauses with his hand on the door handle for a second before pushing the door open wide.

Without crossing the threshold, for fear of Hermione finding out, he looks around the room. It's very simple. He'll have to redecorate before they put this room to use. The walls and ceiling are white along with all the furniture and the carpets are cream. The bedding inside the cot is pear green which matches the curtains. He's not entirely sure why mostly everything in their house is green. It would make sense if Hermione had been a Slytherin. He has to ask her when she returns.

He takes another look around the bedroom and decides that no baby of his is going to sleep in such a simplistic, boring nursery. Taking his wand out, he cast a charm across the room and watches as the same pear green colour as the bedding drips down the walls until not a single bit of white paint remains. He doesn't think Hermione will notice since she hasn't even been in this room yet. Not that he knows about anyway. He closes the door behind him then goes into his own bedroom to get dressed for lunch at the manor.

He pulls on a light blue shirt with a navy jacket than a pair of dark pair of jeans. He heads back downstairs into the living room where he lounges on the couch and reads a book. Although not long later the back door swings open, slamming off the counter. Draco hears Hermione curse as she locks the door behind her. He carries on reading, or at least pretending to as he waits for Hermione to enter the front room.

When she does, he continues to look at his book. She'd been upset about something when she left this morning. He assumes it was what Luna had told him at the party last night but he didn't know how to bring it up and he certainly didn't want to say the wrong thing which would most likely lead to another argument.

"Did we get The Daily Prophet this morning?" She asks stopping behind the back of the couch.

"Yeah, I think it's still in front of the door," Draco mutters not looking up from the same page he's been looking at for the past three minutes.

He hears her sigh as she goes into the hall to collect the paper then sits down in the armchair next to him to read it.

"I think you should see this. Harry and Ginny showed me it." She tells him holding the paper out.

Sitting up and placing his book on the coffee table, he takes the newspaper from her and glances down at the page she had opened it to. Right in the middle of the page was a picture of Hermione and him at The Partner Ceremony in their wedding robes. At the top of the page is a title reading, 'The least surprising, most surprising couple?'

"What's this about?" He asks looking up at Hermione.

"Look at the cover." She tells him looking quite angry.

He turns the paper over to look at the front cover to find a picture of them both walking hand in hand out of the estate. It's obviously the picture that photographer took yesterday. He reads headline and frowns.

"Who did they speak to?" He asks opening the paper to the article.

"They're all anonymous but a few of them are quite obvious." She answers, watching as he starts to read the first one.

"We never went on a date and don't count yourself lucky, I cursed anyone who used that word in the Slytherin common room." He growls at the paper. "It's obviously Pansy who wrote this." He comments.

"I wasn't sure who wrote that one," Hermione mumbled.

"Books and learning and stuff." Draco looks up at her, quirking an eyebrow. "You need better friends."

"I don't have a clue who wrote that one. Ginny thinks it's a younger Gryffindor who's just seen me around the common room." Hermione shrugs.

"Well they're right about one thing, Weasel did follow you around like a lost puppy." He chuckles.

"Wait until you read the next one." Hermione bites her lip trying to hide a smile.

Curiously Draco goes back to the paper then laughs.

"Firstly, it's Hermione and I and secondly, I thought you told Blaise that he wasn't your boyfriend?" He asks looking back at her.

"Did Blaise tell you that?" She looks slightly hurt.

"No, I overheard you telling him. You weren't exactly being secretive talking about it a few feet away from Pansy and me." He explains, hoping she won't accuse him of eavesdropping again.

She nods. "In my head, we weren't a couple. We never actually made it official after that first time we kissed but we would hold hands and we'd go to The Three Broomsticks for drinks but that was it. To be honest, we're more of a couple than Ron and I ever was." She admits, blushing slightly.

Draco glances at the clock on the wall and jumps up. "It's ten to eleven. We better get going." He announces throwing the paper on the coffee table alongside his book.

They both walk to the front door where Draco pulls on a pair of brown, leather shoes. As he ties them he notices that Hermione hadn't taken his off after coming in through the backdoor.

"I thought we had to take our shoes off before we came into the house. 'You're not going to dirty our cream carpets'." He mimics smirking up at her.

She rolls her eyes, opening the door and ignoring him. He quickly finishes tying his shoes and follows her, locking the door behind him.

"Do you want to exchange notes?" He whispers glancing around them to make sure that no one is near enough to eavesdrop.

Hermione looks up at him confused for a moment before realising what he's on about.

"Oh, yeah. Well with the girls, I asked Megan why she thought she was paired with Goyle and before I knew it everyone was talking about how many children they want. Richard and Sue both want one, William and Isobel want at least four, Megan wants three but Goyle doesn't talk to her so I don't know if they share that in common. Then Blaise and Luna both want two. What did you find out from the boys?" She asks looking forward.

"Nothing much." He admits. He decides now is probably the right time to mention divorce. "Except that the divorce rates are going to be steadily increasing over the next couple of years." He says watching Hermione gage her reaction.

She turns to face him narrowing her eyes but she doesn't say anything since they've just reached the gate. He takes her hand and disapparates them to the gates of the manor. They set off down the path towards the front doors.

"Pansy wants a divorce as soon as possible. Richard and Sue are getting divorced and he's giving her sole custody of their child." He huffs a laugh in disbelief.

He doesn't understand how anyone can leave their own flesh and blood. Richard said he'll help support her but it's not the same as actually being there for the child.

"Mandy and Oliver are getting divorced but want joint custody of their child. Blaise and Luna, Lisa and Theo, and Isobel and William want to stay together but who knows what the future holds for them." He shrugs.

"Que sera, sera," Hermione mumbles as they come up to the front door.

"What?" He asks confused, knocking on the door.

"Whatever will be, will be." She clarifies.

"I like to know with some certainty what's going to happen in the future. I don't want to leave my life to chance." He tells her.

"What does your future hold, Draco?" She turns to face him but the door opens to reveal his Mother.

"Draco dear, you're late." She pulls him into a hug.

He not sure why she opened the door instead of letting Mitty answer or why she's hugging him. It's not something she usually does unless it's a special occasion.

"Mother." He greets her. "We're a few minutes late." He rolls his eyes as she leads them into the foyer then into the dining room.

"Well, lunch won't be for another half an hour so maybe you'd like to show Hermione around the manor." His Mother suggests.

"Wonderful idea, Mother." He turns around but Hermione's not where he expected to see her. Instead, she's stood at the door staring at a spot on the wooden floor. He curses himself for forgetting about what happened last time she set foot in the manor's dining room. "I'll start with the library. Excuse us." He excuses themselves quickly before walking out of the room, grabbing hold of Hermione's hand and pulling her towards the library.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I completely forgot." He mutters shutting the library door behind them.

"I'm fine." She mumbles avoiding his eyes.

Draco bends his head down slightly so he can look into her eyes but she moves her head away so their eyes never meet.

"I know you're not, Hermione." He tells her.

"No, really, I'm great." She tells him, finally turning to look at him with a forced smile.

All Draco has to do is quirk a disbelieving eyebrow and Hermione sighs, head falling down.

"It's just that room." She mumbles. "I've tried blocking the memory but seeing that room again has brought them all back." She looks down at her wrist.

"Can I see it?" He asks nervously.

Her head whips up to look at him. She glares at him for a moment before her frown disappears and she holds her arm out. He takes her wrist gently in his hands and carefully rolls up the sleeve of her white cardigan revealing the scar. Draco gasps quietly. It had healed well, just a faint pink scar but the word was still legible. He doubts it would ever fade to an extent where it wasn't legible. Without thinking, he gently caresses the scar with his thumb. He feels Hermione's wrist twitch.

"Did I hurt you?" He asks, loosening his grip on her wrist.

"No." She says staring down at her scar. "It's just sensitive." She admits.

Draco nods, looking back down at her scar. "I'm so sorry." He whispers.

She shakes her head. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

"I could have stopped her but I didn't. I was too afraid of what my father would do to me." He admits.

"She got what she deserves. There's nothing more that can be done." Hermione tried to smile but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

Draco nods. His Aunt really did get what she deserves. He lifts her wrist up, placing a gentle kiss on her scarred skin, without think about what he was doing or about the consequences. Her arm goes ridged at his touch and he quickly drops her wrist.

"Sorry." He quickly apologises. "Since we're in the library we should look for a book on the marriage decrees. The law section is over here." Draco changes the topic then briskly walks over to the far corner of his father's large library.

There are five bookshelves full of law books. All order alphabetically by author.

"I'll start at the beginning." He tells her and starts scanning the spines of the books for a title that might suggest the book has something to do with marriage decrees.

He can feel Hermione's eyes watching him but he tries his best to ignore them. A few minutes later there's a knock at the library door.

"Enter." He calls out.

The door open and a pair of small feet patter across the carpeted floor.

"Master Draco, Master's Mother requires Master in the kitchens, master," Mitty announces bowing deeply.

Draco frowns confused as to why his Mother is in the kitchens, to begin with and why she wants his presences is needed. With a sigh, he nods.

"I'll be back shortly." He tells Hermione before following Mitty to the kitchens.

Hermione watches Draco follow Mitty out of the library and takes a deep breath. What is happening to her? Draco kissed her, that's what happened. Okay, it was just a peck on her wrist but either why it was a kiss. The gentlest kiss she had ever received. Should her heart still be fluttering this much? Should her hands still be shaking this much? Should her wrist still tingle this much?

She tries to distract herself by looking for a book but her search so far has found nothing. Perhaps the Ministry beat them to it. She'll have to ask Draco to ask his mother about it. The door to the library opens again and she turns to face Draco with a nervous smile, only to find Narcissa gliding towards her elegantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW and REVIEW.
> 
> Thank you. Xx
> 
> P.S. Please follow me on Tumblr.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 14 for you all. Sorry, it's a few hours late but I've been out all day because IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Also, because it's the month of my birth (and I'm going on holiday from 13th - 20th) I'm going to upload chapter 15 on 11th August and chapter 16 on 21st August.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneaky-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> FOR YOUR FIRST QUESTION, SEE THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> I dedicate this chapter to roni2010, Marya, HogwartsNewsie92,Zalia, Reptilegirl, Nevrane and DeceivingAura.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

"Narcissa, you have a wonderful library." She compliments her Mother-in-law but her smile soon falls at the expression of pure anger on her face.

Narcissa keeps walking towards her until she stood a few inches away.

"You little bitch. You think just because The Minister forced my son to marry you that you can come into our home like you own the place." She huffs out a laugh in disbelief. "My sister should never have tortured you." Narcissa yanks her wrist up with her scar still on the show.

Hermione's eyes widen as she tries to pull her arm out of Narcissa's grip.

"She should have killed you and saved us all this grief." She spits on her scared wrist before dropping it like she'll catch an incurable disease if she held on to it much longer.

Hermione wipes the dripping saliva on her dress as she takes a few steps away. She slowly reaches into her bag for her wand.

"Draco will be back soon." She warns her but Narcissa just laughs.

"What do you expect my son to do? Protect you, defend you. He's _my_ son. He'll never love you. How could he? You're a filthy little Mudblood who doesn't deserve him. You're going to taint our bloodline and I'll personally make sure that my son has nothing more to do with you or your half-blooded spawn." She growls at her.

Suddenly, Hermione's back hits the bookshelf behind her. She spots Narcissa's wand in her hand, hidden up the sleeve of her robes. She doesn't know what she's capable of doing but she's not going to wait around to find out.

Without a second thought, Hermione whips her wand out of her bag, wordlessly casting the expelliarmus charm as she points it at Narcissa, who doesn't have the chance to retaliate as her wand flies across the room. Hermione takes the opportunity to run. She throws the door open just as Draco reaches for the door handle. They both jump in surprise but Hermione doesn't stay still for long enough to find out if what Narcissa said was true. She runs towards the back door, which is closer than the front door, past the kitchens where Mitty calls after her.

She hears Draco call after her as well but she just keeps on running, unsure of where she's actually running to. As soon as she's out of the gate she disapparates to the one place she knows Draco won't be able to enter if he tried to follow her. The Burrow.

She runs down the Weasley's garden path, wand still grasped in her hand. Throwing the kitchen door open, she runs straight into a surprised Molly Weasley's arms before bursting into tears.

"Hermione dear, what's wrong?" Molly asks, gently stroking the hair.

"I'm sorry Molly. I didn't know where else to go." She cries into her shoulder.

"You're always welcome here." She mutters, hugging her tighter. "Did that boy do something to you?" She asks nervously.

Hermione shakes her head, trying to calm down. Once she's managed to stop the tears, she pulls away, drying her eyes with her cardigan sleeve. Molly produces a tissue from her apron then leads her to the dining table.

"You sit down and I'll make us some tea." She orders her down onto the bench as she goes about making them a pot of tea.

Once she's done, she sits down opposite Hermione, pours them both a cup of tea waits for her to start talking.

Hermione stares down at her cup of tea. "We were supposed to have lunch at the manor today." She mentions before taking a sip from her tea. "Narcissa had been polite and civil at The Partner Ceremony. I thought maybe she would accept me as her daughter-in-law but… but…" Hermione shakes her head not wanting to finish.

"What did she do Hermione?" Molly asks seriously but Hermione continues to shake her head. "Did she threaten you?" She asks placing her cup down on the table. "Because if she did…" Molly starts.

"No, she didn't. Not really." Hermione interrupts. "She told me Bellatrix should have killed me in their library." She rubs her hand over her scar remembering how she had felt after Draco had kissed it.

Was that all just a lie? A cruel joke? She could honestly see herself growing to love Draco one day in the future, but was his Mother right? Would Draco never love her? Would he leave her and their child after the birth? Would he leave her to raise the child on her own?

"She said WHAT?" Molly shouts angrily. "How dare she say such a thing? I wish I could do to her what I did to that sister of hers." Molly takes another sip from her tea. "What else did he say?"

"She said that Draco will never love me because I'm a filthy little Mudblood who doesn't deserve him and that she'll personally make sure that he has nothing to do with me and our 'half-blooded spawn' when it's born. Then she spat on my arm." She sniffs then wipes her nose.

"Oh, Hermione. I'm so sorry you've been forced to marry into that family. I'm just thankful that his father isn't there as well." Molly points out and Hermione nods.

Suddenly the back door creaks open. Both Molly and Hermione glances over to it to find Draco stood there with anger in his eyes. Molly jumps out of her seat putting herself between Hermione and Draco.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Molly asks, angrily brandishing her wand from her apron and pointing it straight at Draco.

Hermione peers around Molly to see Draco stood with his empty hands raised above his hands.

"Did my Mother really say that?" He asks moving his angry eyes to look at her.

"Hermione doesn't lie." Molly spits at him but he ignores her.

"I'll kill her." Draco growls and in a quick flash he's lying unconscious on the floor.

"Molly, what did you do?" Hermione asks, urgently running towards Draco.

"I stupefied him. He threatened to kill you." Molly explains.

"He was threatening to kill his mother, not me." Hermione clarifies.

"Oh, well he should have been clearer," Molly mutters shoving her wand back into her apron.

"How did he even get past the wards?" Hermione wonders aloud, brushing his hair out of his face.

"I changed them so he could enter. He was invited to dinner on Monday." Molly explains.

"Can you fetch me a cold flannel, please? I can't take him back to the estate like this." She points out.

"Of course, although I don't know why you're bothering after what his Mother did to you." She tells her.

"He's not his Mother and he's not his Father either. I've gotten to know a different side of him these last couple of days. A side of him that I never knew existed. Whatever Narcissa said to me, she said to hurt me. I'm certain." Hermione explains, watching Draco's eyes wander beneath his eyelids.

Molly brings over a small bowl filled with water and a flannel. Hermione gently dabs the flannel over Draco's forehead and eyes, trying to wake him from his unconscious state. After a few minutes, his eyes open and he smiles up at Hermione before glancing around his surroundings.

"What happened?" He asks, groaning as he tries to sit up.

"Molly thought you were threatening to kill me so she stupefied you." She explains. Draco's eyes dance around the room as he thinks before they return to their previously angry self.

"I was threatening to kill my mother." He growls standing up wand at the ready in his hand.

"For God's sake Draco, put your wand away. You're not killing anyone." She orders him and he reluctantly does as he's told.

"Please believe me when I say that nothing she said was true." Draco pleads.

Hermione gives him a small smile. "I know. She told me you'd never protect or defend me and here you are proving her wrong." She chuckles a little. "How'd you find me anyway?" She asks.

"I followed your tracks. It's quite easy when you know how." He shrugs.

"Would you like some tea, Draco?" Molly interrupts them.

Draco stares at Molly for a moment as if remembering he's in The Burrow, before nodding. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Both of you take a seat. I'll make you some snacks since you didn't get to eat your lunch." She says busying herself in the kitchen.

"You don't have to, Mrs Weasley. I'm sure we can find something to eat at our house." Draco tells her.

"Nonsense dear, you're here now and to be honest, I miss having people to make food for. I went from having four children in this house to none in the space of a day. Well, Ronald sleeps here but he doesn't spend his days here." Molly explains.

"Oh yes, Pansy told me she hasn't seen him since Thursday morning." Draco comments.

"I don't know how he expects to fulfil this idiotic marriage decree if he never spends any time getting to know her." Molly shakes her head as she butters some slices of bread. "Oh, I saw The Daily Prophet this morning." Molly turns to wink at them.

"Ergh, don't Molly." Hermione groans. "We were disapparating to a café for lunch and Draco didn't know where it was." She explains.

Molly stares at them both for a moment before going back to making their snacks.

"Well, I'm glad you're both giving this whole marriage thing a go. Ronald's already told me he's getting a divorce as soon as they have a child." She shakes her head disappointed.

"How's George and Percy getting along with their wives?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Magnificently. George and Angelina came around for dinner last night. They're so cute together, even though… you know… she dated… at school." Molly tries to explain.

"Yeah, I know. He took her to the Yule Ball." Hermione tries to make it easier for her.

She notices Draco's confused facial expression so mouths 'Fred Weasley' at him to which he nods in understanding.

"What about Percy and… Audrey, was it?" She asks.

"Hmm, that girl is a walking conspiracy theory, spouting all these lies about The Ministry. I hate this decree as much as the next person but her theories are just outrageous." Molly continues to ramble on but Hermione ignores her turning to face Draco who's already looking at her.

Draco leans towards her. "Conspiracy theories." He whispers.

"I think we should pay them a visit," Hermione whispers back.

"Aww, what are you two whispering about?" Molly asks placing two plates in front of them.

"Nothing," Hermione answers far too quickly to which Molly just chuckles.

"If you need anything I'll be upstairs doing a bit of tidying." She tells them before heading upstairs.

"What was Audrey's maiden name?" Draco asks as looks at the contents of his sandwich.

"She didn't poison it." Hermione quips at him.

"How do you know, she did just stupefy me?" He reminds her which makes her chuckle. "And we're not going to mention that fact to anyone else. Ever. Understand?" He glares jokingly at her.

"Of course not." She smiles at him sweetly knowing full well she's going to tell Ginny next time she sees her. "I think Audrey was called Rankin. Yeah, Audrey Rankin. Why, do you know her?" Hermione asks curiously.

"No, but I thought I might." He finally bites into his sandwich after thoroughly checking it out.

"Well, we've been invited to a dinner here on Monday afternoon so I'm sure we'll get a chance to talk to her then. In the meantime, I think we need to have another look in your library." She sighs, defeated.

"Really? You want to go back to the manor." He asks confusedly.

"Of course not but this is important. We need to find more information out about the law behind marriage decrees." She answers.

"I've been thinking about that actually. If my Mother heard that Ministry Officials were coming around looking for certain books, she would have hidden them in our secret attic." Draco explains.

"You have a secret attic?" She quirks a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's next to our actual attic." He explains. "No one expects there to be another attic next to an attic." He smirks.

She laughs in disbelief. "Okay, so when do you want to go back." She asks, hoping he doesn't suggest anytime soon.

"My Mother's been going to bed early recently so how about tonight, around eleven to make sure she's actually sleeping." He suggests.

"Tonight?" Hermione asks nervously. "Wait," She leans closer to Draco, "you want us to break into the manor and possibly steal one of your father's possessions."

"It's not really breaking in, it's my family's Manor." He whispers back. "And since my father is in Azkaban I doubt he's going to miss a few books if we actually find anything." He smirks at her.

"Wat the fuck is 'appenin 'ere?" A slurring voice comes from the backdoor.

Hermione jumps away from him in shock from being caught this close to Draco. She turns to face the door to find an obviously drunk Ron stood, glaring at Draco.

"Ron, how are you doing?" Hermione stands up.

"Wat's ferret doin' in _ma_ 'ouse?" He asks as he staggers through the door.

"It's not exactly your house anymore weasel." Draco points out.

"Don' talk t' me in ma 'ouse." Ron fiddles with his pocket before pulling his wand out.

"For goodness sake, Ronald, put that away before you hurt yourself," Hermione tells him off.

"The only person Imma hurt is 'im." He growls.

"Don't fool yourself weasel, you can barely cast a charm when sober." Draco raises his eyebrow. "Or do I need to remind you about the slug incident." He laughs.

"Move outta way, 'Mione." Ron pushes past her.

With a simple flick of his wrist and a mutter of "Expelliarmus," Draco disarms Ron, catching his wand mid-air before he's even thought about what curse to use.

"Gimme ma wand back," Ron growls making a start for Draco.

"Just go home weasel." He tells him.

"This _is_ ma 'ome." Ron yells.

"No, it's not. If The Ministry find out you're not living with Pansy, you'll be sent to Azkaban." Draco explains. "So just go to Pansy."

"Fuck that bitch." Ron huffs, stamping his foot.

"Ronald Weasley, I taught you better than that." Molly scolds her son. She snatches his wand from Draco, hands it back to Ron then pushes him out of the door. "You're not sleeping here anymore. Go to your wife."

Molly turns back around to face them. "Have you finished your snacks dear?" She asks picking up their empty plates.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs Weasley." Draco thanks her politely.

"You're welcome. I hope to see you both on Monday but if you don't mind I need to get Arthur's dinner ready for when he comes home." Molly explains.

"Oh, of course. We'll see you on Monday." Hermione hugs her goodbye before they both leave through the back door.

Thankfully Ron has already gone. She can't be dealing with both him and Draco right now. As they reach the edge of the wards, Hermione reaches out for Draco's hand but he moves it away from her reach.

"Wait, can we walk a little?" He asks pointing down the lane.

"Erm, sure." She answers confused.

"I want to talk to you." He mentions as they set off down the lane.

Hermione's heart drops as nerves flood her stomach. "What about?" She asks as calmly as she possibly can.

"I want you to know that no matter what my Mother or anyone else says. I'm not divorcing you once our child's born unless you want me to and if you do then I want joint custody of our child. I want to be a father." He admits looking straight ahead.

Hermione stares at Draco completely awestruck. She definitely didn't expect him to say that.

"I… I…" Hermione stutters not sure what to say.

"My parent's marriage was arranged by their parents. They didn't particularly like each other at first but they made it work for my sake and eventually they grew to love each other. It's not our… our future child's fault that we're in this situation. I can't see why we can't make it work either." He continues to talk.

"Are you comparing us to your parents because need I remind your that your father is in Azkaban and your mother threatened me today?" She asks offended.

He turns quickly to face her. "Not at all. Just, if they did it, we definitely can." He tells her.

"Well, I'm not going to divorce you unless you give me a reason to," Hermione tells him then grabs hold of his hand and disapparates them back to the gates.

Draco decides right then that he's going to try his very best to never give Hermione a reason to leave him. He's sure that one day he'll love her and she'll love him. If she leaves him, who's ever going to love him again? It's also very uncommon for people to get divorced, he remembers how much the Slytherin's bullied Blaise because his Mother had been divorced four times. He doesn't want their child to be punished by the other children at Hogwarts.

Once they get to their house, Hermione unlocks the door for them both then locks it again once he's entered.

"I need to go shopping again. We need more than just the essential in our fridge and cupboards." She tells him.

Draco nods. "I need to get a few things for tomorrow as well." He mentions.

"What's happening tomorrow?" She asks confused.

Of course, she doesn't know. Why would she, he never told her? All he said was he'd cook for her. Well, there's no point telling her now, she'll just get annoyed that he kept another thing from her.

"I'm cooking dinner for us. We haven't had a proper meal since The Partner Ceremony." He reminds her.

"Oh." She sounds excited. "What are you cooking?" She asks curiously as they exit through their backdoor.

"Nothing special." He mutters.

"Okay." She replies, sounding upset. "We should go to the market first then." She leads them over towards the market they bought their essentials in.

He gets handed the basket again as they wander up and down the aisles. He puts in the things he needs. Some spaghetti, mince, tomatoes, garlic cloves, a baguette and a bottle of red wine. Hermione also puts in some eggs, ham, sausages, fish, carrots, potatoes, beans and a tub of ice-cream.

"That'll keep us going for the next couple of days." She tells him as they walk to the till.

He can't help but notice how nervous the cashier looks as he taps the prices into his till. He keeps looking up, giving him an unsure look. The next time Draco catches him doing it, he flashes the man a smirk which makes him cower slightly. Just as he thought. The man's absolutely terrified of him.

"What was wrong with him?" Hermione mumbles as they carry their shopping across the grass back to their house.

"Me. He was scared of me." Draco admits.

"Really?" She questions. "Well, I suppose he has every right to be. You do have a certain look about you and your past doesn't exactly help your case." She adds.

"Thanks." He rolls his eyes sarcastically.

"He might warm up to you the more you shop there." She suggests as they enter their house.

They unpack their shopping quietly. Once he's finished, Draco heads into the living room where he picks up the book he had left on the coffee table and went back to reading. Hermione pauses for a second as she walks through the living room before carrying on up the stairs. A few hours later, he realises that he hasn't heard any movement upstairs for a while so he places his book back on the coffee table, stretches as he rolls off the couch and heads upstairs.

He finds Hermione lying on their bed, fast asleep. He smiles to himself as he goes over to the wardrobe. Even though they're not really breaking into the Manor, he doesn't want to be caught either so he takes out a black jumper, which he pulls on over his shirt, and replaces his brown leather shoes with a black pair. He finds his black woolly hat near the back which he pulls on so he can check all his hair is covered. It's impossible to sneak around when your hair's almost luminescence.

"You look like a burglar," Hermione comments from the bed making him flinch slightly.

"We don't want my Mother to catch us tonight so we have to wear black. Do you have anything?" He asks still trying to tuck his hair under the hat.

He desperately needs a haircut. It's starting to look like it did in the third year which is a style he never wants a repeat of.

"Probably. Let me look." She tells him, climbing off the bed.

He can hear her rummaging through her side of the wardrobe as he tucks the last few strands of hair into his hat.

"Here we go. I've got a black pair of leggings and a black oversized jumper. I can wear them with my black plimsolls." She tells him brandishing the clothes from the wardrobe. "I'll go get changed now." She adds making her way to the bathroom.

He gives himself a once over to ensure all his hair was hidden before lounging on their bed, awaiting Hermione's return. She enters a few minutes later, arms wide, showing off her outfit. She spins around dramatically before striking a pose. He lets a small smile form on his lips as he rolls his eyes.

"It's six o'clock. What are we going to do for another five hours?" She asks, climbing onto the bed next to him.

He shrugs. "I'm pretty comfortable just lying here for now." He replies with a deep sigh.

"Are you tired?" She asks, turning onto her side to face him.

"No, not really. I just prefer not to spend too much time thinking." He explains closing his eyes.

He can almost feel the frowning on her face as she asks, "Why?"

"There's some memories that I'd prefer not to relive through so I like to keep my mind preoccupied so I don't have to." He reluctantly explains.

"Memories from the war?" She asks nervously and he nods.

"We've all got memories from the war but I've found the best way to move past them is to spend a few minutes reliving them. It's how I was able to even set foot in the manor again after… after what happened there." She explains.

He turns to face her, opening his eyes. "I wouldn't know where to start, there's too many of them in here." He prods himself in the forehead.

She reaches over, taking hold of his hand. "Pick one." She tells him and there's a certain sparkle in her eye, nothing like Dumbledore's but kind of similar, that makes him trust her. He closes his eyes again, letting the memories flood his thoughts and he picks one at random.

"It was during our seventh year, the year you didn't come back. Snape put the Carrow's in charge of punishment, then volunteered my help. At first, I was proud to be chosen but after a few weeks the punishment got worse and worse until just after Christmas when Alecto used the p[rsty]q]qsry]qqqqqqqqqqp[cruciatus curse on a second year Gryffindor girl. Her screams haunted my thoughts for weeks after that. I don't even know what she did in order to be punished but I highly doubt it was bad enough for the cruciatus. I could have stopped her. It was just the three of us in the room but I was too scared of what she'd do to me if it even attempted. Too scared of what my Father would say when he found out. Her parents didn't send her back last year. I heard they moved to America and she goes to the American North West Institute for Wizards and Witches." He admits.

He doesn't want to open his eyes for fear of seeing the absolute disgust on Hermione's face. He would say he wishes he could go back in time and save that poor girl but he knows he would still have been too scared of his own punishment. He finds that having talked about it out loud to another person has helped. His heavy heart feels a little lighter now that he's confessed and if it weren't for the fact that Hermione probably hates him now, he'd tell her all his terrorising memories.

She suddenly squeezes his hand to bring his attention to her, which reminds him that they're still holding hands. Slowly, nervously, he opens his eyes to find Hermione smiling at him.

"How do you feel?" She asks, squeezing his hand again.

"A little lighter but still guilty." He admits.

"Why don't you try sending her an owl?" She suggests. "Do you know her name?"

"Sally Lagan." He answers without thought.

He doesn't think he'll ever forget her name.

"There you go. You could write her a letter and apologise. If she does attend the American North West Institute, it'll find her." She suggests.

"And if she doesn't?" He asks her.

"Then at least you tried." She smiles a small, soft smile that tells him everything is going to be okay. "Do you want to pick another or is one enough for today?"

"I think one a day is more than enough for now." Draco shakes his head.

His first memory was a bad one but there's certainly a lot worse hiding away in his head that he's not sure Hermione would want to hear him confess to.

"That's fine but I'm going to make sure you do this every day. You don't have to tell me but even reliving it all in your head will help. Now, do you want a snack before we go breaking and entering?" She asks making him roll his eyes as they both climb off their bed.

"We're not doing anything illegal." He reminds her as he straightens his hat.

"Of course, we're not. That's why we're both currently dressed in black about to go sneaking around a house in the middle of the house." She retaliates as they walk down the stairs. "Would you like an omelette? We need to use the rest of the eggs up." She asks.

"Okay." He lets a small smile play on his lips as he watches her collect the ingredients and set about making their dinner.

He leans against the counter watching as she hums along to a familiar tune and cooks. Her hips swinging slightly, in time to her humming. He takes a step closer to her before thinking straight and walking around the counter to sit at the table. He doesn't quite know what came over him but for a second, he felt the urge, the need to place his hands on her hips and bury his face in her hair. What in Merlin's name is he thinking that for?

He turns to look out of the window overlooking their garden to distract him. Since it's only just gone half six and it is June, so it's still very light outside. They'll have to leave before half nine so to not look too suspicious when leaving the estate. They don't need a nosey neighbour to catch them and tell a reporter. Another article in The Daily Prophet is the last thing the need right now.

Hermione places their plates on the table before taking a seat next to Draco. She halfway through hers when she remembers she's supposed to be meeting Derek and Verity tonight at eight o'clock.

"Oh, crap." She curses jumping out of her chair as she checks her watch. It's nearly seven o'clock. She's got plenty of time.

"What's wrong?" Draco asks, confused by her sudden outburst.

"I completely forgot that I'm supposed to be meeting Derek and Verity tonight at eight. I don't know his house phone number so I can't call and cancel." She explains as she hurries to finish the rest of her dinner.

"Can't you just not show up?" Draco suggests with a shrug.

"I know you don't like him Draco but he's my friend. I can't just stand him up." She explains as she washes her plate up with a spell this time.

She needs to go get changed. Leaving Draco to finish his dinner, she races upstairs to their bedroom to rummage through their wardrobe. She finds a casual black dress that she can easily wear for both socialising with her friends, and break and entering. She quickly pulls it on, keeping her leggings underneath, adding a pair of flat black boots instead of her plimsolls. Just as she sits in front of their mirror, Draco enters their bedroom and sits on their bed. Hermione pulls her wand out, tapping her face a few times as she mutters a couple of beauty spells. Ginny had taught her some in fourth year ready for the Yule Ball. Just basic spells like concealing, mascara and lip gloss.

"Why are you wearing makeup?" Draco asks suspiciously.

"It's been eight years since I last saw Verity, I want to look nice." She explains but really she wants to impress her. Prove to her she's not the nerdy, bushy haired, bookworm she was at primary school. Or at least pretend she isn't just for tonight. She wants to show Verity that she's changed in the last eight years.

"How long will you be out?" He asks.

"Maybe two, two and a half hours. I'll meet you in The Leaky Cauldron at half ten and we'll wait there until eleven o'clockish before disapparating to the Manor. Okay?" She asks.

He sighs before answering with a simple, "Yeah."

"Great. I better get going. I want to pop by my parents' house and pick up a black cardigan that I didn't think I'd need." She mentions, racing down the stairs with her jumper to find her bag.

She hears Draco follow her down the stairs as she shoves her jumper in her bag. She's taken to keeping two purses, a Muggle purse and a Magic purse. One for each set of currency she needs to carry around with her depending on which world she's spending time in. Tonight, she's going to be in both so she checks that they're both there.

"I'll see you at half ten in The Leaky Cauldron." She reminds him as she rushes out the front door letting it slam shut behind her.

She quickly walks to the gate where she disapparates to the alleyway behind her parents' house. The lights off in the kitchen so she hopes that they're in the living room and not already in bed. They've been working really hard recently since they took Wednesday off for The Partner Ceremony. She slowly opens the backdoor, which is unlocked, and makes her way through the dark kitchen and into the hall. She notices light coming from beneath the living room door. She enters the room making her Dad jump.

"Hermione! Jesus Christ child." Her Dad says, hand on his heart. "Are you trying to kill me?" He mutters.

"Where's Mum?" She asks, sitting down on the couch.

"At Grandma Betty's helping with the kids. Louise got back together with Darren." He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Again!" Hermione sighs shaking his head.

"Yeah, it's not easy for them at their age to be looking after under five-year-olds." Her Dad mentions.

"Well if you need any help with them, Draco and I aren't busy." She offers.

"Speaking of Draco, where is that husband of yours?" He questions.

"At home. I'm meeting Derek and Verity for a few drinks." She mentions.

"Verity? You hate her." Her Dad points out.

"I did in primary school, maybe she's changed," Hermione suggests. "Anyway, I came for a cardigan that I left here." She tells him as she heads up the stairs.

She finds it in her wardrobe with a few other clothes she didn't want to bring to the estate. She pulls it on and goes back downstairs. She's got about twenty minutes before she's due to meet them so she sits back down on the couch to watch some TV with her Dad.

"Where are you meeting them?" He asks at the end of Antiques Roadshow.

"The Buffalo at eight o'clock." She answers.

"I don't think your Mum's going to be back anytime soon so I'll walk with you and grab some dinner from Howards." He announces, turning the TV off and grabbing his jacket and wallet.

They walk in a comfortable silence for most of their walk until her Dad nudges her elbow with his.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you since you and Draco had that argument." Her Dad asks.

"We're fine. We had a talk and I think we roughly know what we're doing." She tells him.

She knows he worries about her. More so since she's their only child.

"Care to share?" He urges her to tell him.

"Erm, well we found out a lot of people are getting divorced once they've had a child. We've both come to the decision that we're going to try and make the best out of this situation for our future child." She admits.

"I'm glad you're going to try but don't stay with him if you don't want to just for the sake of your child. It won't end well if you do." He warns her.

"We have a lot in common Dad and I feel as though I could grow to love him but I'm a long way from that place right now." She tells him.

"Do you know how Draco feels about you?" He asks.

She shrugs. "We'll I know he feels something for me. He got jealous of Derek when we went to Mrs Morris' Café and he showed me his softer side this morning. The side of him I know I could fall in love with if he showed it more often."

"Jealousy's never a good thing for a relationship." He points out.

"I know but at least it proves he cares enough to get jealous. I've already told him he has nothing to worry about with Derek." She says.

Her Dad just nods in reply as they come up to Howards.

"Will we see you on Tuesday's at Uncle David's?" He asks.

"Yeah, we'll be there." She hugs her Dad before waving goodbye and crossing the road.

She's never been inside The Buffalo and she's not sure she wants to right now. There's an outdoor seating area full of people already drunk and smoking with their children running around with shoes on. She tries not to be a snob so she rolls her shoulders back and pushes the door open revealing an unpleasant, smoke hazy bar. Since she's early, she grabs herself a stool at the bar and orders herself a coke as she waits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm wanting to make one of Hermione's cousins a wizard of a witch but I can't decide who.
> 
> Sophie: David's daughter. 8 years old. Her mum left her a month after birth. She loves reading, not afraid to speak her mind, very clever, idolises Hermione.
> 
> Lauren: Louise's daughter. 4 years old. Her mum was 17 when she gave birth to her. She's shipped off to Grandparents with her brother a lot so her mum can go out partying. She's confident, clever, very protective over her brother, quick at making friends, nervous around her mum and her boyfriend.
> 
> Craig: Louise's son. 3 years old. His mum was 18 when she gave birth to him. He's shipped off to his Grandparents with his sister a lot so his mum can go out partying. He's extremely shy and nervous around new people, loves his sister more than anyone else, struggles to make friends at nursery and is nervous around his mum and her boyfriend.
> 
> You have the personalities and backgrounds history of each cousin so please choose for me. Comment who you think.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please FOLLOW, FAVOURITE and REVIEW. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 15 for you all. Since I'm going on holiday from 13th - 20th, I'm going to upload chapter 16 on 21st August.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) for updates, sneak-peaks of upcoming chapters, polls and answering your questions.
> 
> YOU CAN STILL ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION, SEE THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Derek finally shows up ten minutes late, looking quite dishevelled.

"Hi, Derek." She greets him with a smile, giving him a quick hug. "Are you okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, I lost my house key so had to wait for Mum to get home from work at eight. I've literally run here. Sorry, I'm late." He apologises.

"It's fine. You're not as late as Verity." Hermione chuckles.

"Ah, yes. I asked if she wanted to come but her Boyfriend's back from university this week so she wants to spend as much time as she can with him." He explains.

"Oh, right. Did she not go to university?" She asks as Derek orders himself a beer.

"Nah, it's not really her thing. She's doing a beauty course at college." He answers her as she pays. "What about you? I'm surprised you didn't go to Uni." He chuckles.

"I'm going this September. Something came up during my seventh year so I had to drop out. I went back last September to complete my last year." She vaguely explains.

"Oh really. What happened" He asks leading her over to an empty, sticky table.

"There was… an incident… in Scotland." She starts trying to think of something believable. "A few students didn't like me because I got in on a scholarship and wasn't rich like the rest of them. One of the Governors started threatening all the scholarship students so we all dropped out along with a few of our friends as a protest. Anyway, he got fired and prosecuted along with some of the parent who follow him." She rambles on hoping it sounded believable.

"Oh my God." He stares at her wide eyes. "And you went back?" He asks.

"Well, yeah. I needed to finish my education and all my friends were there." She tells him.

"And Drake." He asks.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "He's called Draco, and yes. He was still at the school."

"He didn't drop out with you." He asks, trying to look nonchalant.

"No, his father was one of the parents who followed the Governor. If he had dropped out, his father would have found out about us and would have disowned him." She makes something up.

"So Draco cares more about what his father thinks then you?" He asks sympathetically.

"No, I wouldn't let him drop out." She tries to defend her fake past with Draco.

"Why would you do that?" Derek frowns.

"Well, firstly, I'm scared of his Father and secondly, Draco's not exactly the kindest person in the world. He's made a few enemies at school. If he'd been disowned, I'm not entirely sure where he'd have gone. He hasn't got any other family." She explains as she finishes her drink.

"Why are you with him if you're scared of his father?" He asks, sounding dejected.

"Draco isn't his father and I love him." Her throat feels tightens as she lies and wonders whether she'll ever truly love him and if he'll ever love her. "Anyway, we've only been talking about me. What about you, do you have a girlfriend?" She asks trying to turn the topic of conversation away from her.

"There was this one girl who I liked but she moved away." He shrugs taking a swig from his glass.

"Oh, did she go off to university?" She asks.

"Yeah, and she met a guy there so there's no chance for me." He grumbles looking glumly into his glass.

"Why didn't you go to university?" She asks.

He shrugs. "I can't decide what I actually want to do. What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm off to Edinburgh to study Physics." She smiles remembering the lie she told her Grandad and Uncle.

Derek pulls a disgusted face. "I hate Physics."

"What do you like?" She asks trying to be helpful.

"I suppose History was my favourite lesson." He mutters. "You can thank your Uncle for that."

"Did you not want to study it further" She wonders.

"Yeah, I took it at college but the teacher just droned on and on that I dropped it after a year. I ended up teaching myself everything I needed for the exam." He mentions.

"Why don't you go back and finish your history A-level?" She suggests.

"Maybe I will. I've got nothing else to do this year. I might take a few others AS-levels." He says with another shrug.

"So, how is your family?" She asks.

"Aright. Sally got married two years ago but they both still live with us. Thankfully Andrew moved out. He's in Italy or Spain or somewhere teaching. Mum and Dad are great, they bought a puppy last year and are always up in the Lake District doing weekend walks." He rolls his eyes.

"Are you sure Andrew's not in Germany? He was studying German at Stirling University." She asks.

"Yeah, that's it." He laughs. "What do you want to drink?" He asks standing up.

"I'll have a small glass of red wine." She smiles as he walks away.

This is a lot more awkward than she thought it would be. He really hasn't changed much in the last three years. Except for the fact he's grown and cut his hair. Or maybe it's because she's changed so much during the war that his own change doesn't look at big in comparison.

"Here you are." Derek hands her a large glass of wine.

"I only asked for a small." She reminded him as she takes a sip.

"Yeah but it's a Saturday night." He shrugs as if that answers everything.

They both sit there in awkward silence for a few minutes before Derek speaks up.

"So, have you started planning your wedding yet then?" He asks.

"Not yet, no. We're going to wait until after university. Maybe summer 2003." She says thinking it sounds rather logical.

"Well, I'll be expecting an invitation." He gives her a smile.

"Of course, you and your family will be invited." She tells him trying to think how she can get out of it when the time comes. Maybe she can tell them that they eloped. She'll have to think of something to tell her grandparents as well.

They spend the next hour either in awkward silence or making awkward small talk. At twenty past ten, Hermione announces that she's supposed to be meeting Draco in ten minutes. Derek begs her to stay a few minutes longer but she declines, hugging him goodbye then leaves. She's glad to be out of the pub. It'll take at least five showers to wash all the smoke out of her hair.

Glancing around to make sure no one is watching her, she sneaks around the back of the pub to disapparate to The Leaky Cauldron. Or that was her plan until she spots two men pleasuring each other behind a wheelie bin.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbles before quickly walking away, trying to get the image out of her head.

She continues to walk past the outdoor seating area and around the corner, down a badly lit street. She glances around, to make sure nobody is watching before jumping behind a bush then disapparating to Diagon Alley. She quickly enters The Leaky Cauldron and instantly finds Draco at the bar talking to Tom, the barkeeper.

"Hi, can I have a shot of firewhisky, please?" Hermione orders as she leans against the bar.

"How was your catch up?" Draco asks. He can hear the jealousy in his voice.

Tom hands her the drink and she downs it before ordering another.

"That bad?" He asks, brightening up slightly.

"No, it was fine. A little awkward since Verity couldn't make it. I just saw something I'd rather forget." She shudders before downing the second shot.

"What?" He asks not sure if he wants to know.

"Doesn't matter. I'm suppressing the memory." She shakes her head and orders a butterbeer.

"Don't drink too much." He whispers. "Remember where we're going tonight." He raises an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'll make this my last one." She nods.

"So, Verity didn't show up?" He tries to casually bring it up.

"Yeah, her boyfriend's home from university so she wanted to be with him," Hermione explains.

"Are you sure Derek actually invited her?" He asks, with a hint of venom in his voice.

She glares at him for a second before taking a sip from her butterbeer.

"I've seen the way he looks at you." He mutters.

"Draco, Derek is not secretly in love with me." She shakes her head at him.

"Are you sure about that?" He asks, taking a gulp from his own drink.

She doesn't answer and he hopes she's actually thinking about it because it's obvious Derek is in love with her. He wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't invited Verity just so he could spend one to one time with Hermione.

At eleven o'clock, they leave Tom a small tip as leave The Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley. He reaches down for Hermione's hand to find her hand already reaching up for his. They walk down a side alley then disapparate a kilometre away from the manor. They don't want to risk his Mother hearing their apparation. It takes them ten minutes to walk to the manor. The stop to look up at the gate and the manor. There were no lights on at the front of the house which is promising. It means his Mother is already in her room, hopefully asleep.

He glances down at Hermione's, whose hand is covering her scared arm. He wonders if she knows she's doing it or if it's just a subconscious action. He reaches down, taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently. She looks up at him both shocked and thankful for the distraction.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks. "You could wait here. I'd only be forty minutes." He suggests with another squeeze to her hand.

"No. I'm coming in." She says forcefully, dragging him through the gate.

"Shush." He whispers pulling her back. "We need to be quite. My Mother might have noise detecting wards around the house." He tells her.

She nods in understanding then starts tiptoeing across the grass around the back of the Manor. Draco rolls his eyes as he follows after her, although he refuses to tiptoe, instead treading lightly and carefully.

When they reach the door, they notice a light coming from the kitchen windows. That'll be Mitty and Gharther preparing breakfast for the morning. Draco holds his finger to his mouth and Hermione nods. Slowly, and as silently as possible, he unlocks the door with a wave of his hand and a mutter of "Alohomora", then carefully pushes the heavy door open. He winces when it creaks, stopping the door in its tracks, listening for any noise that would suggest they had been heard. Thankfully after a minute of listening, he feels safe enough to try the door again but it makes an even louder creaks so he stops. There's about enough room for them to both squeeze through. Draco enters first then holds the door in place for Hermione. He then quietly pushes the door shut again.

They'd only made it through the door and already he's starting to sweat with the nerves. He has to remind himself that they're not actually breaking and entering and he should be so nervous. So what if his Mother finds them. It's his home too. Although he doubts, after what happened earlier in the day, that his Mother or Hermione would be happy to see the other.

"There's a servants' staircase in the kitchens that will take us straight up to the top floor." He leans in to whisper into Hermione's ear.

She turns to face him, bringing their faces a little too close for comfort right now. "Why do you have a servants' staircase?" She asks quirking her eyebrow.

"It was a rich muggle family's house before my great-grandfather murdered them for it in 1865." He whispers as an explanation.

Hermione's eyes widen shocked by this small part of his family's history. If only she knew it all. He thinks with a smirk.

"He needed somewhere safe to hide his adopted daughter from his father." He tries to defend his ancestor but to no avail. "We can have a Malfoy family history lesson later but now we need to find a way to the staircase without Mitty or Gharther seeing us. Especially Gharther since he's my Mother's house-elf." He mutters.

"Okay," She whispers back before brandishing her wand.

"What are you doing?" He asks as she waves her wand at a chest down the end of the hallway.

Suddenly the chest starts shaking become more and more violent. He watches on confused as to what exactly her plan is. He hears the kitchen door open slowly and a squeak of a house-elf when they see the chest jumping about by itself.

"Gharther, Mitty sees master's father's chest moving." He hears Mitty call into the kitchen.

Gharther grumbles something as he walks shuffles closer to the chest. "Boggart." He announces and Mitty gasps.

"Mitty go wake master's mother," Mitty tells him heading up the stairs.

"Mitty, no. Gharther's mistress sleeping." He calls after her chasing her up the stairs.

Hermione grabs hold of his hand pulling him into the kitchens before the house-elves return.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Draco shakes his head.

"They're not the brightest creatures." Hermione mumbles glancing around the kitchen. "Where's this servants' staircase of yours then?" She questions quietly.

Draco shakes his head as he pulls her over to a door next to the oven. He opens it to reveal the pantry which confuses Hermione for a moment until he moves a curtain out of the way to show her the staircase leading up. They shut the pantry door behind them and move the curtain back into position so if the house-elves come into the pantry, they won't notice anything strange.

Its pitch black in the staircase but neither of them dare use 'Lumos' for fear of being caught. Thankfully the staircase is made from stone so they don't need to worry about the floorboards creaking but they do make sure they step quietly on each step. After a few minutes, they make it to the top of the staircase on the third floor.

Draco slowly glances around the door, not finding anything suspicious. Hermione slowly slots her hand into his which knocks him off guard but he figures she must just be scared. She found the Manor scary in the daytime and everything gets scarier at night so he squeezes her hand, reassuringly before they exit the staircase.

The third floor was where his Father worked before he was sent to Azkaban. There was a large office at the top of the main staircase, two large meeting rooms in the left wing and a large room dedicated to the practice of dark magic in the right wing. Since his Father was sentenced to Azkaban, nobody's been up here as far as he knows.

He guides Hermione from the left wing, where the servants' staircase brought them out at, to the right wing. They stop at the top of their main staircase to glance down the side of the bannister, a few candles on the second floor lighting the space.

However, when he glances down, he spots Gharther glancing up. He quickly jumps back hoping his Mother's house-elf didn't see him and if he did, he didn't recognise him.

"Mitty, Mitty, Gharther sees intruder on Master's floor." They hear Gharther whisper loudly to Mitty.

"Shit." Draco curses, holding onto Hermione's hand tighter as they run down the corridor towards the door that will open onto another staircase leading up to the attic.

He doesn't care how loud they're being. They've already been caught. They need to hide. Draco throws the door open, accidently letting it slam against the wall. He hopes it doesn't wake his Mother. He wandlessly closes it behind him with the mutter of a spell as he urges Hermione to run up the staircase before him.

"Where are we gonna hide?" She asks, urgently looking around.

"They don't know about the secret attic. They're not even allowed in this attic." He explains pointing over to the chimney breast.

"If they're not allowed in the attic, why are we even bothering to hide?" Hermione asks.

"In case they wake my Mother. She won't check the secret attic. Only her, my Father and I know about it and I don't think she'll expect me to be the intruder." He tells her as he takes his wand out and taps an 'M' into the bricks on the chimney breast.

He watches Hermione's face out of the corner of his eye as the bricks fold away, similar to that of alley way into Diagon Alley through The Leaky Cauldron. She looks amazed, excited and also terribly nervous. He motions for her to enter first once the bricks have stopped moving, which she does, walking straight into another large attic space full of banned, priceless or dangerous items. Some of them are all three.

Draco hears the bricks move back into place as they walk further into the secret attic. He takes a quick glance around and notices that not much has changed since he last came up here little over a year ago.

"What's under here?" Hermione asks, starting to lift the cover of a glass cabinet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warns her, taking the cover out of her hands and placing it back down.

"What's under there?" She asks, nervously curious.

"My Great-grandfather was not a good man." He simply states.

"He killed muggles just for their property, I kind of guessed her wasn't a good man." She stares at him pointedly.

He debates for a moment whether he should tell her more before deciding that she should know.

"He didn't see muggles as actual people so killing them was just a hunting game for him and like every other hunting game he went on, he would always come home with a trophy." Draco explains.

"So that's his trophy cabinet." She motions at the covered pieces of furniture.

"It's his muggle hunting trophy cabinet." He corrects her.

"What did he collect?" She asks, looking pale.

"I don't think you-" He starts but he's interrupted by Hermione asking again. "What did he collect?"

He awkwardly avoids her eyes as he mumbles, "Their skulls."

He hears her retch before she vomits on the floor. He looks over at her nervously as she waves her wand to clean up her mess.

"Their… their…" She mutters.

"I'm sorry Hermione." He steps forward to comfort her but she takes a step away from him, shaking her head.

"Where are the books?" She mutters, hugging her arms to herself.

"There's a bookshelf over in that corner, then a few piles of books near the chimney breast." He answers sadly.

He's annoyed with himself for having told Hermione the truth but he knows if she found out at a later date that he'd lied to her, she would be a lot angrier than she is now so he leaves her to calm down and heads over to the bookshelf, leaving Hermione to search through the piles of books.

After twenty minutes, his search hasn't turned anything up and he's only halfway through the books. He's found a few books on muggle torture, which makes him glad that he chose to search the bookshelf. He doesn't want to think about what would have happened if Hermione had found the books. He skims the rest of the books quickly finding nothing that suggest the contents would contain anything on the laws of a marriage decree.

He glances around the attic space, to see if there are any more piles of books, when he spots a wardrobe in the opposite corner, half covered with a sheet. He can't remember if he's ever looked in the wardrobe before so he lets curiosity take the better of him and he goes over to take a look.

Hermione's still feeling shaken from learning the truth about Draco's Great-grandfather and she's glad he stopped her from taking a peek from underneath the cover. She doesn't want to looks at a cabinet full of muggle skulls all lines up like trophies. She wonders if there's little plaques in front of each one, labelling the skull but she doesn't wonder long before she feels sick again.

She's searched through nearly every book in the piles and not one of them looked promising from the cover. She had had a quick flick through one book, entitled 'Lost Tenth Century Spells, Vol VI.' It had been written in 1476 which intrigued her since she rarely came across books that old. She might have to ask Draco if they can return to have a better look at some of the more interesting books.

She glances over to where Draco's searching the bookshelf to find him crouching on the floor, skimming the spines on the lower shelf. She closes the book she had been flicking through, placing it back on the pile before picking up the next book entitled 'Seventeenth Century Laws. Vol III."

Hermione's eyes widen as she re-reads the title. This might just be what they're looking for. She places the book in her bag and scans the rest of the books for Vol I and Vol II. She finds a Vol IV, which she also puts in her bag, when she hears the tell-tale sound of a cane making contact with a wooden floor then a loud crash.

She quickly turns around to see Draco scrambling on the floor, away from something. She follows his line of sight to see none other than Lucius Malfoy staring down his nose, disappointedly and disgusted at Draco.

"No, no, no." She hears Draco mutter over and over again as he shuffles away from his Father but the man carries on walking forward, cane hitting the floor with every other footstep.

Hermione doesn't quite understand what's happening. Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban. There's no way he can be here right now. Especially since Kingsley tightened security. He got rid of most of the Dementors placing Ministry Officials as guards. Each prison had at least one guard guarding their cell at any one time. Higher level prisoners, like Lucius Malfoy, permanently had two guards on duty outside his cell. So it's impossible for Lucius to be here right now and yet here he is, glaring down his nose at his own son who looks terrified. Where did he even come from? How long has he been hiding up here? Hermione wonders looking behind Lucius to find a half hidden wardrobe's door open.

Of course. Hermione thinks, running over to Draco. He must hear her as he glances over his shoulder at her, then scrambles to his feet in an attempt to keep her away from his Father. He wraps his arms around her, holding her tightly against him. She gets the feeling that it's less for her sake and more for his own.

"It's okay Draco." She tries to wriggle out of his grasp. "It's not him. He's not really here." She tells him, finally managing to break free from his arms and face Lucius Malfoy herself.

Suddenly the terrifying man disappears before turning into her own parents, stood smiling at her. She stares back at them confused. She isn't scared of her parents. Why are they here?

A few seconds later, her parents freeze, a look of excruciating pain on their face before they drop to the floor, silently screaming as they spasm in front of her. She feels tears prickling her eyes as she watches he parents become the victim of the cruciatus curse.

She closes her eyes tightly. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. She thinks over and over again until she feels Draco's comforting hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath, reaches into her bag for her wand then opens her eyes.

Glaring down at the still spasming bodies of her parents, she points her wand shakily at them and utters the word, "Riddikulus."

She watches as her Dad flips over and starts doing the worm, badly and her Mum jumps up to do the Macarena. She can't help but giggle quietly as her parent dance awfully to some unheard music.

Upon hearing her laughter, her parents disappear and the Boggart flies straight back into the wardrobe, doors slamming shut behind it. She continues to stare at the wardrobe for a few second before spinning around and wrapping her arms around an unsuspecting Draco and breaks down crying.

"That… w-was… te-terrifying." She cries onto his shoulder. She feels him gently and awkwardly pat her back to comfort her.

She doubts he's ever had to comfort a crying woman before but she doesn't care if she's making him uncomfortable right now, she just saw her parents under the cruciatus curse and it's even if it wasn't really them, it's not something she's ever going to forget.

"I want to leave." She whispers to Draco once she's calmed down.

He nods. "Alright." He mutters.

She gives him a quick squeeze before letting go and stepping away from him, slightly embarrassed.

"I just hope Mitty and Gharther aren't waiting outside the attic doors," Hermione mentions and to her surprise, Draco smirks back at her.

"I hope you don't think there's only one way out of here." He quirks an eyebrow at her before guiding her over towards what appears to be a brick wall.

Similar to what he did to the chimney breast, Hermione watches as Draco taps an 'M' onto the bricks and the wall folds away revealing yet another staircase. She wonders how many staircases the Manor has as they carefully and quietly make their way down them. This staircase ends up bringing them into a room that looks like a meeting room with a long, dark wooden table and around twenty chairs surrounding it. Draco leads her over to the door and peers out into the corridor.

"They're stood guard outside the door," Draco whispers back to her. "They'll probably be there until morning." He sighs closing the door again.

Hermione takes out her wand and waves it over her head. She shudders at the feeling of cold, gooey liquid running down her body before tapping Draco's head with her wand, casting the same charm.

"What are yo-" He starts to ask before shuddering himself, obviously not expecting the effect. "Why didn't I think to use the disillusionment charm?" He rhetorically asks looking down at himself as he blends into his surroundings. "Where are you?" He asks, looking through her as he glances around the room.

"Put your hand on the door handle." She tells him.

"Why?" He asks confused.

"Just do it." She rolls her eyes.

Then, hoping he's followed her instructions, she places her own hand on the door handle, on top of Draco's.

"Okay, I'm here. Now don't let go." She tells him, hoping he can't hear the worry in her voice.

The thought of her losing him in the manor and running into the house-elves or Narcissa by herself scares her. With Draco by her side, he fears shrink until it's just a worry.

"We should get going." He mutters, opening the door again.

They both walk out into the corridor, slowly in case they alert the house-elves to their whereabouts. They make it to the door leading to the servants' staircase without as much as a creaking floorboard to give them away. They haven't got long left before the charm wears off so they run, as quietly as possible, down the stone staircase into the pantry. Draco rearranges the curtain behind them to hide their tracks, then they exit into the kitchen, the corridor and then through the door.

Once they're in the open space of the gardens, surrounded by fresh air, Hermione takes a deep breath to steady her nerves. They did it. She can't believe they actually broke into the Manor and stole some books. She'd only been married to Draco for three days and already he had been a bad influence on her.

The charms still in effect and she had lost Draco's hand whilst escaping from the kitchen's so she's not sure where he is right then.

"Draco." She whispers but there's no answer. "Draco." She calls a little louder but still no reply. Did he make it out of the Manor? She wonders but doesn't have the guts to go back into the Manor without Draco by her side. Instead, she decides to head out of the gate, where she feels immensely safer, to wait for Draco.

After five minutes, she starts to worry. She's not sure what Narcissa would do if she catches Draco wandering around the Manor at this time of night when he's not even supposed to be living there anymore. She doesn't want to think about it. She looks down at her watch to check the time before she remembers she's practically invisible. She sighs and goes back to watching the gate for any movement.

A few minutes later, she notices her feet are becoming visible again. She jumps up from a large rock she had been sitting on and runs over to the gate. She peers through the bar, looking for Draco anywhere in the gardens but there's still no sign of him. She sighs again, looking down at herself to see her legs were slowly coming back. Not before long, her entire body is visible again. She leans against the bars of the gate to look for Draco again when she spots him over near a small outhouse.

"Draco!" She calls trying not to be too loud but he doesn't hear her, instead going inside the building.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she pushes the gate open again walking over to the outhouse where she follows Draco inside. Its pitch black but she daren't cast 'Lumos' in case someone from the Manor happens to glance out of the window and spot her beam of light. Instead, she knocks on the door. She hears the scuff of Draco's shoes as he stops dead in his tracks.

"Draco?" She whispers into space.

"Hermione! Where have you been?" He asks as he quickly walks towards her.

"I was waiting at the gate for you." She answers, turning to cast her eyes around the gardens and then the Manor's windows. She can't see anyone so, grabbing Draco's hand, they make a run for it.

They shut the gate behind them and set of running again down the lane. Hermione checks her watch. It's twenty to one. Hermione stifled a yawn as they came to the place they had disapparated to on the way here. She takes his hand and disapparates them back to the estate. She doesn't expect to see anyone walking around the estate at this hour but she spots someone walking down Epsilon Street, away from them. Quickly, they walk back to their house where Draco unlocks the door, letting them both in.

She doesn't bother taking her shoes off as she walks through the hall into the living room, then collapsing onto the couch. Closing her eyes, she thinks back over everything that had just happened as Draco drops down next to her.

"Unless you've taken your shoes off don't even think about putting your feet up on our coffee table." She warns him and she hears him kick his shoes off before putting them back up.

"I think I'm going to have to go back. I didn't finish looking through the bookshelf." He admits and Hermione sighs.

"I'd like to go back as well, there're a few books that looked interesting. I wouldn't mind giving them a read." She announces.

"Any books you want to read we can bring back here. Hide them in our attic." He tells her then sighs. "I'm off to bed. Are you coming?" He asks her standing up and stretching.

"Yeah, I'm shattered. I'd like to visit my grandparents tomorrow." She tells him as she rolls herself up off the couch. She hopes he asks to come with her since she wants to introduce him to them before the barbeque on Tuesday night.

"Oh, okay. I only need about an hour and a half for dinner. Do you mind if I accompany you?" He asks as they walk up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Not at all. I'd like to introduce you to them before the barbeque on Tuesday night anyway." She says sitting down on the bed to pull her shoes off.

"Who are you going to introduce me as?" He asks.

She looks up at him curiously as he goes about collecting his pyjama bottoms for under his pillow then taking his own shoes off.

"Well I'm not going to introduce you as my husband." She chuckles. "We've already told Derek that you're my fiancé we should just keep our story the same. Otherwise we'll just get caught up in a web of lies." She points out. "So we started dating in year ten and you proposed on our fourth anniversary." She simples says as she grabs her own pyjamas. "Also, the reason we didn't tell them is because you father hated me and if he found out he would have pulled you from school." She tells him.

"Well, that's not exactly a lie. My Father does hate you although if we had dated at Hogwarts he would have somehow convinced the Ministry that you were illegally using magic in the muggle world and gotten you expelled." Draco admits as he leaves the bedroom to go to the bathroom.

Hermione takes the opportunity to get dressed into her own pyjamas. She doesn't usually like charming her teeth clean but she's too tired to brush them properly. Once she's charmed her face clean as well, she climbs into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as she awaits Draco's return. When he comes back into the bedroom, he hangs his clothes back in the wardrobe then climbs into bed. Hermione wonders if he'd worn a shirt to bed the previous nights.

"Do you need my help with the cooking tomorrow?" She asks, hoping he doesn't since she needs to go visit Ron and make sure he's doing okay. She's starting to worry about him after this afternoon.

"No, I'd prefer it if you weren't in the kitchen. I like to cook alone." He tells her.

"Okay, I'll pop out for a few hours." She says, turning to face him.

"Where to?" He asks curiously.

"I need to make sure Ron's okay. I'm worried about him." She admits.

She hears Draco sigh, obviously annoyed. "He's a big boy Hermione, I'm sure he can look after himself." She can tell from the infliction of his voice that he's smirking.

"He's never drunk this much before or for this long. He just needs someone to talk some sense into him. Harry has about as much sense in him as Ron does and I don't think he'll listen to any of his family." She tries to explain to Draco.

"You can't always be there to help him. You've got your own future to think about. He'll be fine in the long run once he gets divorced." He says.

She feels Draco shuffling around as he turns to face her, although, in the dark, she can't see anything.

"I suppose you're right. Things will be easier for him once he's divorced Pansy although he'll still have a child with her. They're going to have to learn to be civil for their child's sake." She says. "Why don't you have a word with Pansy abou-" She starts.

"No, I'm not getting involved with her marriage." He tells her with a tone of finality so she drops it.

Nothing is said for a few minutes. Hermione listens to Draco's breathing as it gradually slows.

"Goodnight, Draco." She mutters assuming he's already asleep until he mumbles a "Goodnight," back. She smiles to herself as she slowly drifts off to sleep herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm wanting to make one of Hermione's cousins a wizard of a witch but I can't decide who.
> 
> Sophie: David's daughter. 8 years old. Her mum left her a month after birth. She loves reading, not afraid to speak her mind, very clever, idolises Hermione.
> 
> Lauren: Louise's daughter. 4 years old. Her mum was 17 when she gave birth to her. She's shipped off to Grandparents with her brother a lot so her mum can go out partying. She's confident, clever, very protective over her brother, quick at making friends, nervous around her mum and her boyfriend.
> 
> Craig: Louise's son. 3 years old. His mum was 18 when she gave birth to him. He's shipped off to his Grandparents with his sister a lot so his mum can go out partying. He's extremely shy and nervous around new people, loves his sister more than anyone else, struggles to make friends at nursery and is nervous around his mum and her boyfriend.
> 
> You have the personalities and backgrounds history of each cousin so please choose for me. Comment who you think.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 16 for you all. I know I said I would upload this chapter on the 21st but I was still on holiday (we decided to visit my grandad, who lives near Cornwall, for a few days) and I had no Wi-Fi.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco's awoken by his wand vibrating at exactly six minutes past five in the morning. He quickly cancels the charm he placed on his wand then sets it on his bedside table. 5:06am on the fifth day of the sixth month. He lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling. There was a time, during the last few months of the war, where he didn't think he would make it to this far but here he is. Alive and physically well. This time next year he'll most likely be expecting a child. He might not have chosen to get married to Hermione or even chosen to get married at all but the simple fact that he's getting a child out of this whole situation makes it all worthwhile. It's not as though he hates the situation as much as he first thought he would either. The more he gets to know Hermione, the more he enjoys being in her company.

He lies there wondering if his Mother will remember or if his father is lying in his cell thinking about him. He has no doubt in his mind that Mitty will make him a cake and Blaise will bring him something strange as a present. He knows Hermione doesn't know and he's not going to tell her. It's too late now.

An hour later he feels Hermione stir in the bed next to him. He rolls onto his side to face her when she opens her eyes and smiles at him. He offers her a small smile back.

"Morning." He greets her as she yawns then frowns at him.

"What time is it?" She asks glancing around their still dark bedroom.

"About quarter past six." He answers.

Hermione groans as she shuffles back down under the quilt. "Why are we awake this early?" She asks, completely disappearing underneath the covers.

"I've been awake for the last hour." He admits.

"You're crazy." She mumbles.

"I'm getting up." He tells her as he climbs out of bed.

"I'm going back to sleep." She grumbles from beneath the cover.

Draco smiles to himself as he grabs his dressing robe and heads downstairs for a slice of toast and a cup of tea. The Daily Prophet hasn't been delivered yet so he grabs the book he was reading yesterday and settles onto the couch. Once he's finished his breakfast, he washes up and heads back upstairs where he carefully opens the bedroom door so not to wake Hermione up. He successfully grabs his clothes for the day and makes his way into the bathroom where he takes a shower before getting dressed. He checks that Hermione is still asleep before he leaves the house, locking the front door behind him.

He's just about to exit the estate when he hears his name being called from behind him. He turns around to see Blaise running at him and has just enough time to steady himself before his friend throws himself into a bone crushing hug.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Blaise shouts at him.

"Blaise! Shut up!" Draco pushes him away.

"Luna and I got you some presents. Well, I got you two present, Luna hated them both so she got you her own present." Blaise chuckles.

"She didn't need to get me anything," Draco tells him.

"Of course, she didn't but she wanted to. Anyway, you'll have to come over to ours to get them." He tells him.

"Okay, I won't be over until late. I've got a few things I need to do today." He mentions.

"Where are you going now?" Blaise asks.

"Diagon Alley." He answers.

"I'll come with you. I need to buy some ice-cream." He announces.

"Why do need ice-cream?" He asks as they set off through the gate.

"We're having ice-cream for breakfast." Blaise laughs at something that Draco decides he doesn't want to know about.

The disapparate outside The Leaky Cauldron, where they always meet when they disapparate separately, then walk towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"So Draco, how does it feel to finally be nineteen?" Blaise asks.

"I feel thirty with everything that's happened the past five years." Draco jokes.

"What did Hermione get you?" He asks excitedly.

"What makes you think I told her?" He admits.

"Draco,-" Blaise starts.

"I don't want her to feel obligated to get me something." Draco interrupts.

"Okay," Blaise says awkwardly. "So what are you doing today?"

"I'm going to buy myself a new book, visit my Mother, cook Hermione and myself dinner then come to yours for my presents." He tells Blaise his plans for the day.

"Wow! What a great birthday you're going to have." Blaise sarcastically states.

Draco just rolls his eyes at his friend as they stop outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"I'll see you tonight then." Blaise gives him a quick hug before leaving.

Draco's never been one for hugging, preferring to keep himself to himself but for some reason, Blaise likes to hug him any chance he gets. Blaise often tells him he wasn't hugged enough as a child which is true. His family aren't really on for showing affection.

He's walking towards Flourish and Blotts when he notices a sign in Eeylops Owl Emporium's window. Curiously, he heads over to the window where a large cage is filled with around seven baby owls. The sign next to it reads 'Baby Owls – 50% off'. Draco stares at the baby owls in the cage. He does need a new owl since his father killed his after it had lost an important letter.

That reminds him, he wants to send a letter to Sally Lagan. Draco enters the shop. A bell rings above the door, announcing his arrival. A man, who was leaning over the counter reading a book, glances up but upon noticing who it slams his book close and stands tall.

"Mr Malfoy, what a pleasure to have you in our shop. Is there anything I can help you with sir?" The man asks exaggeratingly his politeness.

"I need to send a letter to America. Do you have any long distance owls?" He asks, walking up to the counter.

"Of course, sir. Do you have the letter on you?" He asks, looking Draco up and down.

Draco hadn't bothered to wear a jacket since it's a warm summer's morning.

"No, I need to write the letter. Do you have any parchment and a quill I could use?" He questions.

"Yes, sir. We do. One moment, sir." The man hurries to the back of the shop where Draco can hear him rummaging around in boxes before returning with a few pieces of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. "We have a counter over there if you wish to stay and write your letter." The man motions over to a counter near the baby owls.

"Thank you. I'll be a few minutes." Draco heads over to the counter where he proceeds to write the letter.

Once he's finished, he rolls up the parchment, ties it with a piece of string then charms it to only be opened by Sally Lagan or himself before going back over to the counter where the man was still stood to attention. Draco hands the parchment over to him then watches as he ties it to the leg of a large barn owl. The man feeds it a few food pellets before opening the window behind the counter and letting the owl fly off to its destination.

"Will that be all Mr Malfoy?" He asks, pressing some buttons on the till.

"No, how much are the baby owls in the window?" He asks motioning behind himself to the window.

"Oh, sir. You don't want one of those owls. They're only a few days old and need a lot of care and attention. I'm sure one of our older and trained owls will be more to your liking, sir." The man tells him.

"I assure you, sir, I am more than capable of giving a baby owl care and attention." He pauses to glare at the man. "I have asked you how much the baby owls are." He states and the man jumps before running around the edge of the counter and over to the window.

"They're all a galleon and five sickles except that one which is eight sickles. She's completely blind in both eyes." He mentions pointing to a baby snowy owl with black tipped feathers. The owl is huddled by itself at the side of the cage. All the other owls were huddled together, ignoring the blind one.

"I'll take the blind one," Draco announces surprising himself as well as the man.

"Are you sure, sir?" He asks.

"Of course, I'm sure." He snaps at the man who nods as he grabs the blind baby owl, who flinches and starts shivering in the man's hand.

"I'll take her," Draco tells him taking the owl out of his hand.

The baby owl chirps uncertainly as she pecks at his hand. He carefully strokes the top of her head with his forefinger as the man adds the price into the till.

"I'll need a cage and some food as well." He calls over, not taking his eyes off the beautiful creature in his hand which is currently nudging his finger with her head, trying to get him to stroke her again. He complies, watching as the owl flutters her wings excitedly.

The man opens the cage for him to place his owl inside. She hops around nervously before settling down on her perch and huddling in on herself with a quick flutter of her wings. Draco pays for everything then leaves the shop. He heads towards Flourish and Blotts where he enters to find Percy Weasley lounging on a chair behind the counter, reading a book. Unlike the man in Eeylops, Percy glances up, stares at him for a second before going back to his book. Draco ignores him as he climbs the stairs. He places the cage on one of the desks along with the bag of owl food as he browses the shelves.

After half an hour, he's got a pile of three books on the desk. 'The Political Relationship between the Wizarding World and the Muggle World', 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic' and 'How to Train your Owl.' He struggles to carry everything back downstairs. He just about manages to make it to the counter before he drops the books on the counter in front of Percy who puts his book down and starts pressing buttons on his till. Draco places the cage on the counter as he rummages around in his pocket for his coins.

"Who's this little guy?" He asks sticking his finger in the cage to stroke her.

"She's blind so be careful you don't scare her." He warns him as he hands over a few galleons.

"Oh, what's she called?" He asks handing Draco a bag with his new books inside.

"I don't know." He shrugs placing the food pellet bag inside his book bag. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow at The Burrow." He says with a nod before leaving.

He looks at his watch which tells him its quarter past eight and decides it's time to visit his Mother again. He needs to have a word with her so he makes his way to a dark alley behind a shop before disapparating to the gates of The Manor. He's about to open the front door when he remembers that he doesn't actually live here anymore so he knocks on the door and waits.

Gharther answers a few minutes later. His Mother's house-elf looks up at him for a second before his eyes widen in apparent understanding.

"Ma-Ma-Master Draco." He stutters.

"Shush." Draco urges Gharther to shut up. "Hermione is scared of my Mother and we needed to collect some things from the attic. Did you tell my Mother?" He asks.

Gharther shook his head. "Mitty think Gharther see Boggart." He answers.

"Good. We need to come back in a few days so we'd appreciate it if you don't tell her." Draco warns him with a glare.

"Gharther, who's at the door?" His Mother calls from the dining room.

Draco gives his Mother's house-elf glance before entering the Manor.

"It's just me, Mother." He calls back feeling the anger rise in his chest.

He places the cage and his bag down next to the door.

"Oh, Draco dear. Happy Birthday." She places her paper down on the table before standing up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Will you join me for breakfast?" She asks him motioning to the table.

Draco doesn't answer, instead glaring at his mother who takes her seat back at the table.

"What did you say to Hermione yesterday?" He asks, watching her face intently.

The corner of her lip twitches into a smirk for a split second before turning into an innocent smile. She looks up at him with her head turned confusingly to the side.

"Has she been telling tales about me, son?" She asks, letting the smirk onto her face. She lets out a laugh as she picks the paper up again. "I wouldn't listen to the likes of her, dear. The sooner you fulfil this decree the sooner it'll all be over and you can be happy." She tells him.

"What do you mean by that?" He glares at her.

His mother sighs as she places the paper back down on the table. "Draco, dear." She stands up. "You're my only child. Your father and I reply on you to carry on not only our name but our bloodline." She says as she walks towards him. "How do you expect to do that with that Mudblood?" She spits, making him flinch. "The easiest way out of this is to impregnate her, then cut all ties with her and her half-blooded spawn." She growls angrily. "I've already had a few owls from the sacred families, proposing an engagement between you and their daughters after the decree is has been fulfilled." She announces happily. "Mr Parkinson was the first but I turned him down. Pansy will already have a child with that blood traitor. We don't want that kind of blood in our family. Our best shot is with the Greengrass'."

"Daphne?" He questions with a frown.

"Of course not, Draco." She snaps at him. "Astoria. She's going into her seventh year at Hogwarts in September. She's the only untainted offer we've had and her father has offered the most." She smiles at him, raising her hand up to caress his cheek.

"Mother." He sighs, reaching up to place her hand over hers. "I'm not leaving Hermione." He tells her, throwing her hand away. "I'm going to be there for my child and help her raise them." He tells her, smirking at the look of horror on her face.

"Dr-Draco." She gasps. "You can't… you can't do this to your father and me." She shakes her head, hand over her chest. "What will he say when he finds out?" She mutters to herself.

"I don't care about Lucius. He's not allowed visitors or owls, so how do you expect him to find out?" He asks.

"When he get out he-" His mother starts to argue.

"In fourteen years?" He laughs. "He won't be able to do anything." He spits.

His mother lets out a sob that she tries to hide behind her hand.

"For your present, you can take anything you want from the attic." She stares at him with tears in her eyes and for a few moments, he wonders if she knows but before he can question her, she glides past him on her way out of the dining room and up the stairs.

He sighs deeply as he settles down onto one of the dining room chairs, burying his face in his hands until he hears a small squeak from the door and looks up to find Mitty carrying a small silver tray with a cover. He straightens himself up and smiles.

"Good morning, Mitty." He greets her and she runs up to him, carrying the tray and smiling a large gap-toothed smile.

"Happy birthday, Master. Mitty bake Master cake for birthday." She holds out the tray, taking the cover off to reveal a small chocolate cake.

"Thank you, Mitty." He takes the plate off her. "Could you please make me some pancakes for breakfast?" He asks.

"Yes, Master. Mitty go now." She runs off to the kitchen.

He picks up his mother's paper and reads it, trying to ignore any gossip about the partner ceremony or him and Hermione. Although, that seems to be all the Daily Prophet is about these days. He throws is back down when Mitty returns with a plate of pancakes, some fruit and sugar.

"Thank you, Mitty." He thanks her before digging into his breakfast.

He pours himself some pumpkin juice to wash down his pancakes. Once he's finished, he munches on a few leftover strawberries before starting on his chocolate cake. It's barely bigger than a cupcake but it's enough for him. He doesn't like too much sweet food.

Once he's finished, Draco leaves the dining room and makes to head upstairs towards the attic but he pauses for a moment to take his baby owl out of her cage. He places her on one of the shelves of the bookshelf in the secret attic as he begins to browse the other books on the shelf that he didn't get to last night. The owl chirps happily from her place above his head.

None of the other books look like they mention anything about a marriage law, although he did find a rather thick book labelled 'The Black's Family Tree'. He assumes it's his mother's, but that doesn't explain why it's hidden in their secret attic. Intrigued, he shrinks the book and pockets it before carrying on in his search of the attic. He lifts sheets to find old, antique furniture and more trophies, which makes him glad that Hermione isn't there with him right now. He collects his owl and moves over to the piles of books Hermione had been searching just in case she missed something. She hadn't.

Not wanting to leave empty-handed, he picks up a few history books about dark magic. He's sure Hermione will be interested in studying them even if she can't practise the magic. He exits the attics with his owl comfortable in his hands and places her back in her cage then leaves. He disapparates from the manor to the estate then makes his way straight to Blaise and Luna's house. He knocks on their door and waits for a few moments before Luna answers where a floaty yellow dress with a beaded belt.

"Happy Birthday, Draco!" She greets him excitedly pulling him into an awkward hug which he can't reciprocate since his hands are full but he gives her a small smile as a compromise.

"Thanks." He mutters placing the cage and his bag next to the door whilst he takes his shoes off.

"Draco!" Blaise calls as he comes bounding down the stairs then gives him a hug. "Come on in." He motions him into their living room.

When he enters he finds streamers, balloons and banners decorating the room.

"Blaise..?" He says questioningly.

"Yeah, so since you haven't told Hermione it's your birthday and I doubt you and your Mother celebrated very well, we thought we'd decorate a bit." He tells him motioning around the room. "Here." He announces as he attaches something to his head.

"What is this?" He asks, reaching up to feel a small, pointed house.

"A party hat. Now sit on your birthday throne." He motions to a stool that was wrapped in more streamers and had balloons attached to it.

"Okay?" He takes a seat on the stool cautiously.

"First, your card." Blaise hands him an envelope with 'Draco' written on it, obviously written by Luna since Blaise's handwriting was abysmal.

Carefully opening the envelope, he removes the card. On the front of the card was a picture of a broomstick flying through the clouds. In gold lettering, the words 'Happy Birthday' appeared in beautiful calligraphy at the top of the card. Opening it revealed Blaise's handwriting, which he had to focus hard on to make it legible.

Dearest Draco,

Happy 19th Birthday!

Enjoy!

Love, Blaise and Luna

xxx

Draco lets a small smile grace his lips as he re-read the card.

"Thank you." He looked up at them. "Both of you. You didn't need to do all this for me." He gestured around their living room.

"Don't be silly, Draco. If not your best friend then who would do this for you. We want to make your birthday special." Luna told him.

"Now for the best part," Blaise announces, jumping up and running over to the coffee table where Draco had already see a few bags. "Firstly, my presents." He thrust two large bags at him.

Draco took the large green bag first, unsure about what he'd find inside the sparkly, pink one with fur trimming. Peering inside the bag, he can't see anything due to the amount of green paper that had been stuffed into the bag. He removes the green paper to reveal something large, red and pointy. Gripping hold of the object, he pulls it out of the bag. He's not sure what he was expecting to see but a face staring back at him definitely wasn't it. Shocked, he stared at the face of a statue of a little man until it stuck its tongue out at him and blew a raspberry. He shoves the statue into Blaise's chest making the little man guffaw.

"What is that?" Draco questions glaring at the little man who continued to laugh at his dispense.

"It's a garden gnome." Blaise chuckles.

"That it not a garden gnome." Draco pointed at the statue.

"It's a muggle garden gnome. I charmed it to be more lifelike. He's stationary, so wherever you put him in your garden is where he'll stay but he likes to dance and tell jokes. Tell him a joke, Geoffrey." Blaise looks down at the gnome.

"You named him 'Geoffrey'?" Draco asks raising an eyebrow.

"No, he named himself." He explains lifting the gnome up to face Draco so Geoffrey could tell him a joke.

The gnome clears his throat. "What did the butcher say to the cow?" He asks with a croaky voice

Draco turns to roll his eyes at Blaise who giggles excitedly awaiting Geoffrey's answer. He turns back to face the gnome and shrugs.

"It's nice to meat you." Geoffrey answers then starts laughing uncontrollably at his own joke along with Blaise.

Turning to face Luna, who's holding his owl carefully in her hands. He hadn't even seen her get the owl out. She chuckles slightly. "Meat as in the by-product of an animal."

"Great, thanks, Blaise." He sighs sarcastically as he snatches the gnome out of Blaise's hands before it can tell another joke, then shoves it back into the bag.

"I love that little guy." Blaise chuckles as he hands Draco the larger, sparkly, pink bag.

"I'm not sure I want to open this one." He mentions, carefully moving the pink paper out of the way.

"Don't worry Draco, she's beautiful." Luna tries to reassure him but the use of a pronoun has the opposite effect.

He reaches inside the bag, cautiously. When he feels something plastic, he lets out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"It's a flamingo," Blaise announces before he can pull it all out.

Draco stares at the large, pink, plastic bird in his hand. "I can see that, Blaise." He mumbles turning the hopefully inanimate creature around in his hand.

"I tried charming her but she kept squawking." He shrugged disappointedly.

"Is she still charmed?" He glares at his best friend not in the mood for any more of his antics.

"Of course not, I took the charm off her. She'd probably wake the entire estate in the middle of the night." He laughs to himself.

Draco places the flamingo back into its bag then shoves it next to the gnome.

"Thanks, Blaise." He tells his best friend. "You shouldn't have." He flashes him a glare that tells him he really shouldn't have.

"Here, Draco." Luna hands him a small, light yellow bag. "Happy Birthday!" She tells him pulling him into a loose hug which he could now reciprocate.

"You really didn't have to get me anything, Luna." He tells her but she shakes her head with a smile.

He opens the bag a little more hopeful than the previous bags from Blaise but is just as confused when he pulls out what looks like a woven web with feathers dangling down.

"Thank you, Luna. It's… er… very pretty." He tells her holding it up from a piece of string at the top of the web, still unsure what exactly it is.

Luna seems to read it on his face as she takes it out of his hand, holding it up in the air.

"It's a dreamcatcher." She explains but it doesn't clear much confusion up. "It filters out the bad dreams allowing only the good to enter your subconscious mind." She clarifies further.

Draco takes the dreamcatcher back, staring at it for a moment. Does Luna know about his nightmares? Or does she just assume that after everything he's been through these last couple of years that he can't be cursed in his subconsciousness? Since he's never told anyone about the nightmares, he assumes it's the latter. He glances back up at Luna.

"You hang it exactly five feet above your head otherwise it won't work." She explains further and he simply nods his thanks, pulling her into another brief hug.

"Do you mind if I keep these here for a few days until I tell Hermione. I doubt she's going to believe I bought these things." He motions mainly to Blaise's gifts to him.

"Of course, just come get them whenever you want," Blaise tells him, patting him on the back.

Draco glances at his watch which reads half past eleven. He hadn't realised how late it had gotten. With another round of hugs and thanks, he bids his friends goodbye before leaving for his own house. The front door is still locked when he tries to open it with his finger, so with a deep sigh, he places the cage and the bags on the ground so he can rummage in his pocket for his keys then unlock the door. He opens the door wide listening for any sound that suggests that Hermione's awake. He doesn't hear anything so carries on with carrying everything inside the house. Dumping everything on their coffee table, he heads into the kitchen for a much-needed cup of tea.

Entering the kitchen, though, he notices the back door is slightly ajar. Taking his wand out, he creeps towards the door. He listens carefully for any noise coming from their garden but all he can hear is the light breeze and the distant chatter of people sitting outside the café on the green. He shuts the door, locking it, then silently walks back through the kitchen into the living room where he glances around to ensure that he hadn't missed anything suspicious upon entering. He hadn't.

With his wand pointing out in front of him, he climbs the stairs, one at a time. He glances at the nursery for a moment before opening the door slowly and glancing around the room. Nothing. He closes the door silently not wanting to announce his presence. Slowly, he creeps down the hall towards the bathroom, carefully not to make any noise. He reaches out for of the door handle, opening it quickly, hoping to scare any intruder that may be hiding within the room. But there's no one there. He checks behind the shower curtain to make sure before exiting, closing the door behind him.

There's only one room left. Their bedroom. If there is an intruder in the house then the only place left for them to be is in their bedroom. He doesn't know where Hermione is but he finds himself hoping she had gone to see Potter or the Weasel. Taking a deep breath, he places his hand on the bedroom door, pausing for a moment before throwing the door open and pointing his wand around the room.

When Hermione wakes for the second time that day, she finds the quilt and bed sheets sticking uncomfortably to her sweat covered body. She kicks the quilt off herself, lying spread eagle on their massive bed as she tries to cool down. She wonders what time it is and tries to open her eyes to glance at the clock but Draco must have opened the curtains because a strip of sunlight was currently lying perfectly across her eyes. She stays lying in bed until the strip of light moves and she can finally lift her head to look at the clock on the wall.

With a deep sigh, she lets her head drop back down onto the pillow. It's ten o'clock. She hates to sleep this late. It feels like such a waste of the day. Savouring the last moments of absolute comfort, she rolls out of bed pulling on her summer dressing gown before heading downstairs to find Draco. However, he's nowhere to be seen. She opens the back door to check the garden but finds nothing. She assumes he's gone out somewhere. She knows he doesn't need to tell her where he's going every time he leaves the house. They're entitled to their own privacy, but she can't help feeling upset that he didn't at least tell her he was leaving the house.

Grabbing a mug, she puts the kettle on then gets the milk out of the fridge and puts a couple slices of bread in the toaster as she waits for the kettle to boil. With her cup of tea in one hand and a plate of toast in her other, she heads out into the garden where she sits at their garden table to eat her breakfast in the midmorning sun, wrapped up in her dressing gown to shield herself from the cool breeze trapped within the five walls of the estate.

She lets her thoughts wander to her friends and how they're getting on with their marriages, then to the Ministry and what they're hiding and finally to the books she found in the attic of the Manor. Leaving her breakfast where it is, she heads back into the house to grab both of the books. She wishes she'd been able to find volume I and II but she's still glad she managed to find anything at all.

Opening the cover of volume III, she finds the beautifully cursive handwriting of Lucius Malfoy, which makes her shudder as goosebumps spread across her skin. She turns the next page to find a table of contents which seems a little too helpful. She'd been expecting to have to scan read the entire book searching for any reference to marriage laws, however, it's clearly written halfway down the second page of contents as 'Marriage Law (1632) – Pg. 153'

Taking a sip of tea, she turns the book to the page mentioned. She flicks through the pages to find the end of the chapter only to find that it's a relatively short one. Only seventeen pages. The first few pages are an introduction to the chapter and a couple of pictures that Hermione's not sure what they've got to do with marriage.

After reading through the chapter, she throws the book down, angrily, on the garden table. The entire chapter had talked about how much the man's father had to pay the woman's father in order for the marriage to take place and the rules of the marriage. Seven full pages were dedicated to an almost shopping list of qualities and the price of each one. Once calculated, the two respective fathers would be left with the woman's price.

Hermione had also found faint markings of ink, that someone had obviously tried to remove, in the margins of the book. After spending a few minutes trying to read the faded marking she realised it was the list of qualities and price of Narcissa. She assumes Draco's Grandfather had written this when trying to price up Narcissa for his son, Lucius and by the looks of it Narcissa's Father had gotten a good price.

At the time, she was a pure blooded witch aged twenty with two sisters, only one recorded squib in the family and her family were second highest on the social ladder (second to the Malfoy's themselves). Draco's grandfather had paid Narcissa's father seven hundred and fifty-five Galleons and nine Knuts, which, with a quick calculation, Hermione works out equates to around £3700, which is a lot of money.

The rest of the pages listed out rules for the marriage, which she noticed mostly started with 'Your wife must' or 'Your wife must not' with only a few starting with 'You must' or 'You must not'.

Glaring at the book from above her cup of tea, she's thankful that Draco doesn't seem to be care or be aware of these rules as her 'unladylike and un-matrimonial behaviour' would have already gotten her killed by either her husband or his father, which is why she's also grateful that Lucius is in Azkaban at the moment and doesn't have the ability to enforce the punishment.

She's brought out of her thoughts by a knock at their front door. For a second she wonders if Draco's forgotten his key before realising he can't have locked the door if he didn't have his keys, so she wraps herself up in her dressing gown, brings the books and her dirty dishes into the house before going to answer the door.

She's not sure who she was expecting to see at the front door but to find a smiling Goyle and an annoyed looking Megan stood next to him with her arms folded across her chest.

"Hi Megan, Gregory... can I help you with something?" She glances confusingly between them both, wondering why they're there.

"Is Draco in?" Gregory asks gruffly.

"Not at the moment." She answers, looking down at Megan who huffed.

"Just leave them with Hermione." She says looking up at Gregory. "Will you give Draco his present?" Megan asks motioning to a bag in Gregory's hand that she hadn't noticed.

"Of course." She takes the bag out of his hands, staring down at it curiously.

"Thanks, we'll see you at Isobel and William's on Wednesday night, right?" Megan's eyes were wide as though begging for her company.

"I'll have to see if Draco's got anything planned but I'm sure we'll be able to make it." She answers smiling at the relief in Megan's eyes.

"Great, they live at 17B. See you then." She flashes her a quick smile before walking off in the direction of the estate's gate with Gregory trailing behind her.

She shuts the door behind her, then stares curiously at the bag she'd been handed, taking a peek inside reveals a pale green envelope and a thin, pale green box. She tries to think about whether Draco had told her when his birthday was but she can't recall ever knowing. Evidentially, it's today. Feeling guilty, even though he hadn't told her it's his birthday, she quickly washes the dishes, puts the books away then runs upstairs to get ready. She doesn't know how much time she has before Draco returns but she'd like to go to the market and get him something for his birthday. She places his present of Gregory on their bed then heads into the bathroom.

Turning the shower on, she brushes her teeth whilst waiting for the water to run hot. Once she's showered, she wraps herself in a towel then goes into their bedroom where she grabs her wand and silently dries her hair into light waves. Opening her side of the wardrobe, she looks for a nice summery dress to wear, remembering that Draco's cooking for her tonight. She finds a pretty, blue, flowery dress and takes it out, laying it on the bed as she grabs her underwear.

She's just fastening her bra when the bedroom door explodes open. Hermione squeals grabbing her wand off the dressing table, pointing it at the intruder, only to find Draco stood with his own wand pointing at her in shock.

"What the hell are you doing?" She growls at him, her wand unwavering.

"I saw the… um… the back door open." He stumbles over his words as he awkwardly averts his eyes up to the ceiling, finally pocketing his wand. "I thought there was an intruder." He mutters still staring at the ceiling, half turning to leave the bedroom.

His behaviour confuses her for a moment before she catches a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and realises she's only dressed in her underwear. She gawps at herself for a second before grabbing the towel off the floor, where it had fallen, to cover herself.

Furiously blushing, she turns to face Draco, who's still staring up at the ceiling in an attempt to avert his eyes. Although she does catch his eyes flicker back to her for a split second.

"Draco, get out!" She shouts at him embarrassed.

"Yes, of course." He scrambles out the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind him.

Hermione takes a deep breath to calm herself as she perches on the edge of their bed. She can't believe Draco just saw her naked. 'Half-naked.' She reminds herself, thankful that she had been wearing her underwear. She doesn't want to think about him seeing her completely naked. Taking one more deep breath, she continues to dress, pulling on a pair of black, small heeled shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	17. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 17 for you all. I know it's a few days early but I'm going on holiday to London (31st August 2016 - 4th September 2016) to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, visit the studios and do some more touristy things so I thought this chapter is better two days early than four days late.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco runs down the stairs two at a time. He can't believe he just did that. She sounded rather angry when she told him to get out. _'Of course she's angry. You saw her naked.'_ He runs his hands through his hair exasperatedly as he paces the living room. His baby owls starts chirping nervously, obviously sensing his unnerving presence so he walking to the kitchen where he slams the back door, blaming it for the predicament he's in right now.

Gripping hold of the counter, he stares out over the garden trying to get the image of a half-naked Hermione out of his mind. She distracting him from his self-scalding. He hears the kitchen door open, announcing her arrival. He's not sure he can look at her right now without thinking about the body he had seen beneath.

"Draco?" She asks shyly.

Taking a shaky breath he turns around but he doesn't expect her to be stood so close to him or to be dressed so…

"Beautiful." He mutters under his breath. He blushes slightly, hoping she hadn't heard that but the small smile that graces her face tell him she did.

"You look very nice." He tells her, avoiding her eyes which he could feel boring into him. "I'm sorry." He adds. "I thought there was somebody in the house." He explains, finally managing to make eye contact.

"Let's just forget it ever happened." She stares pointedly into his eyes to which he nods. "Good, now maybe you could tell me why you didn't tell me it's your birthday today." She quirks her eyebrow at him.

"Who told you?" He sighs, waiting for an argument to start about him keeping secrets.

"Gregory came over with this for you." She brings a small bag out from behind her back, holding it out to him.

"Oh, right." He mumbles taking the bag, twitching slightly when their finger brushes against each other.

He looks in the bag taking out the card first which he opens. It simply says 'Happy Birthday. Gregory and Megan.' Goyle had never been a man of many words. He takes the rectangular box out next, giving it a little shake. Goyle had never been one for giving presents either so he assumes this was Megan's idea, which doesn't make much sense since he's never talked to her before.

He opens the lid to find a thin, cylindrical object. He's not entirely sure what it is but it's beautiful either way with the cylinder being mostly emerald green with the two tips and a ring in the middle being silver. Hermione leans over to take a look.

"It's beautiful." She mutters.

"What is it?" He wonders aloud, taking the object out of its box and turning it over in his hands to inspect.

"It's a fountain pen." She replies, taking it out of his hands.

He watches as she pulls at it and one-half comes away to reveal a nib like on a quill.

"It's like a muggle quill. The ink is held inside and you just refill it when it runs out." She tells him. "I'm assuming this was Megan's idea. I'd forgotten her mother's a muggle." She adds.

Draco takes the fountain pen back, clicks the lid into place and replaces it in the box.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks again.

"I didn't want you to feel obligated to get me a present just because we're married." He answers, avoiding her eyes as he replaces the card and presents from Gregory and Megan back into its bag.

"Draco!" She sighs, placing a hand on his shoulder, making him glance up at her. "That's not the only reason I'd have gotten you a present. I've gotten to know you over the past few days and whether you like it or not, I consider you a friend and friends get each other birthday presents." She raises her eyebrow.

Draco's lips deceive him in smiling at her when she'd declared him her friend.

"What?" She chuckles.

"I'd never have thought we'd ever be friends." He mentions heading into the living room.

Hermione laughs again. "You're right. After everything that happened at Hogwarts before the war, I'd have been surprised if we even talked to each other. Now look at us." She motioned between them both.

Draco nods. She's right. If it wasn't for the fact they had been paired together, he highly doubts he would have struck up a conversation with her unless absolutely necessary. He places the bag on the coffee table along with the other bags he had returned from Diagon alley with. It's then he remembers the little baby owl he bought. He spins around to face Hermione, blocking her view off the cage.

"I went to visit my Mother today." He mentions, watching intently as Hermione's face furrows into a frown. "Her present to me was permission to take any book from the attic. I had another look through the piles of books but couldn't find anything on marriage decrees or laws but I did find these book on dark magic I thought you might be interested in reading them." He mentions, producing the books from behind his back.

"Oh… er… thank you. Although, usually, you receive presents on your birthday, not give them." She chuckles.

"I also bought a few things for myself in Diagon Alley." He adds just as the baby owl chirps behind him.

Hermione frowns at him. "What did you buy?" She asks in a warning tone.

"Well actually, this one is more of a joint present for the both of us." He turns around to retrieve the owl from its perch in the cage.

He encases it in his hand before turning around. Hermione stares down at his hand. She looks rather nervous, leaning away slightly.

"What's in your hand, Draco?" She asks, taking a step back.

"I bought us an owl." He says opening his hand carefully to reveal the tiny baby owl.

She steps forward in awe, staring at the little creature. "He's so cute." She coos, reaching her hand out to ruffle the owl's feathers.

"She." Draco corrects. "Also, be careful, she's completely blind." He adds.

Hermione halts her hand just above the owls head.

"You bought a blind owl?" She asks giving him a confused stare.

"Yes, I thought you could name her." He tells her, taking hold of her hand and turning it palm up before placing the tin owl in her hand.

"Oh." She mutters as the baby owl shakes its feather's out then snuggles down into her palm for a nap.

He watches as Hermione gently strokes the top of the owl's head with her index finger before placing her gently back into her cage.

"Athena," Hermione announces as he rummages in his bags for the books he bought.

"What?" He asks as he pulls the books out then walks over to their bookshelf to add them to their collection.

"I think we should call her Athena." She explains.

Draco turns around to find her staring at the little owl, asleep in its cage.

"Athena." He says testing it out. "I think it suits her." He adds.

They both stand, staring at Athena for a few moments before Hermione turns to face him.

"What time will you be cooking dinner for?" She asks.

"It should be ready for around half six. Are you still going to visit Ron?" He asks a hint of venom in his voice that he hopes she didn't catch.

"Yes, I am but I'll go later. Right now I'd like to visit my grandparents. Are you still coming?" She asks.

Draco nods. "Of course. I'd need to meet them eventually." He points out to which Hermione nods.

"If we leave now, we can visit both of them and maybe visit my Uncle David. I'll go visit Ron whilst you're cooking. I don't think he'll take it well if you show up on his doorstep with me." She mentions.

Draco leaves a few food pellets in Athena's cage for her to snack on if she wakes up whilst they're gone. He ensures the back door is locked before leaving. Hermione looks the front door behind her placing the keys in her bag.

She glances around to check that they're alone before linking her arm with Draco's pulling him close enough to whisper into his ear. "I haven't had chance to tell you but I found two books on 'Seventeenth Century Laws'. It's only volume three and four but volume three does have a chapter on marriage laws but it's all about how much the groom's father has to pay the bride's father in order to marry and how we must behave whilst married. It's very outdated of course."

He feels her glare so glances down at her.

"Of course, it's outdated. It's a seventeenth-century law that probably hasn't been used for over one hundred years." He tells her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Actually, I think you're grandfather used the book to calculate the price of your Mother." She mentions.

"You don't need to worry, I'm not going to buy you off your father." He tells her making her roll her eyes and earning him a light shove to the shoulder as she unlinks their arms.

Draco finds himself missing the warmth and closeness of her as she steps away. He tugs his jacket further around himself as they come up to the gate.

"Wait a second." She grabs hold of his arm as he's about to exit the estate.

"What's wrong?" He asks, glancing around their surroundings but not finding anything threatening.

"Do you remember what I told you to tell my Grandad?" She asks, looking nervous.

Draco rolls his eyes. "I'm studying Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. We've been together for four years since… year ten?" He pauses for confirmation. Hermione nods so he carries on. "I proposed on our fourth year anniversary and we kept it a secret because my Father hates you but now we've left school we feel as though we can tell everyone." He quirks a questioning eyebrow, asking if he'd remembered everything.

"Great." She flashes him with a smile. "Let's go." She takes his hand pulling him out of the estate then disapparating away.

They apparate into the alley behind her parents' house, which seems to confuse Draco who glances around with a frown.

"I don't know anywhere safe to disapparate to near my Grandparents house. I'll ask my Dad if we can borrow the car." She mentions pulling him through the back gate into her parents' back garden.

Her Mum's stood at the kitchen sink and waves at them as they walk down the garden path. She waits for her Mum to take her rubber gloves off before giving her a tight hug.

"Hi Mum, where's Dad?" She asks.

"He's popped down to the shop for some milk. We ran out. What are you both doing here?" Her Mum looks between them both.

"We're going to visit Grandma Betty and Grandad Tom's, Uncle David's, and Grandma Emily's house. I thought it's time to introduce Draco to them before the barbeque on Tuesday." She explains.

"That'll be nice."

"Could we take the car? I don't know anywhere safe to apparate us." She explains giving her Mum hopeful looking eyes.

"Fine, the keys are on the table." She motions over to the kitchen table where they're lying in a bowl.

"Thanks, Mum." She kisses her cheek before grabbing the keys. "We'll bring it back at about half four-ish." She tells her as they leave the house.

Hermione presses the button, opening the car doors. She's just about to climb in when Draco calls her.

"Hermione, are you sure you know how to drive this?" He asks, eyeing it up and down.

"Yes, I passed my exams last summer." She rolls her eyes. "Just get in the car, Draco." She tells him when he still looks reluctant.

She climbs into the driver's seat, pulling her seatbelt on then placing the keys in the ignition.

"Seatbelt." She reminds him when he just sits in the passenger seat, knuckles white as he grips onto the seat.

"What?" He frowns turning to face her.

"Put your seatbelt on." She motions to the belt hanging near the door.

She watches as he stares at it before pulling it out and staring at it again.

"For Merlin's sake Draco, is this the first time you've been in a car." She asks rhetorically, leaning across Draco to grab the seatbelt then click it into place.

"No." He snips at her. "The Ministry sent one for my Father's trial." He adds.

"So it's only your second time in a car?" She asks in disbelief.

The only wizarding family she had gotten to know who had their own car were the Weasleys. Although, Mr Weasley does work in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and has a special interest in Muggles.

She starts the car and pulls out into the road. She starts to ask Draco something when he snaps at her to keep her focus on driving so they drive to her Grandma Betty and Grandad Tom's house in silence until she parks the car just outside their drive. She has to help Draco unbuckle his seatbelt after watching him struggle for a few seconds.

"Okay, remember everything I've told you to say and also my Grandma's loves hugging so be warned," Hermione tells him before nervously knocking on the front door.

They stand at the front door, waiting, for nearly a minute before it opens revealing not her Grandma or her Grandad but instead it's Lauren stood in her pyjamas still.

"Hermione!" She smiles excitedly throwing herself at her cousin.

"What are you doing answering the door, little miss?" Hermione asks picking her up, hugging her tight before carrying her into the house on her hip.

"Grandma and Grandad are in the shed." She shrugs her answer.

"Well next time, you need to go and get them." She explains. "Okay?" She asks.

"Okay." Lauren sighs deeply, wriggling in her grip, wanting to be put down. "Hermione, there's a boy at the door." She hides behind her looking at the front door.

"You can come in." She tells him and he enters the house, closing the door behind him. "This is Lauren." She motions behind her to the five-year-old hugging her leg.

She watches as Draco walks over to her then bends down onto his knees to look Lauren in the eye.

"Hello Lauren, Hermione's told me lots about you. It's nice to finally meet you." He tells her holding his hand out for her to shake.

Lauren giggles as she shakes Draco's hand then hides behind Hermione again.

"Is he your boyfriend, Hermione?" Lauren asks looking up at Hermione, a questioning sparkle in her eye.

"Yes, he is." She answers not wanting to tell her little cousin that they're engaged until they've told her grandparents. Lauren gets so excited she'll run off and tell her grandparents straight away.

"Ergh. I hate boys." She sticks her tongue out running out into the garden.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my grandparents." She tells Draco who's stood back up.

"Do we have to?" He mumbles making Hermione laugh.

"It'll be fine." She takes hold of his hand to comfort him as she guides him down the hall, through the kitchen and out the back garden into the garden.

She spots Craig playing in the playhouse their Grandad had made her when she was six. Just then her Grandma peeks her head out of the shed, raises an eyebrow then goes back inside. A few seconds later both her Grandma and Grandad came out of the shed, her Grandad cleaning his hands on an old dishtowel.

"Hermione!" Her Grandma pulls her into a hug. "What a lovely surprise?" She winks at her when she pulls away. "And who is this handsome young man you've brought with you?" She asks, glancing up and down at Draco.

"This is Draco Malfoy." Hermione introduces them.

"It's lovely to finally meet you." Draco greets them.

"Lauren said he's your boyfriend. Is that true?" Her Grandad stares at them both intently.

"Actually…" Hermione pauses to glance back at Draco who looks a lot paler than usual. She takes his hand in her again, giving it a little reassuring squeeze. "He's my fiancé." She announces nervously looking between her Grandma and Grandad, who are both staring at her, mouths agape.

"Your… your fiancé?" Her Grandma asks.

"Yes." She answers simply.

"Maybe we should all sit down with a nice cup of tea." Her Grandma suggests, rushing back into the kitchen.

Her Grandad stares at them both a second longer before following his wife.

"This is going terribly," Draco mutters as they head inside as well.

"It'll be fine. They're just a little shocked." She tells him, hoping she's right.

In the kitchen, they sit next to each other at the kitchen table as her Grandma makes a pot of tea and her Grandad washes his hand properly. Once they're all sat down with cups of tea in front of them, her Grandad finally speaks.

"We didn't even know you had a boyfriend, Hermione." He mentions, taking a sip from his cup of tea before wincing and adding another sugar cube to the cup.

"We didn't want anyone to know." She starts to explain but her Grandad cuts in.

"Are you embarrassed by him?" He glares at Draco.

"Not at all. I love him dearly." Hermione tells them, feeling Draco freeze for a second next to her. "Nobody knew until four days. We've been together for the past four year but we couldn't tell anyone at school because we were in rival houses and my friends hated him. Also, his Dad hates me but now we've left school, we finally feel as though we can be open about our relationship." She explains.

"That's a lot of hate there, Hermione." Her Grandad points out.

"I'm sorry, sir but I don't care about how other people feel about our relationship. What matters is how Hermione and I feel about each other and as she said, she loves me and I love her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Draco speaks up.

"Do your parents know?" Her Grandma asks looking at her.

"Yes, we told them on Wednesday after Draco proposed." Hermione answers.

"What about your parents, Draco?" Her Grandma turns to ask Draco.

"My Mother knows. We went over for dinner yesterday." He answers.

"What about your Dad?" She asks. "What does he think about all this?"

"My Father is no longer around and to be honest I don't care what he thinks anymore." Draco answers rather sharply.

Hermione squeezes his hand under the table to calm him.

"Sorry, I don't like to talk about my Father." He mentions before taking a sip of his cup of tea.

"How to do you plan to support my Granddaughter?" Her grandad asks.

Hermione feels Draco physically relax through their entwined hands.

"I come from a very wealthy family and have my own money which I have inherited from my Grandfather but I'm also planning on going to university to study chemistry." He announces.

From her seat, she smiles proudly at him. He did perfectly.

"What do you plan to do with a chemistry degree?" He asks next.

Without pause Draco answers, "I'm not quite sure yet but I've always been passionate about chemistry."

Her Grandad nods, obviously impressed by his answers.

"Grandma, Grandma, Grandma, can I have a biscuit?" Craig comes running into the kitchen.

"Of course, darling, but only two. I'll make you some lunch soon." Her Grandma answers retrieving the biscuit tin down from the top of the fridge.

Craig grabs two biscuits then turns to run back outside until he spots Draco where he proceeds to stare at him for a few seconds before running back outside.

"Is that Craig?" Draco leans over to whisper into her ear.

"Yeah, he's quite shy around new people." She explains.

"Would you like to stay for some lunch?" Her Grandma asks as she takes out a loaf of bread and some butter.

Hermione turns to Draco who shrugs slightly.

"We'd love to, thank you, Grandma." She answers. "I'll come help you." She announces.

"I could use a hand in the shed if you don't mind Draco." Her Grandad mentions as he stands at the door.

"Of course, sir." Draco drinks the rest of his tea then follow him outside.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he, dear?" Her Grandma points out as they both butter slices of bread.

"Grandma!" Hermione blushes deeply.

"Well, he is." She shrugs as they continue to make lunch.

Draco follows Hermione's Grandfather into the shed where there's a motorbike sat with a few tools around it. He hopes the man doesn't expect him to help him fix the vehicle.

"You know anything about motorbikes, son?" He asks taking him a bit off guard.

"No, I don't sir." He answers politely watch as he picks up one of the tools.

"You can stop all that 'sir' talk. Tom will do just fine." He tells him and he feels himself breath a lot easier.

He watches as Tom starts doing something to the motorbike with the tool he had in his hand.

"Can you pass me the spanner wrench?" Tom asks.

Draco stares at all the tools lying on the floor next to Tom, not having a clue which one is a spanner wrench.

"The one at the end." Tom motions vaguely to the end of the line of tools.

Draco picks up what he assumes is a spanner wrench and hands to him.

"Thanks, son." He goes back to the motorbike, almost ignoring Draco standing there. "So, Draco, you planning on having any children with my Hermione?" He asks.

"Oh… well… yes. We haven't really talked about it but I would like to have children at some point in the future." He answers feeling very awkward.

Before Tom can say anything else, there's a knock at the shed door. They both turn to find Lauren smiling sweetly up at her Grandfather with Craig hidden behind his big sister, who's only a few inches taller than him.

"Can Hermione's boyfriend come play with us?" She asks her grandfather who chuckles looking up at Draco.

"You need to ask him yourself" He tell his younger grandchildren.

"Please come play with us. We made you a cake." Lauren begs, pulling on his hand.

He looks nervously at Tom who nods at him so he allows himself to be dragged out of the shed by the little girl. She pulls him over to the small playhouse and pushes him inside. He has to bend over so far that he might have been better crawling into the house.

"You can sit on the chair in the corner." She tells him, pointing over to a tiny, pink chair and Draco does as he's told, sitting with his knees almost up to his chin.

"Would you like the Scooby Doo cup or the Powerpuff Girls cup?" Lauren asks holding up two cups.

Draco, not having a clue what a Scooby Doo or a Powerpuff girl is, let's Lauren pick for him.

"You can have Scooby Doo because it's got a dog on it." She tells him as she sets the cup down in front of him. "Craig can have the Powerpuff Girls cup. My favourite is the Teletubbies cup. Do you like the Teletubbies?" She asks him.

"I don't know what the Teletubbies are." He tells her making her gasps.

"Does your Mummy not let you watch them?" She asks.

Not really sure what she's talking about he just shakes his head and says, "No."

"We can watch one of my Teletubbies videos after lunch." She tells him excitedly.

"Okay." He tells her, smiling a little at how excited she is.

He watches as Lauren goes over to a small kettle on top of the counter and brings it over to the table where she pours nothing into three cups. She then sits down on the chair opposite him whilst they wait for Craig to bring over the cake, which turns out to be a pile of watered soil with a weed placed on top.

"It looks delicious, Craig," Draco tells the shy little boy who smiles down at his knees at the compliment. "Although I don't think we should eat too much of it because your Grandmother and Hermione are making us all some lunch." He suggests.

"Silly man, we not going to eat the cake." Lauren laughs. "We just pretend. Like this." She cuts a piece of the 'cake' then pretends to eat it, rubbing her belly and making 'mmm' noises. "You try." She hands him a plate with a small slice of 'cake' on it.

Draco picks up the piece of mud on his plate and pretends to nibble at it. "Mmm, this is delicious. The weed really adds to the flavour." He announces.

Both Lauren and Craig burst out laughing. He can't help but smile at them until there's a knock at the playhouse door. He looks up to find Hermione stood smiling at them.

"Lunch is ready." She announces. "Make sure you wash your hands before you eat." She calls after her little cousins as they run back to the house.

Draco struggles to escape the small playhouse. When he finally makes it out, much to the amusement of Hermione, he stretches his back out with a crack.

"I think they like you," Hermione tells them as they walk back to the house.

"Who, your grandparents or your cousins?" He asks.

She pauses for a moment before answering, "Both."

As Lauren promised, they all sit in the living room to eat their lunch, in front of a massive black box showing strange pictures.

"What is that?" Draco leans over to Hermione to whisper his question.

"Oh, it's called a television. It uses moving picture with sound to tell a story." She explains.

Draco nods but he doesn't really understand. He continues to watch as the colourful things on the screen run around the hills and play tighter. He assumes that since Hermione's Grandparents are staring in boredom at the television and the way Lauren and Craig are staring in awe that this television story is for children.

When the show finishes, Lauren jumps onto his lap and continues to bounce.

"Did you love it?" She asks.

"Yes, it was very entertaining. My favourite was the green one." He tells her.

"That's Dipsy. He's Craig's favourite too." She tells him excitedly.

Craig just nods from his place on his Grandmother's lap.

"My favourite is Po. I wanted to call my hamster Po but Mummy wouldn't let me. She made me call her Daphne from Scooby Doo but I don't like Daphne. I like Velma but Mummy doesn't." She tells him crossing her arms across her chest in a huff.

Her Grandma laughs as she stands up, carrying Craig on her hip. "I think it's time you kids got dressed and washed. Then we'll see if we can go to the play park." She announces.

Lauren jumps of Draco's lap, running out of the living room and up the stairs.

"I think we should get going too Grandad. We're going to visit Grandma Emily and Uncle David as well today." Hermione explains as she stands up, collecting the empty plates.

"Well we'll see you at David's on Tuesday for the barbeque, won't we?" He asks.

"Of course, I want to introduce Draco to Sharon. Will Aunt Louise be there?" Hermione asks sounding rather nonchalant as she placed the dishes into the sink.

Tom, who had followed them both into the kitchen, sighs deeply.

"I suppose your Mum told you Louise got back together with Darren." He sighs deeply.

"My Dad did but yeah, I heard." She sighs as well.

"I don't think she'll be at the barbecue and try not to say anything to your Grandma. She's trying to hold it together for the kids but I can tells it's tearing her apart watching our little girl ruin her life like this over and over again." Tom shakes his head as Hermione washes up.

Draco gets the feeling that he's intruding on a family issue and thankfully, Hermione's finished washing up and turns around. She gives her Grandfather a quick hug then they leave calling a quick goodbye to her Grandmother and cousins upstairs.

Draco climbs back into the car reluctantly as Hermione climbs into the driver's seat. He manages to fasten his own seatbelt this time.

"Who am I meeting next?" Draco asks nervously as he grips onto the side of his seat.

"My Uncle David only lives a few streets away so we'll visit him next and my cousin Sophie." She tells him then they go back to silence as she drives them the five minutes to her Uncle's house.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asks taking hold of his hand again.

Draco's not sure whether she's doing it to calm his nerves or her own but he doesn't mind since it works. He gives her a nod and she knocks on the door. A few seconds later a tall, thin man answers the door wearing a pair of glasses in his long messy hair.

"Hermione?" He looks confused. "I wasn't expecting to see you until Tuesday." He mentions as he looks suspicious between both Hermione, him and their entwined hands. "Come on in." He invites them in.

"I hope we weren't interrupting anything." She says as they enter the house and take their shoes off.

"Nothing interesting. I was just marking some year eight essays." He rubs his eyes tiredly.

"Where's Sophie?" She asks.

"Up in her room reading I think. It's all she ever does now. Not that I'm complaining, there's worse things she could be doing." He leads them into the kitchen. "Do you want to introduce me or are we going to skirt around the topic." He asks as he pops the kettle on and grabs three cups out of the cupboard.

"Of course, Uncle David this is Draco Malfoy." She introduces them. "My fiancé." She adds sounding nervous.

"Your what?" The man spins around dropping a cup on the floor. "Ah, shit." He curses as it shatters. "Your fiancé?" He questions as he fetches a broom from the cupboard to sweep up the mess.

"Yes." She answers.

"Are you pregnant?" He asks looking down at her stomach.

"No, we're not." Hermione snaps back.

"I didn't even know you had a boyfriend." He mentions as he grabs a new cup from the cupboard.

"Nobody did sir, we wanted to keep it a secret. There were a few issues regarding our friends and my Father but since we've left school, we feel as though we can finally be open about our relationship." He explains to her Uncle.

"What are these issues?" He asks curiously.

"We come from very different families. Our friends didn't particularly like each other and my father hated Hermione but he's no longer around and won't be for a while." He explains.

"Prison?" The man asks as he makes cups of teas for them.

"Yes." He answers unsure. He thinks he remembers Hermione using that word once to describe Azkaban.

"I won't ask." He tells him placing the cups on the kitchen table where they all take a seat. "Aren't you both a little young to be making these sort of decisions?" He asks.

"We're both nineteen, David." Hermione rolls her eyes. "We've been together for four years now and we love each other. If it puts your mind at rest, we're not planning on actually getting married until after university." She tells him.

"Ah, what are you study?" He turns to face Draco.

"Chemistry," Draco answers earning a smile from the man. "At Edinburgh University." He adds remembering what Hermione had told him.

"Of course." He shakes his head. "Are you going to get a flat together?" He questions.

"We've already got a house," Draco announces, earning himself a kick under the table.

David frowns at them. "You've already got a house together?" He asks.

Draco understands his mistake. He doubts many people his age can afford to buy houses.

"Yes, I come from a very wealthy family and my Grandfather left me quite a lot in inheritance a few years ago." He explains.

"We're just renting for a few months until University starts. Then we'll rent something up in Edinburgh until we graduate." Hermione explains.

"Well, you seem like a great fella. You've got my stamp of approval." He chuckles. "And you'll be coming here on Tuesday I hope." He adds.

"Of course, I can't wait to meet the whole family together." Draco answers.

"Hmm, did you hear about Louise?" David asks, turning to face Hermione.

"Yes, Dad and Grandad have told me. Dad thinks the kids are getting too much for Grandma and Grandad." She tells him.

"He's probably right but they'll never admit it. I've offered to take them on Saturday night if they're still there, give them a night off, and I think your parents are taking them on Sunday night then drop them off at Breakfast club on Monday." David tells them. "I bet you're regretting getting involved with this family." He chuckles.

"My family's not much better." He admits thinking about his great-grandfather.

"I'm curious. I love a bit of family history. I've been working our family tree recently. I've managed to trace the Adair's all the way back to 1598 when Karina Rowle married a Johnathan Adair. They had five children before she was drowned in 1612 during the Pendle Witch trials. The strange thing though is that Karina seems to have appeared out of nowhere. I'm thinking her Mother abandoned her to be raised in a workhouse."

Draco had learned all about the muggle witch-hunts in History of Magic with Professor Binns and the Professor had explained that no actual witches or wizards were killed during this time.

"Hermione!" He whispered as David went to get something from another room.

"Yes?" She asks, taking a sip from her cup.

"You know that the Rowle family are one of the sacred twenty-eight." He asks her.

"The what?" She asks, turning to face her.

"The sacred twenty-eight are a list of twenty-eight families considered to be the only wizarding families left to be truly pure-blooded. The Rowle family date back all the way to the seventh century." He explains.

"It doesn't mean anything." Hermione shakes her head, taking her cup to the sink.

"But what if y-" He starts but Hermione interrupts.

"Draco, leave it. It doesn't mean anything." She glares at him making him stop.

David comes back into the kitchen. "You don't need to wash that up. I'll do it later. Here I've got this book that mentions the Adair's. You know, we're related to Robert Adair the sergeant-surgeon to George III. It's all rather fascinating. Have you ever traced your family tree, Draco?" David asks him.

"My Mother's family has a tapestry with every family member in it since 1811." He says.

"Oooh, a tapestry. You must be wealthy." He laughs. "What about your Father's family?" He asks as Hermione looks at the book he had given her.

"My father refused to tell me anything about his family before his grandad and I never asked. There are certain things you never ask my father and his family is one of them. All I know is that my great-grandmother inherited a fortune from her father when he died and my great-grandfather, being an only child, inherited all the Malfoy money making them one of the wealthiest families in United Kingdom." He explains.

David raises his eyebrow suspiciously. "I'm surprised I haven't heard about the Malfoy's before if you're one of the wealthiest families in the United Kingdom." He mentions.

"My Father's a very secretive man. He liked to keep his family to himself." He told him.

"Hmm." David hums before turning back to Hermione. "You'll have to come and see the tree when I've finished. I need to track down the youngest of Karina's children, a son named William Adair." He offers.

"I'd love to. It sounds very fascinating." She tells him.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to kick you both out now. I promised the kids I'll have their essays marked by tomorrow." He ran his hand through his hair as he yawned.

"It was nice meeting you, Draco," David said shaking his hand.

"You too, David." He shook his hand back as they left the house.

"I'm sorry he was so inquisitive." Hermione apologises as they walk down to the car. "He's just very interested in family history. He's been working on our family tree for the past five years and keeps promising to let me see it once he's done but he keeps finding new family members. I doubt he'll ever be finished." She sighs as they climb back into the car. "Just my Grandma Emily left now. I'll warn you, she'll probably try and send us off with some money. Refuse it at least twice before accepting it." She tells him and he nods as they speed down the road towards her Grandma Emily's house.

Hermione's Grandma Emily is a lot older than he expected after visiting her other Grandparents. It's then that he remembers that Hermione had told him that she's eighty. When Hermione introduces him as her fiancé, she starts to cry then makes them a cup of tea and offering them a slice of cake. Draco thinks he's drunk more cups of tea today than he has on any other day in his life but he accepts politely. He sits on a small footstool and listens to Emily talk about her late husband, Ellis, and how much he reminded her of him then she talked about how she hoped she lived long enough to meet any little great-grandchildren in the future. As Hermione predicted, Emily tried to hand him a few coins which he declines twice before finally accepting.

On the drive back to Hermione's parents' house, he examined the coins curiously. When they arrived, Draco handed the coins over to Hermione, who asked her Mother to put them in the bank for her. They declined another cup of tea off Sarah and Chris, as Hermione heads upstairs to her bedroom to retrieve something she had forgotten. When she returned they disapparated back to the estate.

"I don't think I've ever had this many cups of teas before in my life." He mentions as they walk through the estate back to their house, where Draco proceeds to collapse on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 18 for you all. 
> 
> I'll be uploading on the 19th September because it's Hermione's Birthday.
> 
> OMG. CURSED CHILD. I cried 7 times because of how beautiful the set, the actors and the MAGIC was. The bit with the time turner. WOW. I absolutely loved it and plan on seeing it again with my sister but all ticket sold out. I hope they release some more but will have to wait until 2018. #keepthesecrets.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione falls onto the couch beside Draco and just sits there for a few minutes. Who would have thought visiting a few family members would be so tiring? She glances at her watch. It's only half three. She suddenly sits up, making Draco jump slightly as he watches her rummage around in her bag for a few seconds.

"Sit up, Draco." She tells him and with a sigh and a few groans he sits up. "Now, you didn't exactly give me much notice…" She flashes him a pointed look. "But I can't let your birthday go by without giving you anything."

"Hermione!" He sighs. "I told you, you didn't need-"

"I know, and I told you that you're my friend now and friends get friends present for their birthday." She interrupts him. "By the way, mine's the nineteenth of September." She adds.

"Here." She holds out the book she had retrieved from her bookshelf in her bedroom at her parent's house.

He stares at the book for a few moments before carefully taking the book out of hands and looking at the cover.

"Dracula?" He asks looking up at her.

"It's a muggle story about a vampire named Count Dracula. I thought it would be interesting for you to read about how muggles portray vampires." She explains.

"Thank you, Hermione." He tells her sincerely, making eye contact, before turning the book over in his hands to read the blurb.

Hermione watches as Draco goes back to lounging on the couch as he begins to read the book. They sit in comfortable silence for a while until four o'clock when Hermione stands up, announcing that she's going to visit Ron and will be back for dinner at half six. Draco mumbles confirmation that he heard her but doesn't glance up from the book.

Hermione's not entirely sure which house Ron's is but she knows it'll be in Epsilon Street since he's a Weasley. She hazards a guess at the fifth house from the end of the street and knocks on the door, however, George answers.

"Hermione?" He asks confused.

"Hi, George, sorry to intrude but I'm trying to find Ron." She explains.

"Oh, he's two doors that way. I'd be careful if I were you, he's not quite himself at the moment." George warns her.

"I know, it's why I'm trying to find him." She tells him before bidding him goodbye and walking two doors away.

She knocks on the door, hoping that Ron answers the door and not Pansy, thankfully Ron, who's looking very bleary-eyed, does open the door, still dressed in his pyjama bottoms and vest. He stares at her for a moment before opening the door wider and letting her in.

"Is Pansy not in?" She asks glancing around the living room, where there are multiple bottles lying around.

"No." He grunts as he flops down onto the couch, motioning for her to sit in the armchair.

"How are you doing, Ron?" She asks him as she perches on the edge of the armchair, which has a liquid stain on it.

He turns to glare at her. "How'd'ya fink am doin'?" He asks, leaning over to grab a nearly empty bottle of firewhiskey.

"I think you need to stop drinking, Ron," Hermione tells him snatching the bottle out of his hand.

"Hey, I need that." He calls after her as she walks towards the kitchen to pour it down the sink.

"No you don't, you just think you do." She shouts back to him.

"I can't even look at her without that, let alone fuck her." He spits at her when she re-enters the room.

"RONALD." She shouts at him. "You may not like her. I don't like her myself but that's no reason to treat her the way you do. She didn't ask to be married to be you. She just wants to fulfil this stupid marriage decree then divorce you." She tells him.

"Good 'cause I ain't stayin' marrid to 'er." He tells her.

"You don't have to. All you both need to do is have a child." She tells him as she takes her wand out.

"I know dat. She make it clear she want a divorce but we 'ave to wait until a baby is born cause it could be a squib cause we both pure-blood but she only child and I have six siblins." He tries to explain but he's not really making himself clear.

Hermione waves her wand, cleaning the living room, as Ron continues to mutter on about something. When she's done, she takes a seat in the, now clean, armchair before looking at Ron again.

"Right, you're going to take a shower." She tells him, standing up again.

"Wha's the point?" He tells her.

"When was the last time you showered?" She asks him not entirely sure she wants to know but he just shrugs in answer.

"Upstairs, now. You're going to shower and feel better for yourself. I'm going to cook you a bacon and egg sandwich and we're going to talk properly. Now go!" She tells him and he goes, although she's sure it due to the promise of a bacon and egg sandwich rather than a want to shower.

She waits until she hears the shower start before heading into Ron's kitchen, which is identical to hers, to start cooking. Opening the fridge, though, reveals a half empty carton of milk and some cheese. She checks the cupboards but they're all bare. With a defeated sigh, she quickly writes a note for Ron, leaving it on the counter, before she leaves through the backdoor and heads for the market.

The market is surprisingly busy so it takes her twenty minutes to buy bacon, eggs, a carton of milk, teabags, sugar, a carton of pumpkin juice and a loaf of bread. When she returns to Ron's house, he's sat at his kitchen table, fully dressed and hair brushed.

"I fought you'd left." He tells her.

"I left you a note, Ron." She motions to the counter but the note's not there.

"I know, but you said you be ten minutes." He grumbles looking down at the note in his hands.

"Ron, how long have you known me? When have I ever gone back on my word?" She rhetorically asks as she pulls out two frying pans and starts making Ron's bacon and egg sandwich.

She hears Ron grunt behind her but she ignores him until she's finished. She places the plate in front of him along with a glass of pumpkin juice. Hermione sits opposite him with her own cup of tea. Draco had been right, they've had more cups of teas today than in their life. She smiles to herself as she sips her cup.

"Fanks, 'Mione." He mumbles as he devours the sandwich and juice.

"You're welcome. Now we're going to talk." She tells him.

He groans, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Do we 'ave to?"

"Yes, we do. You're ruining your life with drink, Ron. It has to stop now before it gets out of hand. What's your child going to think because I can tell you now if this continues, Pansy will get sole custody and you won't be able to see them at all? Is that what you want?" She asks him.

"No." He grumbles, looking down at his hands.

"Look at me Ron. Do you think your Mum's going to be happy never seeing her grandchild?" She asks.

"No." He grumbles again.

"If you can't have sex with her without being drunk, then only drink when you plan on having sex with her."

Ron's about to interrupt her but she holds her hand up to stop him.

"The more times you have sex, the more likely you are to get her pregnant quicker. Then you never have to touch her again if you don't want to." She tells him.

"Of course I don't want to touch her. Have you seen her? She's a disgusting, Slytherin cow." He insults.

"Ron, stop it. You can't hold the fact that she's a Slytherin against her forever. None of us is in school anymore, our house no longer defines us as who we are." She tells him.

"You can't really fink that. You're married to Malfoy." He laughs.

"He's changed, Ron. I've told you before. He not the same man he used to be when his Father was around." She defends Draco.

Ron abruptly stands up, pointing his finger threatening at her. "He's brainwashed you." He tells her.

"I think I better go." Hermione stands up, walking towards the fronts door until Ron grabs her wrist.

"He's just using you for an heir. He's a pure-blooded, death eater. That's all they care about. Once his Father gets out, he'll go back to controlling him like he did before." Ron tries to tell her. "Runaway with me. We can hide in America. Raise a family of our own. We'll be happy."

"Ron, you might be happy with that life but I wouldn't and Draco was the one who helped put his Father away and he's been nothing but kind to me since the Partner Ceremony. Now let go of my arm." She yanked her arm out of Ron's hand then rushed out of his house, slamming the door behind her.

Draco continues to read the book Hermione had given him until he hears the clock upstairs strike five. Reluctantly, he places the book on the coffee table, heading into the kitchen to starts on dinner. Since it's his birthday and he's also proving his cooking abilities to Hermione, he decided to make his favourite dish, Spaghetti Bolognese.

Once it's all cooking, he grabs Dracula and sits at the kitchen table to read so he can keep an eye on the pans. He doesn't put it down again until Hermione returns home at quarter past six.

"How's Ron doing?" He asks out of politeness as he turns the heat off and waves his wand over the spaghetti pan to drain the water.

"Drunk and bad tempered." She answers, jumping up onto a counter. "It smells delicious, Draco." She compliment.

"Thanks." He smiles to himself. "Hasn't he always been bad tempered?" He asks as he splits the spaghetti between two bowls.

She huffs. "No. Well sometimes but only towards you." She admits.

"The feelings mutual." He grumbles.

"Don't you start, I've heard enough from Ron." She warns him.

"What's he done?" He asks as he pours the Bolognese sauce over the top of the spaghetti.

Hermione jumps down from the counter, grabs two glasses and fills them with water as Draco takes the bowls over to the kitchen table.

"He's just being his usual prejudice self towards Slytherin's. Their house was a mess and I don't think Ron had showered since the ceremony, I had to bribe him into the shower with a bacon and egg sandwich." She shakes her head as she brings the glasses of water over.

Draco feels the pang of jealousy in his stomach. "Did he mention Pansy?" He asks curiously as they start to eat.

"Only to insult her. I honestly don't know how they're going to make it through this. He said he can barely look at her without being drunk." She admits before taking a bite and moaning appreciatively. "This is amazing, Draco. You have to make this again." She tells him as she takes another bite.

"Thank you." He smiles to himself. "I think the best option for them is to just get pregnant as soon as possible." He says.

"That's what I told Ron. He's really not taking this well." She tells him. "He's not in the right frame of mind right now. He said a lot of things he wouldn't have said if he wasn't drunk."

"Did he insult you?" Draco placed his fork down to stare at Hermione.

"Not me." She answers vaguely, avoiding his eyes.

"He insulted me." He laughs. "What did he say?"

"I don't think-" She starts but he interrupts her.

"Tell me." He asks.

"Fine." She places her fork down, finally looking up into his eyes. "He told me that you've brainwashed me. That all you care about is getting an heir from me because you're a…" She pauses, looking down at their entwined hands.

"Because I'm a what?" He asks calmly.

"You're a pure-blooded... er… death eater." She whispers.

Draco's feels himself freeze. So that's how people still see him. Of course, it is, he hasn't exactly shown people that he has changed. A few people suspected as much when he helped send his Father to Azkaban but he hasn't been full of love and joy since then. His personality hasn't changed much just his views.

"Draco." She squeezes his hand making him look up at her. "You must know that I don't think that and I told Ron as much, he's just set in his ways."

Draco nods, picking his fork back, although he's lost his appetite, he tries to finish his dinner. Hermione must know he's not in the mood for talking because she doesn't say anything else but she keeps a tight hold of his hand until they're finished.

"I'll wash up." She tells him and he nods, grabbing Dracula and heading upstairs to lie on the bed.

He tries to get back into the book but he can't. There must be a part of Hermione that still thinks those things about him. She can't change her way of thinking that quickly. He rolls his left sleeve up to reveal his faded dark mark. It had faded almost overnight after the dark lord had died but it was still visible which is why he always wears long sleeve shirts or jackets. He avoids looking at it as much as possible but there's some times, like when he's showering or in bed, where he can't help but see it. He's managed to hide it from Hermione so far by wearing long sleeves ad covering it with a makeup charm in bed.

There's knock at the door, and before he can cover the mark completely, Hermione enters, stopping under the doorframe to stare at his arm. He quickly covers it. She walks around to her side of the bed, where she lies down facing him.

"Can I see it?" She asks making him turn to glare at her.

"Why would you want to see it?" He snaps.

"It's a part of who you are and you can't hide it from me forever." She tells him.

Reluctantly, he holds his left arm out to her. She sits up, taking his arm in her hand. He looks up at the ceiling, not wanting to see her expression when she sees it. He feels her carefully roll his sleeve up to his elbow, then there's nothing as she stares at it except the light touch of her fingers on his wrist. He's about to snatch his arm back when she lifts his wrist up, placing a gentle kiss on his dark mark. He turns to stare at her, confused as she drops his arm back down onto the bed.

"We both have parts of ourselves that we hate. You have your mark and I have my scar." She pulls back the sleeve of her cardigan to reveal her scarred skin. She then picks up his arm again to hold it next to hers. "These marks don't define who we are any more than our parents do, or our friends do, or our Hogwarts house does. What defines us, is who we are today and today you bought a blind owl, helped my grandad, played with my cousins and cooked us dinner. You've proven to me every day since we've been married that you've changed so don't doubt for a second that I agree with Ron or anyone else who can't see you for who you really are." She tells him, looking straight into his eyes.

Draco's proud to say that he's only ever cried a few times in his life and only twice in front of another person, but right now, with Hermione telling him what she really thinks, he doesn't think he can keep the tears from falling. Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Hermione, he clambers off the bed, running into the bathroom, which he locks behind him.

He leans against the sink as a few tears break free, falling down his cheeks. 'You're pathetic, Malfoy.' He tells himself as he stares at his reflection in the mirror. Hermione knocks on the bathroom door but he ignores her in favour of splashing water on his face, trying to stop the tears. What's wrong with him? There's another knock on the door.

"Draco, we both know I can easily unlock this door if you don't let me in." She warns him.

He dabs his face dry with a towel, checking his red-eyed reflection in the mirror before unlocking and opening the bathroom. Hermione's stood staring up at him and as soon as she sees him, she grabs hold of his hand, pulling him towards her where she wraps her arms around him in a hug.

Draco's never been much of a hugging person but with Hermione warm body pressed against his, he wraps her own arms around him, encasing her in a tight hug. They stay like this for a few minutes until Hermione backs away, keeping hold of his hand, pulling him back into the bedroom where they lie back down on the bed.

Hermione picks one of the dark magic books Draco had given her and starts to read it. He watches her for a few minutes before picking up Dracula again and starts reading where he left off. They stay like this until it gets too dark to read so they get changed for bed. This time, Draco doesn't use the makeup charm on his dark mark and Hermione notices when he climbs into bed. She takes his arm, carefully stroking her thumb over it before bidding him a goodnight and turning over to face the window.

Draco listens intently to Hermione's breathing as she falls asleep before he shuffles further down under the quilt and falls asleep himself.

Hermione wakes up to a start the next morning, although she's not sure what woke her up until she tries to turn around to see if whatever it was, woke Draco up as well and a tug pulls at her stomach. Confusingly, she feels under the quilt only to find Draco's hand gripping her stomach. She freezes at the thought that they've probably been cuddling most of the night. Carefully, trying not to wake him, she removes his hand from her stomach and rolls away, placing it in the space between them. Draco mumbles something in his sleep before turning over and falling deeper into sleep.

She smiles as she climbs out of bed, grabbing her dressing gown and heading downstairs where she feeds Athena, leaving the cage open for her to have a little fly around if she wishes. Hermione makes herself a slice of toast and a glass of pumpkin juice before lounging on the couch to read volume IV of Seventeenth Century Laws. Unfortunately, there's nothing else mentioned about marriage laws so she places it on the bookshelf and takes out a book Draco had bought himself yesterday, 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic'. She flips straight to 'The Department of Registrations' which was founded in 1443 after polyamorous marriages became popular and it was difficult to keep track of who were the blood parents of the children in these families. It was made mandatory to register the births and deaths of any family members and in order to marry, the multiple parties had to apply for a marriage certificate. In 1572, polyamorous marriages were almost unheard of but The Department of Registration stayed since they kept a census of the wizarding world.

"What are you reading?" Draco's voice asks from behind her.

She turns around to see him leaning over the couch in his pyjama bottoms with Athena fluttering around his head.

"About The Department of Registrations. They're the ones who grant couples marriage certificates. I was just wondering what their view is on The Marriage Decree. According to this book, the couple wishing to marry has to apply to The Department of Registration for their marriage certificate where they are required to have an interview with the leader of the marriage sub-department before they are granted permission to marry. It's been that way since 1443, so I doubt they were too happy about having to change the rules for The Marriage Decree." She tells him as he catches Athena in his hands, placing her back in her cage.

"Add it to the notebook." He suggests as he sits down in the armchair. "We're at the Burrow tonight, aren't we? Audrey might be able to clear a few things up for us." He points out

"Although she might not, she told Ginny and I that she works in the Ministry," Hermione told him.

"But Molly did say she was a walking conspiracy theory. If we let it slip that we're also doubting the legality of the Marriage Decree she might confide in us." He says, stifling a yawn.

"It's worth a try but I don't think we should tell her everything we know. Just in case she's tells someone at the Ministry." She tells him as he stands up, heading into their kitchen.

"Fine." A tired voice calls back. "Should we tell Percy? I heard him and Audrey debating about the Ministry at the reception." He asks coming back to the doorframe.

"I'm not sure." She thinks. "He's blinded by his hatred of the Ministry and the Minister. It goes far beyond the Marriage Decree." She points out, heading into the kitchen with her dirty plate and glass.

Draco simply nods as he butters his toast. "I need to visit Blaise again today to pick up my birthday presents. Do you wish to join me?" He asks making Hermione chuckle. "What?" He asks turning to face her with a frown.

"Nothing." She smiles at him as she finishes washing her dishes. "I do _wish_ to join you." She smiles as she leaves him in the kitchen and heads upstairs to get dressed.

Once she's ready, she goes back to reading the Dark Magic books Draco had brought her back from the Manor. Almost an hour later, Draco enters the living room after showering and dressing. Hermione glances up at him, ready to give him a talking to about taking so long when her breath catches in her throat. Draco's stood leaning, with a calm smile, against the door frame, wearing a tight pair of black trousers, a black shirt and tie with a dark green cardigan and black boots.

"Like what you see?" He asks, quirking up an eyebrow.

She lets out a breathy laugh, rolling her eyes. "You wish." She mutters, walking past him to the front door where she pulls on her knee-high, black boots.

Without meaning too, they had coordinated their outfits. Hermione was wearing a black, long-sleeved dress with a dark green floral pattern around the waist. She ignores Draco's knowing smile as they leave the house and set off for Blaise and Luna's.

Luna inches the door open a few moments after they had knocked looking rather nervous.

"Luna? Are you okay?" Hermione asks, feeling for her wand.

"Daddy awaits our arrival and yet our house has become infested with Figgons which have affected Blaise and me deeply." She sighs sadly.

"Figgons?" Draco asks confused.

"Yes, Draco. Figgons." She repeats. "Are you here to collect your presents?" She asks as she regains the sparkle in her eyes and opens the door a little wider.

"Yes, if you don't mind." He answers.

"Please wait here. I'd hate for you two to become affected too." She tells them before closing the door in their faces.

"I know I didn't necessarily pay attention in Hagrid's classes but I-" Draco starts but Hermione interrupts him with a scoff.

"That's an understatement. If you had paid attention, Buckbeak wouldn't have attacked you." She tells him.

"Ah, yes. The hippogriff. I'm sorry about… that whole ordeal." He apologises.

Hermione turns to stare at him for a moment. She had truly hated Draco back in their third year when Buckbeak had been sentenced to death but here he is, apologising and Hermione sends him a smile, having already forgiven him.

"It's fine. He didn't die so I'll forgive you." She reminds him.

"Yeah, I always thought it was rather suspicious how the hippogriff escaped just before his own execution." He thinks out loud.

Hermione hums in agreement, not wanting to give anything away but Draco must sense she's holding something because he turns to face her.

"What did you do?" He asks, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about Draco." She tries to smile innocently as she stares at the door, willing Luna to return.

"I know you're lying to me, Hermione." He tells her just as the door opens and Luna appears once more holding the bags out for Draco to take.

"I've cleansed them of the Figgons aroma so they'll be safe to enter your home. I must go now but Blaise and I will hopefully see you at Isobel and William's part on Wednesday night." She tells them before once again shutting the door in their face.

"What, in Merlin's name, are Figgons?" He asks as they turn to go back to their house.

"Who knows?" Hermione shrugs then proceed to explain about Luna's insistence on the existence of Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks as they head back to their own house to drop off the presents.

They end up apparating to the gate of the Burrow just after half eleven to find a very long table set outside in the garden, underneath an enormous gazeebo. They can see Molly through the kitchen window, busying herself with multiple pans and trays of food.

Draco stops nervously at the gate as Hermione pushes it open. Even though Mrs Weasley had invited him and been kind enough to him on Saturday, he didn't exactly feel welcome at The Burrow anymore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Potter and the Weasel are glaring at him from one of the windows near the top of the strangely mismatched house.

"Come on Draco, you'll be fine," Hermione tells him in the hopes of comforting him but it doesn't work.

Reluctantly, he follows Hermione down the garden path and towards the kitchen door, which has been thrown wide open. He pauses politely at the kitchen door until Hermione just walks straight in so he follows her in.

Mrs Weasley has her hair tied up in a messy bun as she waves her wand around the kitchen making pots stir themselves, pans take themselves out of the oven and glasses fill themselves up.

"Hi Molly, do you need any help?" Hermione offers in greeting.

"If you don't mind, you could take these plates out to the table. I don't have a clue where my children are, off gallivanting around the house I suppose. None of them has offered to help, of course, Harry did but then Ron arrived and stormed off upstairs so he went to calm him down. I think Ginny went to help. All of them are around somewhere. Except Charlie, of course, he had to get back to Romania. He'll be back for Christmas though." She rambles on until Hermione interrupts her.

"Will Arthur be joining us or has he been called into work?" Hermione asks as she waves her wand, levitating a few plates out the window and on to the table outside.

"Yes, he's in the garage with Bill and Fleur, trying to pass on some of his muggle rubbish." She frowns, shaking her head. "I been asking for years for him to get rid of it all. I didn't mean pawn it off to his son. Well as long as it's out of our house." She sighs. "Thank you, my dears, I won't bore you with any more chores." She tells them.

Hermione smiles as she pulls him into the living room, where they find Audrey and Percy in what appears to be another heated conversation. They stop as soon as they enter but Draco can see the glare Audrey is sending Percy behind his back.

"Hello, Hermione and D-raco." He glares at him. "How are you both?" He asks still glaring.

Draco glares back whilst Hermione says something until he hears his name and turns to Hermione.

"Sorry?" He asks.

"I was just saying how we've been getting along well." She gives him a pointed look that he translates to mean 'play nice' so he nods.

"Yes, very well." He answers. "Considering the circumstances." He adds glancing between Percy and Audrey who both seem to stiffen in their seats.

"And which circumstances would those be?" Audrey asks staring curiously at him.

"We've been forced into this marriage by the ministry. I know a lot of couples who are already planning their divorce." He states watching Audrey carefully for her reactions.

"Are you one of these couples?" She asks.

"No, we've gotten to know each other better over the past few days and I think we can actually make this work and raise our child together." Hermione answers, taking a seat on the opposite couch and pulling Draco down to her side.

"What I'm still not sure about is why the ministry felt the need to enforce the decree?" Draco asks aloud.

"Well, we did lose a lot of people in the war," Percy answers glaring at him.

"I know but we've never been an endangered species. I doubt a loss of 231 is going to make much of a difference when the population of the wizarding kind in the UK is just short of seven thousand people." Draco announces.

"If they really wanted to raise the population, why did they pair Ron and Pansy together? They're both purebloods. Don't purebloods have a higher rate of producing squib children? That won't help raise the population." Hermione states.

Draco catches a flicker of something in Audrey's eyes as she thinks about something but before he could ask her for her opinion on the matter, Weaslette enters the living room to tell them that lunch is ready.

Audrey and Percy leave first in silence, apparently thinking about what they had said.

"Do you think we were too obvious?" He asks her.

"No, but we've definitely given Audrey something to think about." She tells him as they head over to the table outside.

Arthur is already sat at the head of the table talking to Bill, who is sat next to him. Percy and Audrey have taken the seats on the other side of their father. Molly's hovering around the other end of the table, wanting everyone else to take a seat before she does. Weaslette is sat next to her mother with Potter and Weasel next to her leaving two seats opposite for Hermione and him. Draco decides to take the seat next to Molly so he's further away from the rest of the guests, leaving Hermione to sit next to George and his wife. He feels out of place sitting at a table full of Weasley's. He finds himself wishing Pansy had come just for a familiar face but he knew she wouldn't be caught dead with the Weasley clan.

"Now we're all sat down, let's begin," Molly announces and everyone makes a grab for some dinner.

Draco politely takes a small helping of each dish but ends up going back for seconds not long after. He catches Hermione smiling at him from the corner of his eye and turn to face her wondering what she's smiling at.

She leans towards his ear. "Are you enjoying it?" She whispers.

He sends her a quick smile. "Yes, Molly is an exceptional cook." He mutters back.

"I'd have to agree but it's nothing compared to your Spaghetti Bolognese from last night. You have to make that again soon." She tells him, making him blush slightly and go back to his dinner.

He listens to the conversations going on around him as he finishes his dinner. It isn't until he hears Potter mention his name that he focuses on a singles conversation.

"Since when do you call the ferret 'Draco'?" He hears the Weasel ask Potter.

"Since he got married to Hermione. He's part of our family now, whether you like it or not Ron. At least try and be civil with him." Potter tells him.

"I don't see why I should." He grumbles. "He's Malfoy. In case you forgot, he made our life a misery at Hogwarts."

"No he didn't, Ron and you know it. He might have bullied us but we always retaliated didn't we. We were just as bad as each other." He rolls his eyes.

It's strange for Draco to here Potter defending him against his best friend. Although, he supposes he's not doing it for his sake but for Hermione's sake but it's the thought that counts.

When everyone's finished with their dinner, Molly waves her wand and all the dishes and cutlery disappear leaving the table looking very bare. Nobody moves from their seats, instead, they carry on with their conversations. That is until Potter stands up.

"Who wants to play a little three on three Quidditch?" He asks the table.

He feels a sharp pain in his ribs and turns to find Hermione staring pointedly at him. He rolls his eyes then stands up himself.

"I'm in." He announces. "I'm not going to pass up the chance to beat you again, Potter." He adds with a smirk.

"Come on Draco, we've known each other for eight years. We're practically family now. I think you can call me Harry." He tells him.

"Fine, Harry."

"If he's playing then I am." Weasel stands up. "I'll be keeper."

"Looks like I'm a chaser then," George announces.

"Draco, I'll be your chaser." Angelina offers, smirking at her husband. "A little marital competition never hurt anyone. Ginny, are you in?" She asks.

"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out. I've eaten too much." She says, holding her stomach.

"It's been a while but I think I can still remember how to play," Bill announces, standing up and stretching his back. "What position do you play Draco?" He asks walking over to him.

"I was the Slytherin seeker for six years." He answers.

"Hmm, I dabbled as a keeper in my fourth, fifth and sixth year before deciding to concentrate on my NEWTs. Let's see if I've still got it. Although I warn you, it was thirteen years ago." Bill laughs.

"Come on then, Grandpa." Angelina jokes as they make their way to the Weasley's small Quidditch pitch.

Everyone else follows and takes a seat on the edge of the pitch as the six Quidditch plays choose their broomsticks from the Weasley broom shed. Draco chooses an old Cleansweep 7 that must be about ten years old now, the heads towards the opposite end of the pitch to Harry. Angelina and Bill follow and huddle around him await for their instructions.

"I assume you know what you're doing, Angelina. You were Gryffindor chaser for four years, weren't you?" He asks.

"Five years but yeah. I know what I'm doing. Try to score as many goals as possible and help Bill defend the goal."

"Great, I think we're ready." He turns to find Harry and his team already waiting for them in their positions.

Draco mounts his broom and sets of circling the pitch as they all wait for Arthur to release the balls. As soon as the balls are in the air, Angelina zooms straight for the Quaffle, catching it just before her husband. She flies professionally around George and Harry as then throws it at one of the hoops. Draco hears the spectators laugh as the Weasel tries to save it but it goes flying past his outstretched fingers.

The game carries on, Draco doesn't pay attention, desperately wanting to find the snitch before Harry. He hears Arthur announce the score as fifty to seventy to Harry's team. Just then Draco she's a glint of gold flashing past behind Harry's goal. Apparently, Angelina did too as she throws the Quaffle at him. He catches it clumsily not entirely sure what he's supposed to do with it until Angelina points at the goal and shouts go. He sets oFf quickly towards the goal, George tailing him. The Weasel glares at him determinedly. He lets his eyes drift to the goal to his left then swerves just as Ron makes a dive for the left hoop, throwing the Quaffle through the right hoop. He then swoops beneath the goal, hand outstretched ready to catch the snitch which is circling the goals. Just a few more inches and he'll have it. He can hear Harry catching up to him when the snitch abruptly changes course, flying off to Arthur, who stood at the edge of the pitch as referee. Draco levels his broom and flattens himself against the handle trying to pick up as much speed as possible. Harry's almost parallel with him as he reaches his hand out once more. He only needs a few more centimetres. Without really thinking, he throws himself at the snitch. He feels his fingers grasp around the golden ball then everything goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 19 for you all because it's HERMIONE'S BIRTHDAY!
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

* * *

She's up on her feet racing over to him. Harry, Bill, Angelina and George are already on the ground, crowding around him.

"Is he alright?" She asks as she tries to push her way through but Bill grabs hold of her, pulling her away.

"He's breathing but I don't think you want to see this." He tells her.

She tries to pull out of his grip but he's too strong. She assumes it's got something to do with his werewolf traits but doesn't think too much about it as she tries to catch a glimpse through the legs of everyone who's now crowding around him.

"Please Bill, I want to see him." She begs him but he picks her up, carrying her over to Ginny and Fleur who are stood in shock at the edge of the pitch.

"Take her inside. I'll go see what's happening." He orders them.

"Come on, 'ermione," Fleur says, ushering her inside with Ginny.

They sit her between then on the couch, holding onto her hands tightly in case she tries to escape.

"I should be out there with him. I know how to help him." She tries to convince Ginny and Fleur but they shake their heads.

"Bill weel return with noos soon," Fleur tells her, gently stroking her hair.

Suddenly, the living room door slams open to reveal Harry, whose shirt sleeves are covered in blood.

"Bill and Arthur are taking him to St. Mungo's." He explains.

"I need to be there with him." Hermione tries to jump up but Ginny and Fleur's grips still too strong. "Please, Harry." She begs, looking at him hopelessly.

Harry stares back at her for a moment before sighing deeply. "Fine, but I'm coming with you. He tells her.

"Thank you, Harry." She hugs him quickly when the girls let go of her arms

Harry takes hold of her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as they exit the house.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Molly asks him worriedly.

"Hermione need to be with him, Molly. I'm not letting her go by herself, though." He tells her as they carry on down the garden path to the gate where they can apparate freely together.

At St. Mungo's, there's people rushing around in every direction. They head towards the reception area where four people are sat filling out pieces of parchment or direction other visitors to different wards.

"Excuse me?" Harry asks one of the receptionists. "We're looking for Draco Malfoy. He was brought in a few minutes ago." He states.

"Let me just have a look, Mr Potter." She says before rifling through the tens of pieces of parchment on her desk. "I'm afraid Mr Malfoy was taken to the intensive care unit due to his head injuries. You'll have to wait in the intensive care waiting room with the two people who brought him in." She tells them.

Hermione sighs in annoyance. "I'm his wife. I want to see him." She demands, leaning over the counter but Harry drags her back.

"I'm sorry Mrs Malfoy but only healers are allowed into the unit. You will be told as soon as he is moved onto another ward. Meanwhile, if you'd like to wait in the intensive care waiting room, which is down that corridor and third door on the left." She smiles forcibly at her as Harry pulls her in the direction she had been pointing in.

"Come on Hermione." He urges her into the waiting room where Arthur and Bill are sat waiting.

"Harry, what did you bring her for?" Bill asks when they come through the door.

"She deserves to be here." He tells him, sitting her down onto one of the chairs but she doesn't stay sitting for long, preferring to pace the length of the room.

"Hermione dear, will you please sit down? You're making me dizzy." Arthur asks after fifteen minutes of her pacing.

"I'm sorry Arthur. I'm just so nervous. He must have lost a lot of blood if your sleeves are soaked through." She glances back at Harry's arms where the blood had dried.

"Ah, sorry Hermione. I forgot." Harry apologises taking his wand out a scorigifying his shirt.

"You boys and your stupid Quidditch rivalry. He's as stupid as you were in first year. Remember when you threw yourself off your broom and nearly swallowed the snitch." Hermione frowns as she continues to pace the room.

"How can I forget?" Harry mumbles. "I open at the close." He adds.

Hermione ignores him and begins to ramble on about Quidditch. "Then there was that time a bludger broke your arm and you spent the night regrowing your bones."

"That was Lockhart's fault." He says defensively. "I wonder if he's still here." He thinks aloud.

"Then you actually fell off your broom and fell fifty feet to the ground."

"That was the dementors," Harry told her.

"Well, I won't be letting any of my children play. I'm not letting them risk their lives for a stupid sport." She carried on.

"Do you really think Draco's going to let you ban them from Quidditch?" Harry chuckles.

"I don't care. They're not playing the damned sport. You've seen Viktor's face. He's broken his nose twice from bludger attacks." She continues to complain.

"Hermione, nobody's died from Quidditch in at least a century." Harry tries to comfort her.

"DIED!" She shouts turning to face Harry. "My children dying wasn't my main concern. I don't want them to get hurt. I hope to Godric that they inherit my hatred of flying." She tells him.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door before a man dressed in healing robes enters. He glances around the room at the four of them before looking at Hermione.

"Are you Mrs Malfoy?" He asks.

"Y-yes, I am," Hermione answers not wanting to correct him on the matter.

The healer smiles at her. "I'm Healer Matthew, I've been treating your husband in the intensive care unit. He's just been taken up to the seventh floor which is our head trauma floor." He explains.

"Is he awake?" Hermione asks nervously.

"Not yet but it shan't be long. Now, if you'd like to follow me, I'll take you up to his room and explain his injuries." Healer Matthew announces, opening the door for her.

She makes her way to the door only for Harry, Bill and Arthur jump out of their chairs ready to follow.

"I'm sorry sirs but I think it's best if just Mrs Malfoy comes with me right now. I'm sure she'll inform you when she's ready." Healer Matthew explains.

"I won't be long. I'll be back down once I've seen him." Hermione tells them before they leave.

Healer Matthew leads her towards the lifts where one is already waiting for them. He presses the button for the seventh floor and they ride up in silence. Hermione follows him down the corridor nervously, unsure of what is awaiting for her behind Draco's door. He stops outside a door with 'Draco Malfoy' written the board next to the door.

"Now, I need to warn you. Your husband hasn't been cleaned yet so his face his still bloodstained but don't worry. We've stopped the bleeding and he should be awake soon." He tells her before opening the door.

Hermione takes a deep breath before entering the room. There's a curtain pulled around Draco's bed so no one can peer through the windows. She hesitantly pulls the curtain back and gasps. She lets sob out as she runs over to his bedside. There's dried blood all down his face and in his hair. From his left eyebrow to his hairline there's a deep cut that's been stitched up. His hair around the cut has been shaven leaving him with a small bald spot that she knows he's going to hate. She gently brushes his hair back out of his face.

Healer Matthew clears his throat from the bottom of the bed. "He has a fractured skull and was suffering from internal bleeding on the brain which we've managed to stop. When he wakes up, we'll be able to give him a potion to fix the fracture. The stitches are just temporary. We don't like to cast too many charms whilst a patient is unconscious. He might have some memory loss when he wakes up but we won't expect that to last very long."

Hermione nods as she takes everything in. "Will the cut leave a scar?" She asks, knowing Draco cares about his looks and will want to know when he wakes up.

"We're hoping that it will fade to near invisible over time but he will have a scar for a while after. If that is all, I need to go and check on a few other patients. I'll be back for a check-up in an hour. If there's any change to his condition please pull that handle next to his bed and one of the healers on this floor will be of assistance." He tells her then bows before leaving her alone.

"Oh, Draco." She sighs, shaking her head as she runs her hand threw his hair. "What am I going to do with you? We've only been married five days and you've already nearly died on me." She chuckles. "You know, Percy told me at the reception party that he'd be surprised if one of us didn't end up dead before the year was over. I told him to have a little faith in me. Back then I didn't think I'd be seeing much of you but you haven't left my side, have you? You've really surprised me Draco." She mumbles squeezing his hand.

Suddenly, she feels him squeeze back.

"Draco! Draco?" She asks.

"Is my name Draco?" He asks, eyes still shut.

Hermione panics for a moment before remembering Healer Matthew said he might suffer from some memory loss.

"Yes, your name is Draco." She tells him.

He frowns then winces.

"I have a stupid name and my head hurts." He pouts.

"Well, I happen to like your name." She tells him which makes him smile.

"Why does my head hurt?" He grumbles shifting around in his bed.

"Lie still Draco." She places a hand on his thigh to still him. "Your head hurts because you crashed into a Quidditch goal post. You've got a long cut on your forehead. You're at St Mungo's hospital."

"I don't know what that means." He tells her.

"It doesn't matter. Can you open your eyes for me Draco?" She asks him.

He huffs before slowly blinking his eyes open. He stares at her for a few moments before smiling at her. She smiles back, not use to seeing one on his face but finding herself wishing he would smile more often.

"Wow." He mutters. "Did the healer send you?" He asks.

Hermione frowns not sure what he means. "I asked him to bring me to you." She tells him.

"Wow." He mutters again still staring at her. "I want to sit up." He starts fidgeting around again.

"I'm not sure if you're allowed to yet." She tells him, trying to still him again.

"I want to sit up." He tells her again starting to get agitated.

"Okay, okay, lie still for a moment and I'll help you." She sighs, giving up.

She perches herself on the edge of his bed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and helps pull him up into a sitting position. Draco wraps his arms around her back and sighs contently as she puffs his pillows up so he'll be more comfortable in his new position before helping him back down.

"There you go. Is that better?" She asks him.

He nods in reply, closing his eyes again as he leans his head back against the headboard. Hermione lets him rest, taking the opportunity to watch him. He looks so calm and peaceful without the weight of his memories on his shoulders. Suddenly, he starts coughing, clutching his throat.

"It hurts?" He croaks. "My throat." He complains, holding his neck as he starts coughing again.

"Here, have some water." She picks up an empty glass and augamentis water into it.

Carefully, she holds the glass to his lips. Draco clasps his hands around her own and tilts it back so he can drink.

"Thank you." He tells her letting go and leaning back again.

She feels his eyes watching her as she places the glass of water on the table at the bottom of his bed.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He mutters making her spin around.

"What?" She blushes.

"I said you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He repeats making her blush deepen.

Hermione shakes her head as she sits back down next to him. He reaches over and takes one of her hands in his own then closes his eyes with a content smile on his face. She watches him rest for a while until she hears soft snores.

There's a short rap at the door. She calls them in and is glad to see Harry and Bill enter the room.

"How's he doing, Hermione?" Bill asks, looking at the large cut on Draco's forehead.

"He's in a bit of pain and has some memory loss but the healer doesn't expect it to last too long." She explains, looking down at her husband.

"Has he woken up yet?" Harry asks, coming closer and perching on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, he's just gone back to sleep. Didn't even know his own name." She mutters.

"Really!" Bill exclaims, shocked.

"He'll be fine." She tells not only him but herself. "Where's Arthur?" She asks, realising he hadn't entered the room.

"He went to get some coffee from the café on the second floor," Bill tells her. "Actually, I should probably go find him so he knows where we are." He then leaves.

"You care about him, don't you?" Harry asks.

"Of course I do, Harry." She glares at him. "Is now the right time to talk about my feelings for him?" She asks rhetorically.

"Do you think you could love him?" He asks.

"Harry!" She warns him.

"Please, Hermione?" He asks her.

She stares at him for a moment. Would he hate her as much as he hates Draco? Although he has been trying really hard to be civil with Draco. They've been almost friendly. Maybe, he'll accept Draco even more if he knew that he she could.

"Yes, I feel as though I will fall in love with him." She admits to Harry who, to her surprise, smiles back at her.

"I never thought Malfoy would end up being one of the family." He chuckles. "I want you to know that Ginny and I will always be here for you even if nobody else is." He adds seriously.

"You mean Ron, don't you?" She sighs. "I'm worried about him Harry. He's drinking too much, not showering or eating properly. He can't rely on his family and us to take care of him forever." She admits to Harry.

"I know but we need to be there for him in case he does need our help." He tells her.

"I went to see him yesterday. I had to bribe him to take a shower and then I cleaned his house and made him a bacon sandwich. Can you imagine him being a father right now" She asks him.

Harry shakes his head. "He'll grow up when he's got a child on the way. He'll realise that he need to sort his priorities out." Harry says rather hopefully.

Hermione chuckles. "When did you become so wise?"

Harry looks as though he wants to say something but before he can there's another knock on the door before Bill returns with his Dad. Arthur's got two cups of coffee in his hands whilst Bill's holding another two. Arthur passes one of his to Hermione who takes it gratefully.

"I'm going to head back to Molly in a minute. I'll let her know how he's doing. She'll be worried sick." He announces.

"Why don't you all head back?" She tells him. "I don't want him to be too crowded when he wakes up again. Especially with his memory loss." She explains.

"Are you sure 'mione?" Harry asks.

"Yes, I'll send word if anything changes." She promises them.

They all stand up and give her a hug before leaving and sending the room into silence. She looks back down at Draco to find his eyes already on her.

"Wow, who are you?" He asks.

"I'm Hermione." She answers a little hurt that he can't remember her.

"That's a pretty name for the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He half smirks, half smiles at her.

"You need to stop calling me that." She tells him, puffing his pillows up a bit as he blushes again.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Hermione?" He asks her making her smile.

"I'm married." She tells him, chuckling when his face falls. "To you. I'm your wife." She adds.

She laughs again when Draco just stares at her in shock. "Y-you're my wife?" He asks in disbelief.

She nods her answer not trusting herself to not laugh if she tries to speak.

"How long have we been married?" He asks, still in shock. "Do we have any children?" He adds, a twinkle in his eyes.

"No Draco, we've only been married five days." She tells him.

Draco groans, throwing his head back against the headboard. "Why did we wait so long?" He asks, staring up at the ceiling.

"Well, we didn't want to get married, the Ministry made us." She tells him.

"I can't imagine me not wanting to marry you. Do you not love me?" He looks at her again, his eyes watery.

"Draco," She sighs, reaching over to push his hair out of his eyes. "I don't know you well enough yet but I'm sure given time, we will love each other." She tells him.

He stares at her for a moment before smiling. "Have we kissed yet?" He asks.

"No Draco, we haven't." She laughs.

"Why not?" He asks with a pout.

"We don't know each other well enough yet." She tells him.

"Did we meet each other five days ago?" He questions curiously.

"We've known each other about nine years." She answers making him gape.

"And I didn't ask you out." He mutters to himself.

"We hated each other back then." She explains.

There's a knock at the door before Draco can ask another question. He calls for whoever it is to enter and Hermione is more than surprised to find Ron enter the room.

"Dad said he was still unconscious." He states glaring at Draco out the corner of his eyes.

"Do I know him?" He whispers quite loudly to her.

"Yes." She answers before looking back over at Ron.

"Hello, it's nice of you to come visit me in the hospital. Did you bring me some grapes?" He asks smiling at Ron which is slightly unnerving.

Ron scowls at him for a few seconds before looking back at Hermione. "What's wrong with him?" He asks bluntly.

"He's suffering from some memory loss due to the hit to his head." She explains.

"Have you met my wife? She's the prettiest girl I've ever met." Draco announces.

"Draco, be quiet for a moment whilst I talk to Ron." She tells him before leading Ron to the other side of the room, pulling the curtain's around his bed so he can't see them.

"What are you doing here Ron? You don't care about Draco." She asks him pointedly in a quiet manner so Draco can't hear.

"I wanted to speak to you about what I said last night." He says a little too loudly.

"Have you come to apologise?" She asks quietly.

"Apologise! What do I need to apologise for?" He asks, raising his voice.

"Will you be quiet Ron, I don't want Draco to hear." She scolds him.

"Come on Hermione. You've got nothing with him." He motions in the direction of Draco. "Are you really giving up on everything we had?" He asks her.

Hermione sighs, running her hands through her hair. "Ron, we didn't have anything. We kissed once then we went back to being friends again. You treated me no different after that kiss to how you treated me before." She tries to quietly shout at him.

"But... I love you." He tells her. "Just come with me to America and we'll be happy together."

"No Ron, you'll be happy." She raises her voice to him. She takes a moment to calm down before whispering. "I'm sorry Ron but I don't love you. At least not in the way you want me to. I love you in the way I love Harry and Ginny."

"So you'll pick that Death Eater over me?" He scoffs.

Without thinking, Hermione slaps him across the cheek. Ron stares at her in shock, holding his hand to his cheek.

"Am I really a Death Eater?" A voice comes from behind her.

She turns to find Draco stood peeking through the curtains.

"Draco, you shouldn't be standing." She rushes to his side.

"Just check your arm, ferret." Ron spits from behind her but she ignores him.

Draco rolls both his sleeves up then glares at the dark mark on his left arm.

"I am Death Eater." He states disappointedly.

"Not anymore, you're not." She sits him back on his bed the perches on the edge, looking him straight in the eye. "Do you remember what I told you last night?"

He shakes his head.

"You will when you get your memory back. If you were still a Death Eater I would rather have gone to Azkaban than marry you." She tells him truthfully.

"And we're married?" He asks for confirmation.

"Yes, we are." She smiles at him which seems to calm him down. He lays back against the headboard, closing his eyes.

"You don't love him, 'Mione," Ron tells her from the end of his bed.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't feel." She tells him, not taking her eyes off Draco. "You need to leave, Ron. You need to leave now." She tells him calmly, standing up to face Ron again.

"Fine, but don't expect me to come running back to you when you finally decide you want me back. Enjoy being a Death Eater's slut." He shouts as he leaves, throwing the door open so it bangs against the wall.

"I hate you Ron. I hate you, so much." She yells after him, not able to stop the tears from pouring down her face.

She watches as Ron storms down the corridor towards the lifts. A few patients, visitors and healers are peeking their heads around their doors to see what's going on. She turns around to storm back into Draco's room, only to walk straight into Healer Matthew.

"Are you alright, Mrs Malfoy?" He asks her, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine. Draco's woken up but I think he's just gone back to sleep." She tells him, drying her tears on her sleeve.

"I'll wake him up to give him his potions then he'll be free to sleep as long as he wants." He tells her. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asks again.

Hermione nods as she enters the room where Draco has gone back to sleep. Healer Matthew taps his wand on his forehead to wake him up. He looks a little confused, to begin with but once he sees Hermione sat next to him, he relaxes.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy, my name is Healer Matthew. It's good to have you with us. I've got some potions here for you to take. Here, this one with help with the pain." He hands Draco a small goblet of yellow liquid which he drinks in one gulp. "Now this one is to help heal that nasty cut you've got on your forehead." He hands Draco a small goblet of Silver liquid which he drinks with a wince. "I know, that one's not very nice. I think it's the frogs liver. Now this one, I'm afraid, is the worse one. It'll heal the fracture in your skull. It will hurt but the pain relief potion should help to ease it slightly. We'll need to keep you here overnight but we should be able to discharge you in the morning as long as your memory has returned. This potion is going to make you fall asleep so you might want to say goodbye to your wife so she can go home and rest before coming to pick you up in the morning." Healer Matthew announces, stepping back behind the curtain to give them some privacy.

"I'll be back as early as possible in the morning. You just rest and take your potions." She tells him, brushing his hair out of his face once more.

"I want it down." He tells her. "It hides the cut." He mutters.

She chuckles slightly, shaking her head. "I'll see you in the morning." She tells him again before moving aside for Healer Matthew to come back in.

She watches Draco take his potion and then lie back down in his bed. She stands over him, holding his hand as his eyes flutter shut and he's in a deep sleep. She releases her hand from his grip then steps outside where she finds Healer Matthew stood waiting.

"I need you to fill a few parchment forms out, Mrs Malfoy. Could you come to my office please?" He asks.

Hermione nods then follows him to an office at the end of the corridor.

"We'll start with the easiest form. You need to sign this to claim ownership of his possessions so you can take them with you now." Healer Matthew tells her as he pushes a piece of parchment towards her.

Hermione skims the words for the list of possessions he had on him. A small sack of coins, his wand, a small package of owl pellets and the snitch.

"He had the snitch with him still?" She asks as she signs the parchment.

"Yes, we had to prise it out of his hand. Did he at least win the match?" Healer Matthew asks curiously.

"Yes, it was two hundred and ten to seventy." She shakes her head thinking something about wizards and their obsessions with Quidditch.

"You also need to fill this one out with Mr Malfoy's vault number so we can charge him for his treatment." He passes the second piece of parchment over.

Hermione hesitates for a moment. She doesn't know what number Draco's vault is so she writes her own down instead. She'd been given a large sum of compensation from the Ministry of Magic for her work with helping bring Voldemort down. She'd thrown it into her vault and tried to forget it was there. At least it would have some use now. She passes the parchment back and awaits the next parchment.

"Great, this is the last one. It's just to say that you'll be the one to collect him from us when he's ready to be discharged, which we hope will be tomorrow morning." He slides the last parchment towards her and she signs it.

"Here's his possessions." He passes her a bag with the four items he had on him. "We've kept his clothes and they've been washed so he can wear them tomorrow. I think that's everything so we'll look forward to seeing you in the morning, Mrs Malfoy." He opens the door for her to leave.

"Thank you for everything, Healer Matthew." She thanks him before she leaves and heads towards the lifts.

She finds herself stood in St Mungo's disapparation area unsure of where she wants to go. She doesn't want to go home without Draco and Athena was fed before they left so there's no need for her to go home until tomorrow morning with Draco. She doesn't want to go back to the Burrow in case Ron's there. She doesn't want to see him at all for the foreseeable future. The only place left is her parents' house.

She turns on the spot and disapparates to the alley behind her parents' house. She burst through the back door to find her parents sat staring at her with their dinner on the kitchen table. Upon seeing her parents, the tears start again.

Her mum is instantly on her feet, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hermione, dear. What's wrong? Come sit down in the living room." She guides her through the hall and onto the couch in the next room.

"If that boy's hurt you, I'll kill him." Her Dad threatens, following them in.

She shakes her head unable to control her tears. She buries her head into her mum's chest and just hugs her. Her mum strokes her hair as she hugs her back unsure of what else to do whilst her Dad sits on the edge of his armchair waiting. After a few minutes she manages to stop crying and her Dad kneels next to her.

"Did Draco hurt you?" He asks, trying to sound calm but she can hear the anger in his voice.

"No." She mutters.

"What's wrong then?" He asks

She takes a deep breath to calm herself.

"We went for dinner at the Burrow and Harry suggested a Quidditch game. Draco flew headfirst into a goal post. Arthur and Bill took him to the hospital. He had a fractured skull, a large cut across his forehead and he's suffering from memory loss." She explains.

"Oh my G-" Her mum gasps. "Is he alright?" she asks.

"Yes, the healer thinks he can come home tomorrow but he couldn't even remember his own name. Arthur, Bill and Harry stayed with me for a while but I told them to go home." She tells them. "Th-then Ron showed up but he's so angry right now. He hates his wife and-"

"Did he say something to you? Is that why you're this upset?" Her dad asks.

She nods. "He hates Draco too. He can't get over our school rivalry. Harry's accepted the situation but Ron just can't." She pauses for a moment wondering whether to tell them. She's always told them everything. "He told me he loved me and begged me to run away with him to America. I told him no and he got angry. He shouted some nasty names at Draco and I. He's just jealous but I hate him like this. I hate him." She tells them, letting out a sob.

"He's your best friend Hermione. I'm sure he'll come around to the whole marriage thing eventually. Especially after everything you've been through together. I don't think he'll want to throw all that away over this." Her mum tries to tell.

"I don't know, he's been drinking a lot lately and he's a proud man. He won't apologise to myself of Draco." She explains.

"What that boy needs is for someone to knock some sense into him." Her dad says, cracking his knuckles.

"I actually slapped him today." She admits.

"Hermione!" Her mum tuts disapprovingly.

"He deserved it." She tells her.

"That's my girl." Her dad whispers to her as he ruffles her hair.

"Chris!" Her mum scolds him. "Would you like some dinner, Hermione?" Her mum asks.

"No thank you. I'd just like a bath and to get some sleep. I need to be up early tomorrow for when Draco's discharged.

"Okay dear, I'll check in on you before we got to bed." Her mum tells her as she heads up the stairs.

Hermione runs herself a bath before going back into her old bedroom and grabbing an old pair of pyjamas she didn't want to take with her to her new house. She spends an hour just relaxing in the bath. She listens to her parents walk around the house before settling in the living room, where she heard them turn on the television to EastEnders. She couldn't make out actual words, just mumbles vibrating though the floorboards. She eventually climbs out when she's shivering. She pulls on her pyjamas, casts a quick hair drying charm and tooth cleaning charm before climbing to her bed and falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 20 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

Draco wakes up in the middle of the night, his head in agony and he has no idea why. He tries sitting up but the movement sends a pain shooting across his forehead, making him wince. He reaches his arm across the bed trying to feel for Hermione but his arm falls off the edge of the bed, which confuses him. He risks opening his eyes, pushing through the pain as he glances around the unfamiliar room. There's a white curtain pulled around the bed he's in and a soft light coming from somewhere near the foot of his bed. Closing his eyes, to try and block the pain out, he pushes himself up into a sitting position on the bed, swinging his legs over the side. The tiled floor is cold beneath his feet as he slowly stands, hand grasping his pulsating forehead. Slowly, he shuffles his way to the end of the bed, throwing the curtains back to reveal an empty room and a door, where the soft light's emitting. He carries on towards the door, pulling it open to reveal a familiar corridor. He turns to face the door and spots a board next to it states the patient within the room as 'Draco Malfoy'. He's in St Mungo's hospital.

"Mr Malfoy, you're not supposed to be out of bed. You're not stable on your feet yet." A man he assumes is a nurse, coming out of another patient's room, tells him.

"I can walk just fine." He snaps at the nurse, bringing his hand back up to his forehead. The pains getting worse.

"Come on Mr Malfoy, let's get you back into your bed and I'll go fetch you another pain relief potion." He tells him softly, guiding him back into his room.

"What happened to me?" He asks as he's lowered into his hospital bed.

"Didn't your wife tell you?" He questions.

"Hermione's been here?" Draco asks in return.

"Of course she was, she's very worried about you. You've had a few visitors actually. Mr Arthur Weasley and Mr Bill Weasley brought you here, then Mr Potter arrived with your wife and then Mr Ron Weasley showed up although there was a bit of a commotion with him. He left the hospital shouting about something or other. You stay there and I'll be back with your healer and a pain relief potion." The man tells him before leaving him alone in the dark room.

A few minutes later, the man returns with another man, who he assumes is his healer, and a bottle of pain relief which he gladly takes. He can feel the potion drowning the pain in his head instantly.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy. Do you remember me?" He asks, taking a piece of parchment and a self-refilling quill out of his pocket.

"No." He answers truthfully.

"Good, good." The man mutters as he writes something down.

"Why is my memory loss good?" Draco asks with a frown.

"What is the last thing you remember?" The man asks, ignoring his question.

He tries to think back. He and Hermione had been going to the Burrow for dinner. "Hermione and I went to the Burrow for dinner." He tells him.

"Excellent." He mumbles, writing something else down.

"What is 'excellent'?" He questions, becoming annoyed.

"Well, Mr Malfoy, my name is Healer Matthew and you were admitted to us yesterday afternoon with a fractured skull. We managed to stop the bleeding and stitch up your wound in the intensive care unit before moving you up here. When you woke up, you didn't even know your own name let alone who your wife was or what you had been doing earlier in the day. We gave you some potions to fix your fractured skull and the large cut on your forehead and you fell straight to sleep. Now that your memories of after your accident have returned and your injuries have healed, you'll be discharged with a few pain relief potion later in the morning." Healer Matthew explains.

It's a lot to take in but Healer Matthew sits on his bedside chair and waits patiently for him to understand everything he had just said.

"Why can't I remember what happened the last time I woke up?" He questions.

"That's completely normal. Nothing to worry about at all. It never lasts too long. You should have all memories back within the next couple of days. Now, try to get some sleep, your wife is picking you up in the morning." He tells him as he leaves his room.

Draco shuffles further down under the quilt but it takes him a few hours before he falls back to sleep. It's only been five days but he's grown accustomed to having somebody next to him whilst he sleeps. When he finally does fall asleep, it's not a very deep sleep and he's awoken a few time by people walking past his door and other patients screaming and crying in their own rooms.

* * *

Hermione's mum wakes her up at quarter past seven on the way out of the house with a reminder to lock up before she leaves. She lays in her bed for a while before she manages to drag herself downstairs to make herself a cup of tea for breakfast. She's too worried to eat. What if she gets to St Mungo's and Draco still doesn't remember her? What if his memory loss is permanent? She shakes the thoughts from her head pulling the newspaper towards her that her dad probably left on the kitchen table. She stares at it for a moment, waiting for the pictures to start moving before she remembers that she's looking at a muggle newspaper. She flicks through it with disinterest as she sips her tea.

When she finishes, she charms her teeth clean, dresses and makes her bed before checking all the windows and doors are locked before heading down the garden path to the alley where she discreetly disapparates to St Mungo's. She checks her watch when she arrives in the disapparation area. It's just gone eight o'clock.

She takes the lift up to Draco's floor and heads towards his room. However, when she enters, there's no one in the bed or sat in the chair. She goes back out onto the floor looking for a healer who might be able to help her but there's no one around. She can see light emanating from beneath one of the doors down the corridor. She knocks on the door and is told to wait a moment before a healer answers with a smile.

"Hello, can I help you?" She asks her.

"I'm looking for Draco. He's not in his room." She tells the woman.

The healer frowns looking down the hall towards his room.

"He's probably in the bathroom." She tells her, walking towards another door and knocking. "Is anybody in there?" She asks but there's not reply. "If you stand back Miss, I'll open the door." She tells her and Hermione steps to the side.

The healer opens the door but there's nobody in there.

"Let me ask Healer Matthew. He might know." She announces leading Hermione to Healer Matthew's office where see knocks politely before entering.

Hermione enters behind her to find Healer Matthew and Draco in the middle of a chess game. He's dressed in the clothes he had been wearing to the Burrow the previous day. She stared at him as he looked intently at the little figures on the chessboard.

* * *

"Ah, Healer Jennifer, am I needed?" Healer Matthew asks.

"No, this lady was looking for Mr Malfoy. We couldn't find him." The woman who had just entered explains.

At the mention of his name, Draco glances up then spots Hermione stood just behind Healer Jennifer, staring at him.

"Hermione!" He stands up looking at her. She looks relieved when he says her name.

"Draco." She sighs as she wraps her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug which he gladly returns. "You remember me." She whispers into his ear.

"Of course I remember you, although I can't remember anything after sitting down to eat dinner at the Burrow and Healer Matthew won't tell me how I fractured my skull or why I have this ugly scar on my forehead." He tells her as they break apart.

He combs his finger through his hair, making sure that it's falling over the scar.

"We want you to remember by yourself. If you haven't remembered within a week then I give your wife permission to tell you." Healer Matthew explains but Draco just glares at him.

He leans over the table moving his knight to B4. "Checkmate." He announces.

"Well played. Now, I need your wife to fill out your discharge parchment then you are free to go. I want to see you back in a week for a check-up." He tells them as he hands Hermione a piece of parchment which she signs. "Take it easy for a few days, nothing to extraneous and here's a few pain relief potions for the next couple of days." He hands Hermione the potions which she puts straight into her back.

"Come on then Draco." She takes his hand, pulling him out of the office.

They wait for the lift to take them down to the main floor when Draco turns to face her.

"What happened when Weasel showed up?" He asks.

"You remember?" She asks avoiding his eyes.

"No, a healer early this morning told me Arthur and Bill brought me here, then Harry brought you and then Weasel showed up but there was a commotion. What happened?" He asks.

"I think it's best if you remember by yourself." She tells him, still avoiding him.

"Hermione?" He questions.

"No, Draco. You need to remember by yourself." She tells him harshly as they walk towards the muggle exit. "I don't want you to risk disapparating yet. We'll get the bus back to my parents' house and we'll wait there until the barbeque tonight. We'll disapparate back tonight when we've eaten and are better rested." She tells him.

"Fine." He grumbles as they walk through the muggles streets towards the centre of London.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione stops at a bus stop and studies the timetable.

"The next bus is in seven minutes." She tells him, taking a seat.

He sits down next her, still annoyed that she won't tell him what happened. He leans his heads back against the glass shelter, closing his eyes and tries to think back to yesterday at the Burrow.

"Are you tired?" Hermione interrupts his thoughts.

"A little. I'm trying to remember." He admits.

"Don't think too hard, you'll give yourself a headache." She tells him to which he nods then goes back to his thoughts.

He remembers arriving at the Burrow and helping Molly move some plates onto the table. Then they went into the living room and talked to Percy and Audrey about the marriage decree, which had been interesting. They had then gone outside for dinner. He'd tried a bit of everything and he remembers being very impressed. Then Harry had stood up and asked… something. He can't remember.

"The bus is here," Hermione announces and they both stand up.

Hermione holds her arm out and the bus stops for them. She climbs on first, digging around in her bag. Draco climbs on after her.

"Two tickets, please." She asks the driver who presses some buttons on his till.

"That'll be two pounds, love." He holds his hand out for the money.

"The gold circle ones are pounds, aren't they?" He mutters to Hermione as she hands the driver the money.

"Yes, they are." She answers taking the tickets off the bus driver and pulling him to a seat near the back of the bus.

It's still quite early so there aren't many people on the bus going out of London. Draco sits in the window seat, watching the people in their cars drive past them in the opposite direction. Most of them have large mugs or food in their hands as they drive which just makes the whole act of driving more dangerous. He spots one lady apply lipstick in a mirror as she drives past them and decides he never want to be in a car again if he can help it. He watches the tall, serious buildings of the city turn into small, homely houses of the suburban estates.

"We should be there in five minutes," Hermione tells him after they've been on the bus for half an hour. "That's where my parents work." She points out as they drive past a bungalow with 'Granger's Dentist Surgery' above the door. "I think they're finishing at four today so we can get to my Uncle David's for six o'clock." She mentions.

A few minutes later, Hermione presses a red button which says 'stop'. It makes a 'ding' noise and lights up a sign at the front of the bus which says 'stopping'. The bus driver then stops next to another bus stop.

Draco follows Hermione down the aisle, giving the driver his thanks. He looks up and down the unfamiliar street after stepping off the bus.

"Where are we?" He asks looking at Hermione.

"We're a few streets away from my house. It's only a fifteen-minute walk." She answers, then pulls him by the hand towards the end of the street. "Did you remember anything else?" She asks after a few minutes.

"Yes, Harry stood up after dinner and asked everyone something. I can't remember what." He mentions hoping Hermione will let something slip but she just hums. "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?" He asks her, already knowing the answer.

"No." She answers simply as they turn onto a street he finds familiar.

He thinks they walked down this street when they took her neighbour's dog for a walk.

"When we get to my parents' house, I'm going to make you a cup of tea and some breakfast then you're going to have a nap. I want you fully rested for tonight. If it was anything else I would cancel but everyone's expecting us to be there. I might cancel tomorrow night, Healer Matthew did say for you to get plenty of rest." She tells him.

"What's tomorrow night?" He asks, wondering if he'd forgotten about some plans they'd made last night.

"Isobel and William's hosting a party. Megan invited us on Sunday. I'll send her a message telling her we can't mak-" She explains.

"Hermione." He stops her midsentence. "If I rest today and tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be more than capable going to a small party with some friends." He tells her.

She stares at him for a moment. "We'll see how you feel tomorrow night and we won't be staying long if we do go." She tells him.

Finally, they make it onto Hermione's street. He's been feeling tired for the past ten minutes but he didn't want to tell Hermione that and give her another reason to cancel tomorrow night, so he pushes himself to walk further, knowing he can rest for as long as he needs at her house. He hears Hermione mutter an 'accio keys' into her handbag as they reach her house.

* * *

Hermione unlocks the front door then guides him into the living room where she makes him sit in her dad's armchair. She goes to take his boots but he pushes her hands away.

"I'm not an invalid, Hermione. I can take my own boots off." He tells her reaching down to take them off himself.

"Sorry." She apologises. "Here's the remote for the television." She hands it to him then turns the TV on. "Just press that button to change the channel until you find something you want to watch. I'll be in the kitchen making you some breakfast." She tells him before heading into the kitchen.

She puts the kettle on as she grabs two mugs from the cupboard and pops a teabag in each one. Opening the fridge, she finds some bacon and sausages. She's sure her parents won't miss a few rations so she turns the hob on and grabs a frying pan, adding two sausages and rations of bacon. Once the kettles boiled she makes the mugs of teas and takes one into the living room for Draco who's sat watching Bargain Hunt.

"Really Draco, you're watching Bargain Hunt?" She chuckles as she places his mug of tea on the side table.

"It seems interesting." He mumbles as he takes a sip from his mug of tea.

"Did you forget which button to press?" She asks knowingly.

"No, of course not." He frowns at her.

"Okay then, enjoy your Bargain Hunt." She smiles as she leaves to check on the frying pan.

When she returns with a plate of bacon, sausage, beans, scrambled eggs and fried tomatoes, Draco's starting to drift off as he watches the television. She can't help but smile at how similar it reminds her of her dad.

"Draco." She calls his name to get his attention. "Here, eat this then you can go upstairs for a nap." She hands him the plate of breakfast.

He eats it all, hungrily. She doesn't think he's eaten since the dinner at the burrow yesterday. He thanks her once he's done, passing the plate back to her along with his empty mug. She charms them to wash themselves in the sink as she takes Draco upstairs to her room where she helps him take his cardigan off then climb into bed.

"I might pop out for an hour just to check on Athena and grab some shopping for tonight." She tells him as she pulls the quilt over him and tucks him in. "I'll come check on you when I get back, okay?" She adds.

Draco nods in reply, closing his eyes ready to take his nap. She stays kneeling next to him for a few seconds just watching him as he falls asleep. He looks so content and calm in this moment. She brushes his hair out of his face, revealing his scar. It looks a lot better than it had last night but it's still rather obvious. She leans over, kissing his scar before standing up and leaving, shutting the door behind her.

She disapparates from the alley to the gate of the estate then hurries back to their house. She leaves Athena, who's still asleep on her perch, some pellets before running up the stairs to pack some clothes for her to wear tonight. She's back downstairs, choosing a book to take back home with her so she has something to do whilst Draco's asleep when there's a knock at the door.

Wondering who it could be, she opens the door only to slam it shut again when she sees Ron stood on the other side. She locks the door in case he tries to open it herself.

"Please go away, Ron. I'm not ready to talk to you yet." She calls through the door.

"Come on 'ermione. Am sorry kay. Didn't mean it. Ya forgive me yet?" He shouts through the door.

"Are you drunk?" She asks.

"Nah, I 'ave one or two only." He shouts back.

"Ron." She sighs disappointedly. "Go home and sober up. I'm not talking to you like this." She tells him.

"Fine." He shouts angrily. "Be like dat. Choose 'is side. Not like we ben friends fer years. We ben best friends, 'ermione." He shouts.

"I think it's time you went home, Ronald." Another voice says from behind the door.

"Don't tell me wat ta do, Bini." He shouts at who she assumes is Blaise.

"I will when you are harassing my friend in her own home. Now go home before I take you home." He threatens him.

There's silence for a few seconds before Ron mumbles something she can't hear. It's silent again until there's a short rap at the door and a hand pushing through the letter box. Hermione bends down to peer through.

"Hi, he's gone. Are you okay?" Blaise calls through the letter box with a smile.

Hermione unlocks the door, letting Blaise enter before locking it again in case Ron comes back.

"Hi Blaise, thank you for that. He's not been himself since the ceremony." She leads him into the living room where he perches on the arm of the couch.

"Why's he shouting at you, though? I thought he'd have lost his voice by now from shouting at Pansy." He chuckles. "I know both Draco and I did at Hogwarts." He adds.

"Erm… Do you remember when I told you that Ron and I weren't a couple?" She asks him to which he nods suspiciously. "Well, he seems to be under the impression that we were and he's angry that I got paired with Draco." She tells him as she rifles through the bookshelf again.

"He hasn't… done anything to you, has he?" He asks her standing up.

"No, he's shouted at me a few times and called Draco and I some names but nothing I can't handle. He just needs to get over his jealousy and until he does, I won't be ready to talk to him." She explains.

"Where is Draco anyway?" He asks looking around as though he'd see him hiding somewhere.

"He's at my parents' house." She tells him before remembering that he doesn't know about the accident. "There was an accident at the Burrow yesterday. He crashed into a goalpost and fractured his skull but he-" She explains until she's interrupted.

"He what? The idiot. What am I supposed to do if he kills himself playing Quidditch?" Blaise paces the room.

"He's fine, Blaise." She reassures him. "He's got a nasty scar on his forehead that he's trying to cover with his hair and he's suffering from some memory loss but other than that, he's fine." She tells him.

"Well, I'm still going to tell him off tomorrow. He's still coming to the party, isn't he?" He asks hopefully.

"If he's feeling okay, then yes, but we won't be staying long." She warns him taking a book off her shelf and one of Draco's shelf at random for him to read if he feels like it later. "I really should be getting back to him now. We'll see you tomorrow night, hopefully." She tells him, leading him to the front door where she leaves with him.

"I'll walk you to the gate." He offers.

"Thanks. How are the Figgons going?" She asks seriously.

"No idea. I snuck out the front door whilst Luna was 'cleansing the bathroom'." He rolls his eyes with a smile. "I was on my way to visit Draco but I might as well just go back home now." He sighs.

When they reach the gate, Blaise bids her goodbye, then walks the short walk back to his house, turning around to give her a quick wave before trying to enter the house as quietly as possible.

Hermione disapparates back to the alley behind her parents' house and heads straight upstairs to her bedroom to check on Draco. He's still asleep when she quietly opens the bedroom door. She leaves his book and a pain relief potion on her bedside table then heads back downstairs into the living room to read her own book but she can't get into it. She decides to go for a walk to clear her head.

She ends up walking around the park, watching parents with their young children, feeding the ducks, and people walking their dogs over the fields.

* * *

Draco wakes up to a door slamming somewhere in the house and a shout of "Hermione!" He throws the quilt off himself and struggles to sit up with the pain pulsating in his forehead. He spots one of the pain relief potions Healer Matthew had given Hermione before they had left St Mungo's. He downs the small potion in one and waits for it to take effect. He can feel the pain being washed from his head as every second goes by and finally, he is able to stand to make his way downstairs.

He enters the living room first, in his search of Hermione but she isn't there so he goes into the kitchen where he finds her stood at the fridge.

"Were you out long?" He grumbles mid-stretch.

There's a scream then a bang from the fridge. He rushes over to find Sarah stood clutching her head and breathing heavily as she grips onto the fridge handle.

"Draco, what the hell are you doing here?" She gasps, shutting the fridge and opening the freezer where she grabs a bag of something and applies it to the top of her head.

"Hermione said you weren't going to be back until four o'clock." He states, staring at his mother-in-law as she leans against the counter.

"Draco, honey, it's half four now." She tells him.

"Hermione said she wasn't going to be long." He frowns, moving to look out the back window towards the alleyway where she would apparate to.

"You still haven't told me what you're doing here." She reminds him.

"Hermione didn't want me to apparate in my condition so she brought me here on a bus to rest. I've just woken up." He explains still looking out the window.

"A watched pot never boils." She says.

"What?" He asks confused.

"It's a saying we have in our world." She tells him. "It means-" She starts to explain but he interrupts her.

"Yes, we have a similar one. A watchesd cauldron never boils." She turns back.

Sarah laughs. "Of course you do." She rolls her eyes. "I'm sure she'll be back soon and I don't think she'll be happy to see you wandering around the house if you're supposed to be resting. Go sit in the living room and I'll bring you a cup of tea through." She tells him placing the frozen bag back into the freezer.

Draco does as he's told, wondering if all muggles drink this much tea or if it's just Hermione's family. He spends a few minutes fiddling with the television remote, trying to turn it on but he hasn't got a clue so he places it back on the coffee table. He hears the front door open and jumps up to see if it's Hermione but it's only Chris with a bag of food. He seems just as shocked as his wife to see Draco in his house.

"Oh, Draco, you gave me a shock, son." He tells him as he slips his shoes off. "Hermione was right, that is a nasty scar." He says leaning forward to get a closer look but he ruffles his hair down to try and cover it.

"Chris, stop making him self-conscious and Draco, I told you to sit in the living room and rest," Sarah calls from the kitchen.

"We better do as we're told, lad." He smirks knowingly at him before he takes the bag into the kitchen.

Draco returns to the living room, not long after Chris joins him, turning the television on by pressing the large button on the actual machine.

"Who the hell's been watching Bargain Hunt?" He grumbles to himself as he changes the channel. "You like football, Draco?" Chris asks him.

"I've never heard of football." He tells him.

"You not have it in your world? It's the best sport in the world." He says.

"We have Quidditch." Draco states.

"That one with the brooms and the hoops? Yeah, Hermione's told us about that. Said it's very dangerous. One of her friends fell fifty feet she said. I told her I don't want her playing but she said she hates flying. Do you like all this flying malarkey?" He asks him.

"Yes, I was on the Slytherin Quidditch team at school for six years. It's not that dangerous. The only reason Harry fell off his broom was because of the dementors and they're mostly unheard of now since the ministry banished them." He explains.

"Well that's not what Hermione told me last night. Said you flew headfirst into one of those hoops. Fractured your skull, didn't you?..." Chris continues to talk but Draco's head feels like a dam has just broken as memories flood in.

Harry's stood up from the table, he's asking if anyone wants to play a game of Quidditch. He agrees so does Weasel, George, Bill and Angelina. He grabs a Cleansweep 7 and circles the pitch as Angelina scores goals and helps Bill defend their own goalposts. They're losing by twenty when he spots the snitch just behind Weasel. Angelina throws the Quaffle at him and flies at Ron and scores. He heads straight down to the ground where the snitch is circling the goalposts. It zooms off towards Arthur and he follows it but Harry's on his tail. He reaches his hand out but it's not enough. He throws himself at the snitch then… nothing. That must have been when he hit the goalposts.

"Draco, Draco son, are you alright?" Chris is poking his arm with the remote.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He mutters wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You blanked out for a moment there. I thought you'd fainted on me." He chuckles before going back to the television.

"I'm feeling quite tired. I think I'll go rest upstairs." He mumbles as he shuffles his way back upstairs to Hermione's bedroom where he proceeds to climb inside and pull the cover up to his chin, feeling cold.

He listens out for any doors opening, announcing Hermione's return but not before long, he finds himself drifting back off to sleep.

* * *

Hermione returns to her parents' house around quarter past five a lot later than she wanted to but there had been a few complications. She found her mum sitting in the kitchen, reading a magazine with a cup of tea when she walks through the back door.

"Oh, hello Hermione dear. You could have told us Draco would be here when we got home. He gave us such a nasty shock." She scolds her.

"Sorry, I thought I'd be home long before you but there were a few issues that I had to deal with. Where's Draco now?" She asks.

"Back in your bed. He said he wasn't feeling well but Chris says he went a bit funny and blanked out for a few minutes. I went to check on him but he was fast asleep. I didn't want to wake him. He needs his rest." Her mum tells her.

"I'll go check on him now. Thanks, mum." She heads upstairs and into her bedroom where Draco is still fast asleep, wrapped in her quilt.

She perches herself on the edge of the bed before shaking his shoulders slightly in an effort to wake him up.

"Draco! Draco!" She calls his name as she shakes him a little more forcefully.

He wakes up with a start looking nervously around the room until his eyes fall on her and his muscles relax as he smiles softly up at her which she returns.

"I remembered the Quidditch match." He tells her, making her smile fall. "Well, your dad told me I crashed headfirst into a goalpost but I remembered the details. Did I catch the snitch?" He asks curiously.

Hermione laughs out a huff. "You people and your bloody Quidditch games. You almost died Draco and all you care about is whether you caught a stupid ball." She raises her voice.

"My people?" He questions with a frown.

"Yes, wizards and witches. Do you know how dangerous that game is? I'm surprised more people aren't killed. Especially with those Bludgers flying around, trying to knock people off their broomsticks." She tells him.

He starts to laugh which just annoys her even further. "You know that you're one of 'my people'." He tells her.

"Oh no, I hate Quidditch and I warn you now. Our children will not be playing that damned sport." She glares at him.

"Come on Hermione, nobody's died in over a century." He tells her, sitting up in her bed.

"Yes, and you nearly changed that didn't you." She continues to glare pointedly at him.

Draco sighs in defeat. "I can see there's no changing your mind at the moment. Can you please tell me if we won?" He asks again.

Rolling her eyes, she picks a bag up off her dressing table then throws the snitch at him, which he catches in one hand as though it's a reflex.

"They had to prise it out of your hand." She tells him. "Here's your wand, you might want to freshen yourself up. I expect we'll be leaving soon." She says before leaving him in her bedroom.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 21 for you all. (SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SOME EXCITING NEWS).
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco climbs out of bed, placing the snitch in his pocket. He casts a few spells to smooth his hair down, since it's sticking up in odds ways at the back, and to iron his clothes out. He finds his cardigan, pulls it on then makes his way down the stairs where he finds everybody else sat in the living room waiting for him.

"Are you ready, Draco?" Sarah asks him. "Yeah, let me just pull my boots on." He tells them as he grabs them from next to Chris's chair.

Once they're all ready, the leave through the front door and Draco realises that they're going to be driving to David's house for the barbeque.

"Do we have to go in the car?" He asks Hermione as they wait for her dad to lock the front door.

"Unless you want to walk the three miles, then yes, we do." She tells him, still sounding annoyed.

Reluctantly, he climbs into the backseat of Chris's car with Hermione and they set off. He grips onto the door handle and the edge of his seat until they pull up outside David's house, where there are already three cars parked up outside.

"Great, Louise is here," Sarah grumbles sarcastically as they climb out. "And I bet she brought Darren with her as well." She adds as they walk up the path to David's front door and knock.

David answers the door with relief on his face.

"You're late, Sarah." He stares wide-eyed at her as though trying to tell her something as they enter the house.

"Sarah!" A high pitched squeal comes from behind David who stands straight with a forced smile on his face.

A small, blonde woman pushes past David and pulls Sarah into a hug then moves onto Chris, who's pulling an equally as forced smile as David. She then turns to face Hermione.

"Ah, my favourite niece." She says before pulling her into a hug.

"Louise, you can't say that. How do you think Sophie's going to feel?" David frowns as he asks her.

"Oh yes, I forgot about Sophie. Where is she anyway?" She wonders.

"Probably in her room reading still. I'll call her down in a few minutes." He tells her.

"Oh, and who's this?" Louise turns to face Draco.

He's heard a lot about her in the past couple of days. Very little of it good, so he follows in his father-in-law's steps, pulls a fake smile and holds his hand out.

"I'm Draco, Hermione's fiancé." He tells her expecting her to shake his hand but instead she ignores it, turning to face Hermione instead.

" _You_ got yourself a man. A gorgeous man at that." She says as she checks him out. "Shame about that scar." She shrugs making him flatten his hair down over his scar.

"You don't need to sound so shocked." Hermione scoffs, offended.

"I'm just saying, you've always been a nerdy little swot haven't you. If you'd gone to Fieldstone Secondary you'd have never gotten a boyfriend. Sophie reminds me a lot of you." She says, turning on David. "You shouldn't let her read so much. She'll just end up getting bullied at Fieldstone." She shrugs, turning back to Hermione. "It's a shame you didn't go to Fieldstones, we could have hung out together. You'd only have been two years below me." She winks at Draco who feels uncomfortable.

"Babe, where are you? These kids of yours are just staring at me." A gruff voice shouts from the living room.

"Never have kids Hermione." She sighs as she starts to leave. "And I want to hear everything about you two later." She calls behind her as she walks off.

"What's she doing here?" Sarah whispers harshly to David.

"Mum told her about it and she just showed up." He answers, leading them into the kitchen were Hermione's Grandma and another lady are sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

David puts the kettle on again as Sarah and Hermione sit down at the table with the two other ladies. Draco stands awkwardly behind Hermione not really knowing what to do.

"Draco dear, what's happened to your forehead?" Betty asks staring at his forehead.

Silently cursing his hair for not staying in place, he excuses himself to the bathroom where he stares at himself in the mirror trying to style his hair so it actually covers the damned scar. No matter what he does, it won't stay in place, even with the use of a charm. In the end he ends up casting a makeup charm on the scar to cover it, although it's still a slightly visible underneath. He pushes his hair back off his face and deems himself acceptable so he heads back into the kitchen.

"Hello there Draco." The lady next to Betty smiles at him. "I'm Hermione's godmother, Sharon. It's nice to meet you although I am quite shocked. I've never heard anything about a boyfriend before and now you're engaged." She laughs. "I suppose a congratulations is in order." She raises her cup of tea and everyone else follows.

"To Hermione and Draco," Chris announces and everyone else agrees, taking sips of their tea.

"Hermione told us about your football accident. I'm surprised they let you out of the hospital so soon." Betty frowns concernedly.

"Grandma, it was only a little cut and they stitched it up before we left." Hermione looks up at Draco, sending him a pointed look.

"Still, he could have a concussion. They should have kept him in for at least another day." She says.

"I'm perfectly fine, Betty. No need to worry about it." He tells her.

"I think it's time we got the barbeque started," David announces, standing up.

"Should I ask Darren if he wants to help?" Chris asks with a smirk.

"No you bloody well shouldn't." David glares at him as they head into the garden.

"Grandma, Grandma, Grandma. I want to watch telly." Craig runs into the kitchen.

"You know how to turn it on, don't you?" She asks him.

"Mummy said no." He frowns as his Grandma lifts him up onto her lap.

"Grandma, when's dinner ready. I'm starv-" Lauren begins to complain until she spots Draco stood behind Hermione and her little face lights up. "Hermione's boyfriend!" She exclaims excitedly, wrapping her little arms around his waist. "Come play with us?" She asks. "Please, please, please." She begs, pulling on his arms.

"Okay." He gives in with a sigh and lets himself be pulled up the stairs by Lauren, with Craig following behind them.

They stop at a door with 'Sophie' painted on it in red paint. Lauren pauses and knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice calls from behind the door.

"It's Lauren, Craig and Hermione's boyfriend," Lauren shouts through the door.

"My Dad said Hermione has a fiancé." She shuts back.

"What's a fiancé?" Lauren asks confused.

There's a large sigh behind the door before it flies open to reveal a brown haired little girl with a book in her hands. She stares up at Draco for a second before looking back down at Lauren.

"A fiancé is someone who is engaged to be married." She explains to her little cousin.

Lauren squeals in excitement, looking up at Draco. "You're getting married to Hermione." She asks.

"Erm… yes, I am." He answers not sure if he's supposed to be telling them this.

"Can I be a bridesmaid?" She asks, eyes wide. "Please, please, please."

"We're not getting married until after university so we haven't planned anything yet." He explains.

"Oh, okay." Lauren's face falls making Draco feel guilty.

"But when we do plan it, I'm sure you can be a bridesmaid. You can too, if you'd like, Sophie." He turns to face the other girl who just shrugs but he can see the small smile on her lips.

"Do we get to throw flower petals?" Lauren asks hopefully.

Draco assumes throwing flower petals is a muggle wedding custom so nods his head.

"Can I be a bridesmaid?" Craig's small voice comes from behind him.

"No silly, you're a boy. You can be the pageboy." Sophie tells him.

"I want to throw flowers." He says sadly.

"The page boy has the most important job, though. They get to carry the wedding rings on a pillow." Sophie tells him.

Draco assumes this is another muggle wedding custom.

"Really?" Craig asks looking nervously up at Draco.

He just nods his head at him.

"Where's Mark and Mia?" Lauren suddenly asks.

"In the playroom." Sophie answers.

"Let's go ask them if they want to be a bridesmaid and pageboy too." Lauren runs off down the stairs with Craig following her.

Sophie stays stood in her room.

"What are you reading?" Draco asks, trying to make conversation.

"Alice in Wonderland." She answers, showing him the front cover.

"Is it good?" He asks.

"You've never read it?" She asks shocked.

"No, I read different books as a child." He tells her.

Sophie stares up at Draco then down at her book for a moment before passing it up to him.

"You can borrow it if you like, I've read it five times already." She offers.

He smiles down at the little girl. "Thank you, that's very kind." He takes the book off her.

"We should go find the kids before they plan your entire wedding." She tells him, shutting her bedroom door behind her and running down the stairs.

Draco follows behind. When he makes it back onto the ground floor, he spots Hermione watching him from the kitchen. He offers her a quick smile before following the noise of children's giggles into a room next to the living room. He enters the room to find lots of toys, games and children's furniture.

All the children are sat on large cushions in the corner talking and laughing.

"Hermione's fiancé, come sit next to me," Lauren calls over so he does.

The cushion is a lot squishier than he thought it would be and he finds himself sinking down.

"Don't you have a real name?" A black-haired little boy scoffs.

He assumes this is Mark, Hermione's godmother's son. "Yes, I do. My name's Draco." He tells the small group of children.

They all burst out laughing.

"That's a stupid name." Lauren giggles.

"No, it isn't." He frowns at them. "It means Dragon in Latin." He explains.

All the children stop laughing at him and stare at him in awe.

"That's cool." Sophie mutters.

"My mummy says that dragons protect princesses from bad people until their prince come for them." A black haired girl announces to the group.

Draco guesses that she's Mark twin sister, Mia. They do look very similar.

"Are you Hermione's dragon?" Lauren asks.

"Of course he isn't silly, he's her prince." Mia rolls her eyes.

"He can be a dragon and a prince." Sophie frowns at her.

"No, he can't," Mia says.

"Why can't he be?" Sophie asks.

"Because that's stupid." Mia huffs.

"No, it isn't." Sophie frowns at Mia.

"Yes, it is." Mia frowns back.

"No, it isn't," Sophie shouts.

"Alright, stop shouting." Draco raises his voice above the girls' to be heard and all the children quieten and stare at him.

The door suddenly opens to reveal Louise and, who he thinks is her boyfriend, Darren.

"There you are Draco. I was looking for you. What you doing with all these kids?" She asks.

"We're talking about dragons, mummy." Lauren answers but Louise ignore her.

"Come on Draco, you don't need to babysit these kids. I want you and Hermione to tell me everything." She tells him.

"It will have to wait, Louise. We're in the middle of something." He tells her, really not wanting to go with her.

"They're just children, Draco, come on." She walks over to him, grabs his hand and pulls him up.

Draco reluctantly allows himself to be dragged from the room and back into the kitchen where Hermione, Sarah, Sharon and Betty are sat with small glasses of wine now.

"Found him messing around with the kids. Talking about dragons or something." Louise laughs.

Hermione sends him a concerned look but he shakes his head and she nods in understanding.

"Aren't you two just the cutest?" Sharon gushes as he takes a seat next to Hermione.

"They remind me of us." Louise looks up lovingly at Darren who just nods, obviously bored. "When did you meet?" She leans excitedly across the table.

Draco glances at Hermione who seems to be trying to think back.

"I think the first time we saw each other was on the train to school back in first year. You were leaving Harry's compartment just as I wanted to enter." She explains. "Although, we didn't actually talk to each other until… I think it was after our first po… erm chemistry lesson. You called me a know-it-all after lesson because I kept raising my hand to answer."

He spots Sarah and Betty frowning at him so he quickly interrupted.

"Yeah, you told me I was just jealous and I think it was true. I'd grown up surrounded by… chemistry. I was embarrassed that you knew more than I did. Especially since my godfather was interested in the topic." He explains.

Hermione laughs. "He was our p… chemistry teacher. Of course, he was interested in the topic." She tells him which makes him smile. He misses Severus sometimes.

"When did you get together?" Sharon asks leaning closer.

"Well we didn't really talk much after that. An insult here and there until fourth year. We had some exchange students from France and Bulgaria at the school so the Headmaster decided to throw a dance. One of the Bulgarian students asked me and I said yes but I couldn't take my eyes of Draco all night. He was wearing this beautiful suit and his hair looked so soft and perfectly styled. I remember wishing I could run my fingers through it." She tells them.

"I hadn't really recognised her, she was wearing a pretty blue gown and her hair was smooth and in an intricate braid. Usually, her hair was bushy and all over the place. I was one of the last people to leave the dance and as I walked past the staircase I heard Hermione crying." Draco carries on, remembering the actual night of the yule ball.

"My friend and I had had an argument. I didn't think there was anyone around still. Anyway Draco came over to me and I though he was going to insult me but he just sat next to me until I stopped crying." Hermione says, obviously making it up as she went along. "Afterwards he started talking to me about a history exam we had just had and we found that it was actually easy talking to each other and we enjoyed each other's company. We didn't get together properly until the train ride home. We met up in an empty compartment and I told him I was going to miss him over the summer and I leaned in to kiss his cheek goodbye but he turned his head and we ended up kissing. We've been together ever since." She finishes.

"That is adorable. You should write a book or sell it to a film agency." Louise tells them. "Shouldn't she, babe?" She looks up at Darren who nods.

"The burgers are ready," Chris says as he peeps his head through the door. "Someone tell the kids." He adds.

"I'll get them," Draco announces and heads down to the playroom whilst everyone else heads outside.

He opens the door to find all the children huddled up in the corner, whispering to each other.

"It's my turn." One of them whines, trying to snatch something out of another's hand.

"No, it isn't it's my turn." Someone else shouts and manages to grab whatever they were looking at.

Draco stood quietly at the door watching them for a moment until he hears a familiar buzzing noise that made his stomach drop. His hands pat his pockets but it's gone. He looks up to see them all staring at something in the middle of their huddle in awe. Suddenly, they all leap back as, whoever was holding it lets go. He hears all the children gasp as, instead of falling to the floor, it flutters in place before quickly flying around the room. Quickly, Draco lunges forward and clasps his hands around the flying golden ball. He glances down at the snitch in his hands, watching as the wings tuck themselves away before placing it back into his pocket.

All the children are staring up at him nervously, then suddenly Craig burst into tears and Lauren pulls him into a hug whilst still staring up at Draco unsure of his reaction. Draco smiles as he squats down to their level and looks each one of them in the eye.

"Where did you find that ball?" He asks calmly.

"I-it was on the floor." Mia answers, pointing over to where he had been sat on the large cushion.

"What is it?" Sophie asks curiously at the same time as Lauren asks, "Are you angry?"

He stares at Lauren for a moment before shaking his head. "Of course not, Lauren. It's my fault. I should have put it somewhere safer where it wouldn't fall out." He tells her and she lets out a sigh of relief.

"What is it?" Sophie asks again and Draco doesn't know how to answer.

"It's obviously a robot." Mark laughs now he knows he's not going to get told off. "Like that helicopter my dad has." He adds.

"Your dad's helicopter has a remote control." Sophie points out.

"Maybe it's atomic." Mia tries to explain, looking up at Draco, who has no idea what anything they're saying means.

"Automatic." Sophie corrects her as she thinks about it for a moment then smiles. "That was pretty cool." She finally says.

"Can we play with it?" Lauren asks hopefully.

"No, if Hermione found out I brought it with me and that you were playing with it, she would be very angry so why don't we keep this… robot a secret. Okay?" He asks them.

Lauren's face lights up. "Craig and I are the best at keeping secrets. Aren't we Craig?" She looks down at her brother who's still sniffling slightly in her arms. "Mummy says were the best secret keepers ever." She adds proudly.

"I bet we can keep the robot a secret longer than you can," Mark says, throwing his arms around his sister.

"Yeah," Mia confirms his statement.

"Well I'm older than all of you so I'll be better at keeping secrets," Sophie states proudly.

"I'm glad you're all great secret keepers." He tells them. "Now, the burgers are ready." He states and they all run outside.

Draco pauses in the playroom for a moment to take a deep breath. His heart is still beating from the panic of Hermione's cousin's finding out about the snitch. He's just about to head outside when he realises something. The snitch only flies for those with magical blood. Which would mean one of Hermione's cousins has magical blood. But they can't, they're all muggles. It's highly unlikely for two members of the same muggle family to have magical blood if they're not siblings. He was hoping to avoid telling Hermione about this but it looks like he's going to have to. He'll wait until after the barbecue though. He doesn't want their conversation to be overheard.

He walks outside, looking at each of the children, wondering which of them might have some magical blood. He glances over at Hermione, who's sat at one of the tables, seemingly lost in thought. Draco grabs two plates and waits for David to place two burgers in a bun for himself and Hermione then takes the seat next to her and hands the plate to her.

"Are you alright?" He whispers, noticing her furrowed brow.

"Did you really see me crying?" She asks. "At the Yule Ball." She clarifies.

Draco feels his face drain of colour. He'd heard the crying that night and peeked his head around the corner to find Hermione but not wanting to deal with her crying, he'd walked off in the opposite direction, even though it took him an extra ten minutes to get to the dungeons.

"Yes, I did. I assumed Krum had said something to offend you." He admits.

"Why didn't you do something?" She asks, brow still furrowed.

He looks at her confused. "We hated each other throughout our school career, what did you want me to do. Come and comfort you?" He asks with a scoff.

"No." She rolls her eyes. "Why didn't you come and make fun of me or something?" She clarifies.

"Oh, well, I don't like to jinx someone when they're down." He answers rather pathetically since he's jinked people many times when they've been down.

She gives him a pointed look which makes his sigh in defeat.

"Fine, I don't exactly know how to deal with crying women." He admits, blushing slightly.

Hermione just smiles at him. "In future, if I'm crying, just stay with me and talk nonsense. A hug would be nice but not essential." She tells him and he chuckles.

"I'm sure I can manage to hug you if you're crying." He tells her before taking a bite from his burger.

After the burgers, David cooks sausages and a few chicken skewers. There's also some salad, eggs and potatoes on the table to snack on in between meat. Draco takes the opportunity to try some muggle beer, which he doesn't like at all, and cider, which he finds much more pleasant.

Hermione begs him to take a shot of a blue liquid but he doesn't like the look of it since it looks oddly similar to an ear shrinking potion he had accidentally drunk as a child. He had been deaf for a whole week whilst he waited for Severus to make an ear growing potion.

He'd only manages to rest for a few minutes after finishing his plate when he'd being dragged off into a shed by Lauren. She begged him to play hide and seek with them and after she'd explained the game to him, he agreed to count first. He counted to thirty then goes on the hunt for the five children.

He finds Mark first behind the greenhouse. His sister has squeezed herself under the rabbit hutch. Lauren has hidden under one of the tables with Craig. Sophie has hidden inside the shed behind piles of bagged soil.

Draco had no idea where he was going to hid and was only half hidden behind the shed when Mark finishes counting to thirty and is found first. In the end, he deems himself too tall to hide efficiently and tells the children that he'll seek every time, however, after the sixth game, they started reusing hiding places so he had to pretend to not see them obviously hiding behind the greenhouse or beneath tables.

Hermione watches from her seat at the table as Draco pretends not to see Craig hidden underneath the trampoline where he's giggling excitedly. He squeals in joy as Draco finds him.

"He's great with the kids," Sharon says, taking a seat next to her.

"Yeah, I'm surprised. He's never been around children outside of school." She tells her.

"He's an only child then." She states.

"Yeah."

"I might get you both to babysit Mark and Mia." She laughs jokingly.

"Well were free until September so if you ever need anyone to look after them, we'll be happy to." Hermione offers.

"Well, if you're offering, Scott and I have a wedding on Saturday. We were going to ask your Grandma but we don't want to give them too much. Especially since they have Lauren and Craig at the moment." Sharon explains hopefully.

"We'd love to look after them. We'll meet you at my parents' house. What time do you need us?" She asks.

"Is nine o'clock alright?" She asks. "And we'll pick them up at around ten at night." She adds

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll take them out for the day. Try and tire them out." She tells her.

"Good luck with that, they're never tired." She laughs, heading into the house.

A few minutes later, Draco drops into the chair next to her, rubbing his forehead.

She leans closer to him. "Do you need another potion?" She whispers into his ear.

"No, I'm fine." He shakes his head then frowns.

"Come with me." She tells him, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him back towards the house.

She drags him into the bathroom, where she locks the door, then pushes him down to sit on the toilet lid. She perches herself on the edge of the bathtub then begins to rummage around in her bag. She doesn't like to use magic in front of her family, even though she's locked in a bathroom, she doesn't want to risk it so she continues to rummage. She finally finds the pain relief potion that she was looking for and hands it to him.

"I told you I'm fine." He tells her looking down at the potion.

"Don't lie to me about your wellbeing, Draco." She tells him. "I'm not going to think any less of you because the pains getting too much. I can't imagine how bad it must feel. I heard the crash." She tells him.

He looks up from the potion bottle into her eyes guiltily. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He tells her.

"It was an accident, Draco. These things happen. I'm just glad you're alright now." She sends him a smile.

Draco looks back down at the bottle in his hand. "I can handle the pain. I don't need the potion." He tries to hand it back to her but she wraps her hand around his and the potion and pushes it back to him.

"Just because you can handle the pain, doesn't mean you have to." She lets go of his hands and with a defeated sigh, he takes the potion.

She watches as he throws his head back to down the potion. He keeps his eyes closed for a moment as the potion washes over him. Suddenly, there's a knock at the bathroom door, making them both jump.

"Hermione!" Her mum calls. "Are you in there? We're getting the ice-cream out." She tells her.

"Yes, mum." She calls back.

"Have you seen Draco? We can't find him." She asks.

"Yes, he's in here with me." She tells her.

There's silent on the other side of the door for a few moments.

"Don't be long." She tells them and they hear her walk away.

Hermione lets out a sigh as Draco chuckles.

"What do you think she's thinking?" He asks, standing up to wash his hands.

"I don't want to know." She smiles, taking the empty potion bottle back and placing it back in her bag. "We better get back out there before they start talking and assuming things." She tells him, unlocking the door and leaving first.

They head back outside, taking a seat with everyone else around the tables, where they get handed a bowl of ice-cream.

"So what were you _both_ doing in there?" Her mum leans over and whispers to her.

"I was making Draco take his pain relief potion." She tells her mum to which she nods and goes back to a conversation with her Grandma and Grandad.

"Where'd you go Dragon?" Lauren asks, throwing herself onto Draco lap once he'd finished his ice-cream.

"Well he's old, he probably got tired." Sophie answers.

"I'm not old!" Draco frowns at her little cousin.

"You're older than me." She shrugs.

"That doesn't make me old. I'm only nineteen." He answers defensively.

Sophie just shrugs again before turning to Hermione.

"Hermione, can you come to my school play on Friday?" She asks, smiling sweetly. "It's the Lion King." She adds.

"Of course, I'd love to. Do I have to buy a ticket?" She asks.

"No, we get two tickets each. Dad's got them on the fridge. Grandma and Grandad were coming but they have Craig now." She explains before running off into the house and returning a few minutes later with the tickets. "Would you like to come too?" She turns to ask Draco.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll enjoy it." He tells her, making her smile. "What is the Lion King?" He whispers to Hermione once Sophie's run off to tell her dad.

"It's a musical about a young lion cub who's next in line for the throne when his father dies and he thinks he's to blame so he runs away only to return years later to take the thrown of his evil uncle." She explains.

"What's a musical?" He asks next, making her sigh.

She pauses to think about how to describe a musical. "Erm… people stand on a stage and they act out a story but with songs, music and dancing." She answers.

"Is it like the television?" He asks.

"Yes, you can watch musicals on the television. Actually, I have the Lion King videos at home. We could watch them before Sophie's play." She suggests.

"It might help me understand the story." He nods.

Her cousins finally go quiet as they eat their ice-creams with chocolate sauce and flake but as soon as they're finished, they're running around the garden again, playing hide and seek by themselves or jumping on the trampoline. Hermione's relieved when her grandma and grandad announce that they should head home and put Lauren and Craig to bed since it's a school night. Louise asks her and Draco if they want to head into town for a few drinks. They decline and her Aunt and Darren leave in a taxi not long after. At half nine, Sharon leaves with Mark and Mia. Her mum and dad help her Uncle David tidy up whilst Hermine and Draco take Sophie up to bed. They leave the house at quarter past ten with her parents.

"Are you coming home with us or are you going to… teleport?" Her dad asks, whispering the last word making her laugh.

"We'll come with you, dad." She tells him.

"I'm feeling a lot better Hermione. I'm sure I can manage disapparating home." Draco says, pulling on her arm as they're about to get into the car.

She looks up at him nervously. "Are you sure?" She asks.

"Yes, Hermione. I just want to go home and sleep in our own bed." He tells her.

"I'm not-" She starts but he interrupts her.

"We can't both fit in that bed and I'm not having you sleep on the couch when we have a perfectly good bed at home." He tells her.

She looks him in the eye for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. "Fine, but if you collapse on me when we get there, I'm leaving you there." She warns him.

"No, you won't." He smiles at her and she knows it's true. She'd run and get Blaise to help her.

"We're going home." She turns to tell her parents who were stood at the car watching them. "We'll see you on Saturday morning. We're babysitting Mark and Mia whilst Sharon and Scott go to a wedding." She tells them.

"Are we?" Draco asks confusingly from behind her but she ignores him.

"Okay, take care Draco." Her mum tells him as they climb into car.

They stand in the driveway, watching as her parents reverse and then drive off down the street.

"Come on, we'll disapparate from the side here." She tells him, pulling him over to the path down the side of her Uncle David's house that leads towards the garden.

They stop just before the garden gate and turn on the spot, disapparating away to the estate gate. When they land, Draco stumbles slightly, clutching his head.

"Draco!" She gasps, wrapping around his shoulders but he shrugs her off.

"I'm fine." He tries to reassure her by standing up straight but she can see the pain behind his eyes.

"No you're not. I knew we should have waited an extra day. Come on, you're going straight to bed with a pain relief potion." She states, dragging him through the gate and towards their house.

"Hermione, I'm fine." He tells her again.

"You keep saying that Draco and yet I can see that you're in pain." She argues back quietly since there's a couple walking towards them.

They stay silent as the other couple walk quickly past, casting a nervous glance at them on their way.

"Do think people are ever going to stop looking at us like that?" Hermione asks with a sigh.

"It's me they're looking at." He answers. "They're scared I'm going to kill them in the middle of the street." He adds.

"No they aren't." Hermione shakes her head.

Draco stops, turning to face the couple who were staring back over the shoulder. They quicken their pace once they've realised they've been spotted. "Did you not see how their hands were gripping their wands inside their pockets? Or how the woman looked terrified to be in the presence of a _death eater_? Or how the man looked relieved to be in the presence of a _war hero_? Or how they both looked nervous in case I've corrupted you?" He asks angrily.

"Like I would let you corrupt me." She laughs grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him towards their house. "If anything, I'm the one corrupting you. Bringing you closer to the _good side_." She laughs again trying to lighten the mood but Draco doesn't laugh so she tries to change the topic. "Would you like a cup of tea when we get in?" She asks as she rummages in her pocket for her keys.

"No, I just want to have a shower then go to bed." He tells her, rubbing his forehead.

"With a pain relief potion." She adds, staring sternly at him,

She unlocks the front door then locks it behind them once they've entered. Draco heads straight upstairs and she hears the shower turn on after a few minutes. Hermione busies herself with some tidying up and feeding Athena, who chirps excitedly to see her again. She then takes advantage of Draco's shower to get changed into her pyjamas.

A few minutes after the shower turns off, Draco exits the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Hermione tries not to look at his slightly scared chest as she walks past him to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She wonders not for the first time how he got them but puts the thought to the back of her head as she thinks about tomorrow.

The bedroom door is wide open when she's finished in the bathroom so she enters to find Draco in his pyjama bottoms, hanging clothes in the wardrobe. Hermione climbs into her side of the bed, props herself up against the headboard and watches him.

"I left your potion on the dressing table." She mention.

"Yeah." He mumbles as he continues to rummage through the wardrobe.

She watches him a little longer before speaking up again. "Did you take it?" She asks, looking at the bottom. It doesn't look as though it's moved since she placed it there fifteen minutes ago.

"Not yet." He says, sounding rather lost in thought.

"Are you okay, Draco?" She asks curiously.

Draco pauses at the wardrobe, takes a deep sigh before shutting the door and turning to face her with a grimace on his face.

"I need to tell you something." He tells her.

Hermione's stomach drops as she nervously wonders what he's about to tell her.

"You're not going to like this." He adds, breaking eye contact with her.

She frowns confusingly at him. "Just tell me, Draco." She urges him.

"Can you wait until I've finished telling you everything before you get angry?" He asks her, looking back up into her eyes.

"Why am I going to be angry?" She asks, frowning at him.

Instead of answering, he walks forward until he's stood at the end of their bed where he proceeds to hold out his hand. Hermione looks from his hand to his face and back again in confusion until he opened his hand to reveal the snitch.

"The snitch?" She asks. "I- I don't unders-" She starts but he interrupts her.

"I took it with me." He told her. "To the barbeque." He clarifies.

Her eyes widen. "Draco, what were you thinking?" She asks him, crawling down to the end of the bed to snatch the snitch out of his hand.

"It gets worse." He tells her with a grimace. "I had it in my pocket when I was in the playroom with the children and… it… it must have fallen out."

"Draco, what happened?" She asks with a warning tone.

"Louise came and got me. When I went back they were all huddled together and fighting over it." He pauses. "I don't know who touched it but… it started hovering. I caught it before it started flying around too much."

"What did you tell them?" She asks, still frowning at him.

"I didn't have to tell them anything. They came up with an excuse themselves. Something about an atomic robot." He shrugged. "It made sense to them." He adds.

"Atomic?" She thinks for a second before realising. "Oh, automatic. An automatic robot? They're quite intelligent." She smiles for a second before looking him back in the eye. "I can't believe you would do something this stupid." She shakes her head as she turns away from him and locks the snitch in her bedside cupboard.

"Wait." He calls when she starts to lie down.

"What? Is there more?" She asks, quirking an eyebrow.

"You know what this mean? One of them touched it and it started flying." He repeats.

"Yes, but you said they don't suspect anything, so it should be fine." She tells him, then goes to lie down again.

"Hermione." He calls her name sounding nervous all of a sudden. "A snitch only reveals their wings to those with magic in their blood." He tells her.

She stares at him for a moment. "Are you suggesting one of my cousins is a Muggleborn?" She asks.

"I've been think about it and it makes sense. You are one of the most powerful witches of our time and if your ancestor, Karina Rowle, was descended from the Rowle family then it only makes sense that more than one of your family members would have magical blood. I wouldn't be surprised if more of your ancestors had magic in their blood. There was a time when the Rowle family were more powerful than the Malfoy's ever were." He admits but she shakes her head.

"You're wrong and I told you to leave the whole Rowle thing alone. It doesn't mean anything." She tells him before lying down and covering her head with the quilt.

"Hermione!" He calls but she ignore him.

She hears him sigh as he drinks his potion, then climbs into bed himself.

She feels the tension in the air from unspoken words but they both ignore it for a while until Draco calls her name again. "Hermione, I know you don't want to think about it but what if one of your cousins is a Muggleborn. Wouldn't it be better for you to be there for them to explain our world to them instead of them growing up scared of the magic they won't be able to control yet?" He leaves the question hanging in the room as he turns away from her and eventually falls asleep leaving Hermione lying awake, thinking about everything he's just told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exciting news everyone!
> 
> This November, I will be taking part in NaNoWriMo for the third year in a row.
> 
> NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and basically writers all over the world have the 30 days of November to write 50,000 words (1,667 words a day).
> 
> This year, I've decided to continue to write The Marriage Decree which means I'll be writing every day and you will be getting uploads every 5 days.
> 
> 1st Nov - Chapter 22
> 
> 5th Nov - Chapter 23
> 
> 10th Nov - Chapter 24
> 
> 15th Nov - Chapter 25
> 
> 20th Nov - Chapter 26
> 
> 25th Nov - Chapter 27
> 
> 30th Nov - Chapter 28
> 
> Then you'll get Chapter 29 on 1st December.
> 
> Also, you'll be getting more than 2 chapters in December but I'll inform you of the dates on 30th November.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 22 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

hermione spends hours lying awake in bed, think about what Draco had said, before she decides she isn't going to get any sleep tonight and gets up, grabs a pair of jeans, a shirt and a pair of boots. What she needs right now is to go for a walk and clear her head. She gets dressed in the bathroom, leaving her pyjamas folded on top of the laundry basket before heading downstairs, grabbing a jacket and leaving the house.

It's still pitch black outside, with only a few lamps lighting up the streets. She locks the door behind her and turns left, having never been that way before. She doesn't know what time it is but it must be very early in the hours since all the houses she walks past are all encased in darkness.

'Maybe Draco's right,' she thinks as she turns a corner onto Delta Street. If one of her cousins really does have magic in their blood then she would, of course, take responsibility in teaching them about the wizarding world. She'd read, though, that Muggleborns are usually the only one in the family and extended family with magical blood. Then again, Colin and Dennis Creevey were both Muggleborns, but they were brothers. She'd also read that the majority of Muggleborns could be traced back to a squib at some point in their lineage. Could that squib be Karina Rowle for her?

No. She didn't want to think about it. After hearing about what Draco's great-grandfather did to muggles, who knows what else these pureblood families did for fun. The thought of her descending from one of the most powerful pureblood families in the wizarding world that may have killed her own just for entertainment makes her sick.

She tries to shake the thought from her head but it clings on. There must be a way for her to find out whether she really was descended from the Rowle family. Does the Ministry keep birth records from that long ago? She makes a mental note to finish reading the chapter in 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic' on the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department when she gets home.

She sets off walking faster, eager to get home and find out more about the Ministry. She decides that they should pay Percy and Audrey another visit to ask them what they know about the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department. She doesn't bother to lock the door behind her when she enters, instead, going straight to the bookshelf, where she puts the book last night when she was tidying up. She then takes a seat on the couch and begins to read.

She learns that in 1588, Minister Cedarus Abbott ordered all registration certificates to be alphabetically organised by surname and categorised by type of registration and then moved to sub-level 47 of the Ministry of Magic where they remain to this day. In 1750, Minister Albert Boot ordered that all certificates be reordered into thousands of filing cabinets, one cabinet per family, chronologically organised by date, which apparently sped up finding documentation on a particular person by 14%. By the 1950's most families had at least six filing cabinets and had taken over the entire sub-level which had previously also occupied three other departments.

Hermione sat staring at the book, wondering if there was a way the head of the department would let her in for a quick look at the Rowle's family filing cabinet but she doubted it. She's sure Kingsley would give her permission if she asked him but he'd ask too many questions that she didn't want to answer at the moment. She'd have to stick to questioning Audrey about the job at the ministry and whether she knows anything about the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department.

"Hermione, what are you doing up this early?" Draco asks making her jump.

"I couldn't sleep." She tells him as he comes around and sits down on the couch with a yawn. "I went out for a walk to think things through and I think we need to go talk to Audrey again. She was so close to telling us something on Monday afternoon." She tells him.

"Hermione," He sighs. "It's half five. It's too early to be thinking about this. Come back to bed and we can talk properly about this in the morning." He tells her but she shakes her head.

"No, I need to look over our notes again before we got to see Audrey. We need to know what she knows." Hermione tells him as she pulls her hair back into a ponytail then goes off to fetch her notebook.

She returns to find Draco leaning sleepily against the kitchen counter, pointing his wand at the kettle to speed up the boiling process.

"Aren't you going back to bed?" She asks.

He turns to face her. "And leave you down here to do all the research yourself?" He asks with a scoff. "No." He adds, turning back around when the kettle finishes boiling. "Do you want a cup of tea?" He asks as he pulls two mugs out of the cupboard.

"I think I need a coffee. I didn't get any sleep last night." She tells him before going back into the living room where she spreads her notes out and opens 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic'.

Draco comes back into the living room a few minutes later carrying a tray with two mugs of coffee on it and a plate of buttered toast. She grabs a slice as he sits down and picks up one of the notes and reads it.

"Remind me what we're looking for in all this?" He asks with a yawn.

"Our first priority is to figure out why the Ministry felt the need to force us into marriage." She tells him, grabbing her mug of coffee and taking a sip.

"And our second priority?" He asks, picking up a slice of toast.

Hermione breaks eye contact, looking down at 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic' instead. "To somehow figure out whether I am descended from the Rowle family." She admits.

"I thought you wanted to forget about the Rowle family." He asks.

"Yes, that's my fault. I didn't want to admit it was a possibility." She tells him, looking back up at him. "If one of my cousins really is a Muggleborn then it's better if we find out sooner rather than later when they've already figured out something's different about themselves and they're scared to admit it. I want to be the one to teach them about our world." She tells him.

"I was under the impression that it's very rarely the wife's fault." He announces.

"What? Why would you think that?" She asks, eyeing him up.

"It's just something Blaise told me after our first argument." He admits.

"That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. My being a wife doesn't mean nothing's ever my fault." She tells him. "Anyway, the fault can usually be divided amongst many people, in our case, us. In our first argument, I was angry that you had eavesdropped on me and said some hurtful things that I soon regretted. It was equally both our faults." She admits.

Draco seems to be thinking about something for a moment. "Well, it makes sense that Blaise would think this. He was primarily raised by his mother who must have said some awful things about his multiple stepfathers after their divorces to make her seem innocent." He explains.

"Can we get back to our priorities?" Hermione asks, shuffling around some notes.

He smiles at her. "Of course, I'm glad that you're at least thinking about the possibility of the Rowle's being your ancestors." He tells her and she smiles back at him.

"This brings us to priority three. We need to figure out which of my cousins is Muggleborn." She adds.

"That one should be the easiest." He tells her. "We could just hand each of them the snitch and see which one of them releases the wings." He explains.

"I don't want to use the snitch." She tells him warningly.

"Do you want to hand them your wand and as them to wave it around." He asks jokingly, earning him a glare.

"We'll think of something else later." She mutters. "Now, we need to get researching through our notes and this book." She tells him as she picks up the book and set off re-reading the chapter on the Department of Registration.

Once she's finished with the book, she passes it over to Draco and she sets about reading her notes. She notices a piece of paper that's fallen on the floor. It's the notes about why they were paired together. She'd forgotten about that, more concerned with why the decree was enforced in the first place.

"Priority two is now to find out how they paired people together." She announces and Draco looks up. "That might link in with priority one but I think it deserves its own priority number." She adds.

"I think the best way of figuring our whether the Rowle's are your ancestors is to go check these filing cabinets in sub-level 47." He tells her.

"And how do you suppose we get down into sub-level 47 without authorisation?" She asks him, quirking an eyebrow.

"It's just an idea I had. It's not a well thought out plan yet." He tells her.

"Well, we need to come up with one that doesn't involve asking Kingsley because he'll get suspicious and ask too many questions." She explains. "We could ask Audrey how ministry workers get around the ministry." She suggests.

"I think there are wards on the different departments that only let certain people in," Draco explains. "We'll either need to enter with someone who is already authorised or find a way to authorise ourselves."

"I don't want word getting out that I'm researching my ancestry. I'm sick of being in the papers as it is." She tells him.

"We can still ask Audrey. See if she can tell us something we don't know." He suggests.

"Okay, I think Percy's at work tomorrow morning and I'd prefer to do this without him. He's too prejudice against the ministry." Hermione tells him.

"Okay, I think we've gone over all our notes about five times so I'm going back to bed for a few hours. Are you coming?" He asks as he stands up with a yawn and a stretch.

Hermione nods. "I'll just tidy these up." She motions to the notes scattered across the coffee table.

* * *

Draco heads upstairs with another yawn. The mug of tea having done nothing to wake him up. He climbs straight into bed, pulling the quilt up to cover his shoulders. He waits for Hermione to come up and join him but he ends up falling back asleep.

When he wakes up again, it's to Hermione shaking him awake. He opens his eyes to her kneeling in front of his face.

"It's nearly twelve o'clock." She tells him, which makes him groan. He hates wasting too much time in bed. "I thought we could watch the Lion King today and just rest until Isobel and William's party tonight." She tells him.

He nods as he stretches out under the quilt then rolls out of bed, grabbing some clothes out of the wardrobe then going into the bathroom to get dressed and washed. He exits to find Hermione perched on the edge of their bed waiting for him.

"Since we don't have a TV and my parents don't finish work until six tonight, I thought we could just watch the videos at their house." She explains as they walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Hermione grabs a few owl pellets from the cupboard and goes to feed Athena whilst Draco puts the kettle on and a few slices of toast in the toaster.

"Alright. What time's this party tonight?" He asks as he grabs some jam and milk from the fridge.

"I'm not sure. Megan didn't say." She tells him as she strokes Athena's head. "We could just show up at seven and hope we're not too early." She suggests. "We should bring Athena with us to my parents. We haven't really spent much time with her." She adds.

"I bought a book called 'How to Train your Owl'." He calls from the kitchen.

"I think we should teach her to recognise her name first." She tells him as she enters the kitchen, leaving Athena to eat her breakfast in peace.

"I'll bring the book with me." He says as he makes two cups of teas.

* * *

Hermione grabs the slices of toast that have just popped up from the toaster. She spreads a generous layer of jam on each slice before setting them on a plate.

"Would you like to eat in the garden?" Draco asks, carrying two cups of teas towards the backdoor.

"It looks like a nice day," Hermione answers and follows him towards the door.

They sit in the garden, watching as a few neighbours walk past, sending them a nervous smile before quickening their pace. She wonders when people are going to look at her normally again although, she doesn't think she's been locked normally since the beginning of the war. Even some of her professors at Hogwarts were overly smiley when she entered their classroom and were constantly giving her house points for the smallest things. She hopes that as the years go on, she'll fall from the limelight and finally be able to walk through Diagon Alley without several eyes and whispers following her.

When they've finished their breakfast, Hermione offers to wash up. As she cleans their dirty dishes, she listens to Draco's footsteps as he walks from room to room upstairs. Once she's finished, she grabs Athena's pellet bag and heads into the living room where she notices a few bags next to the couch that she hadn't seen before.

"Draco!" She calls up the stairs as she places the pellet bag on the coffee table.

"Yeah" She hears him call back.

"What are these bags for?" She shouts back. She doesn't want to open them in case there Draco's private things.

A few seconds later, she hears him come down the stairs and then enter the living room, hair brushed forward covering his scar. "What bags?" He asks looking around the room.

"These ones." She points down at them.

He walks closer then sighs once he spots them. "My birthday presents off the Zabini's." He grumbles.

"What did they get you?" She asks picking up a large green bag and reaching inside.

"NO!" Draco shouts making her jump. "Don't take him out." He says.

She pauses with her hand in the bag then cautiously takes it out. "What's in there?" She asks trying to peek inside but there's tissue paper in the way.

"A garden gnome." He tells taking the bag off her.

"And you've kept it in here all this time?" She asks, trying to snatch it back.

"It's not real." He clarifies. "It's a muggle one." He says, then with a sigh, he reaches in a takes a very colourful, very muggle gnome out.

She stares at it for a moment before glancing up at Draco. "Why didn't you want me to take it out?" She asks reaching out to take it but Draco pulls it away.

"Blaise charmed it to talk and he doesn't shut up." He says, glaring down at the gnome.

"Why isn't he talking now?" She asks inching closer to get a better look.

Draco turns it around to look at his face. "I'm not sure." He says, then shakes him slightly.

"To prove I can shut up. Now stop shaking me, you little nincompoop." The gnome says as he swings his little fists at Draco.

"Shut up, Geoffrey," Draco tells him then shakes him a little harder.

Hermione reaches over and takes the gnome out of his hands. "You called him Geoffrey?" She asks as the gnome squirms in her hands.

"He named himself Geoffrey." Draco scoffs. "He likes telling jokes."

"What did the big chimney say to the little chimney?" Geoffrey asks as if to prove the point but when no one answers he shrugs and answers himself. "You're too young to be smoking." He says then burst out laughing.

"He's going back in the bag." Draco makes to snatch at him but Hermione moves him away.

"Does he move?" She asks.

"Blaise said he stays in one place and only talks when someone walks past." He mentions, glaring at the gnome.

"Then we'll keep him at the end of our garden path." She tells him. "Now, what are in the other bags?" She asks.

Draco picks up the sparkly, pink one with fur trimming and takes out another muggle garden ornament. A plastic, pink, flamingo.

"It's not charmed, is it?" She asks, not wanting a flamingo wandering around her garden, squawking at people.

"No, Blaise tried but she just squawked really loudly so he took the charm off." He explains.

"Well, she can keep Geoffrey company." She says before looking down at the last bag.

"Is there a plastic frog in that one?" She asks, looking down at the last yellow bag.

"That one's off Luna." He smiles reaching down to grab the bag. "It's a dreamcatcher. " He says, taking it out. "We're supposed to hang it five feet above out bed and it somehow filters the bad dreams from your subconscious." He adds.

"Why don't you go hang that up and I'll take Geoffrey and the flamingo outside." She suggests.

Draco looks at her for a moment and she sees something in his eyes. A mixture of hope and worry. Hope that it'll work and worry that it won't but he nods and heads upstairs anyway. Hermione takes Geoffrey and the flamingo outside and positions them either side of their back gate.

* * *

Draco takes the dreamcatcher upstairs. When Luna had given him it, he hadn't been sure if he actually wanted to use it. The thought of his nightmares leaving him sounded rather doubtful and he didn't want to get his hopes up only to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because of another bad dream. Although, there was no harm in trying and his nightmares hadn't been so bad recently so maybe it was worth a try.

He uses a stinking charm to hold the dreamcatcher in place, exactly five feet above their bed, then steps back to look at it. For something that supposedly had the power to filter out bad dreams, it was awfully small. He casts one last quick look at it before heading back downstairs where he finds Hermione talking to Athena.

"Are you ready?" He asks pulling his jacket on.

She turns around with a bright smile and picks up Athena in her cage.

"Yeah. Let's go." She tells him as she heads into the hall where she pulls her own jacket and shoes on then exits out the door.

Draco locks the door behind him then they make their way towards the gate. They're just about to exit the gate when he hears someone calling his names from behind him. He turns around to find Gregory running towards him. They stop and wait for him to catch up.

"Draco!" He gasps breathless, hand on his chest whilst he catches his breath.

"What's wrong?" He asks, resting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Blaise… he said… you were in… St Mungo's." He says between breaths.

"It was nothing." Draco tries to reassure him.

"That scar doesn't look like nothing." He says standing taller.

Frowning, he flattens his hair down over his scar. "It's nothing." He repeats.

Gregory narrows his eyes for a second before shrugging. "Are you coming to the party tonight?" He asks.

"Yeah, we'll be there." He tells him.

"If Draco's feeling alright we will be." Hermione interrupts, sending him a look.

"Well…" He says looking between him and Hermione. "I might see you there then." He says then turns around and walks off.

"He must be feeling chatty today." He stares after his friend. "He never usually talks that much," Draco mentions as they walk through the gate.

Hermione grabs his hands, giving him milliseconds to prepare for disapparation. Draco stumbles as they apparate in the alley behind the Granger's house. Hermione quickly wraps her free arm around him to stop him from collapsing.

"I'm fine." He mutters. "I wasn't prepared." He tries to tell her as he tries to stand by himself but a sharp pain stabs him in the forehead making him double over.

"Stop lying, Draco." She tells him warningly. "Come on we need to get you into the house." She pulls him towards the back gate, a little harder than she usually would.

Once in the kitchen, she pushes him into one of the kitchen chairs, placing Athena in her cage on the table, whilst she prepares a cup of tea and takes out a pain relief potion from her bag, which she then roughly places on the table in front of him. He thanks her but she ignores him. Draco proceeds to take the potion then sigh in relief as the effects wash over him.

He opens Athena's cage and lets her fly out. She flutters around his head a few times before settling on his shoulders.

"Hello, Athena." He greets her and she chirps at him. "That's your name. Athena." He tells her and she chirps again. "Do you recognise your name?" He asks and she chirps once more. "Or do you just like chirping?" He asks but this time she didn't make a noise, just stares blankly past him. "I think she already knows her name." He announces to Hermione.

"Come on." She snaps at him then walks down the corridor towards the living room.

He quickly follows behind, with Athena still on his shoulder, in hopes of not making her any angrier, although, when he enters the room, Hermione's already at the television pressing some buttons. The cups of tea were sat on the coffee table. The only sign that she wasn't too angry with him was that both cups were closer to the couch than Chris's chair which Draco took to mean he should sit on the couch, so he did. He picks up the cup closest to him and takes a sip. Suddenly, Athena flutters down and dips her beak in the hot tea. He tries to stop her but when she doesn't cry in pain, he lets her have a few more sips. When she's done, she returns to his shoulder and ruffles her feathers.

When Hermione turns around to see him sat there she frowns at him for a split second before taking her own place on the couch, leaving a gap between them.

"Are you ready?" She turns to ask him.

"Ready for what?" He asks in return not sure what she's on about.

"To watch the Lion King?" She answers with a small frown and he remembers that the only reason they're currently sat in his parents-in-law's living room is so they could watch this film.

"Oh, yes, I'm ready." He answers, then turns his body towards the television and gets comfortable against the arms of the couch.

Hermione presses a button on the remote and the television springs to life playing the film.

He's confused at first since he had expected the characters to be real but they weren't. He's not sure what they are but he gets used to it after a while. He finds himself tapping his leg along with the songs until Hermione places her hand on his knee to stop him. He looks at her expecting to find her glaring at him but she was smiling in amusement.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it." She tells him, then turns back to the television but she doesn't move her hand which he finds distractive as he wonders why she'd left it there.

She mustn't be that angry with him anymore if she's willingly touching him. He concentrates back on the television with a small smile on his face that he tries to hide which reminds him that hiding his feelings and emotions is what got him into this mess.

"Hermione?" He whispers, leaning towards her, startling Athena who flies off to sip more of his tea.

She removes her hand as she presses a button on the remote, which makes the television stop, the turns to face him with her eyebrows raised questioningly.

"I'm sorry." He looks her straight in the eye so she knows he's being sincere

Her eyebrows fall as she smiles. "For what?" He urges him and he sighs a laugh.

"For lying about being in pain." He adds a quick smile. "Lucius taught me to never show any weaknesses. It's the pureblood way. Never let your feelings or emotions get in the way and you'll succeed. I'm finding it difficult to change the way I think about these things." He admits.

Hermione nods. "Thank you for explaining it." She tells him. "I hope you know that feelings and emotions and pain don't make you weaker, they male you stronger." She adds, taking his hands in hers.

"I'm not so sure about that." He mutters.

"Well, I am." She said giving his hands a squeeze. "Why did you testify against your father, Draco?" She asked him, making him still and stare at her confusingly.

"Lucius is a dangerous man." He answers vaguely.

"Then why not testify against the rest of the Death Eaters. They're all dangerous people." Hermione asks calmly.

Draco stared at her wondering where she was going with this. Was she trying to get him to confess to something? Was she trying to prove her point?

"Draco?" She asks still calm.

"I WAS SCARED." He shouts, jumping up from the couch, making Athena squawk at him angrily. He begins the pace in front of her. "I knew that no matter how many Death Eaters I testified against, I couldn't testify against them all. I didn't know them all and at least one of them wold come after me for turning my back on them. I let my fear cloud my judgement. I was only thinking about myself and my mother not the greater good." He explained, hands running desperately through his hair.

"The thing about the greater good is that it only concerns the good of the greater population and that rarely ever concerns yourself. Too many mistakes have been made for the greater good. It's time we all started acting for ourselves and those we love." She told him, leaning forward of the edge of the couch. "You testified against him to protect yourself and your mother?" She asks for clarification.

Draco nods, not sure what she's getting at. "Kingsley wanted him put under house arrest but I refused. I couldn't have him near my mother, poisoning her, brainwashing her to do whatever deeds he needed doing. I told him to send him straight to Azkaban and lose the key. He sentenced him to fifteen years. It doesn't seem enough, does it?" He scoffs. "But he never actually killed anyone, not this time anyway and only tortured seven people who all forgave him." He laughs in disgust.

"They all forgave him," Hermione asks in disbelief.

"Everyone has a price." He mutters as he lets himself fall back onto the couch, feeling dizzy from pacing around the living room.

"He paid them off?" She gasps.

His vision swims around as he nods.

"Draco!" She shakes his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asks, moving in front of his eyes.

"Noth-" He starts but stops himself. "I'm dizzy. Can't see." He mutters for fear he'll throw up if he speaks any louder.

"Lie down and close your eyes." She orders him so he does.

Hermione perches on the edge of the couch stroking his hair back soothingly as he lays back and thinks of his father. If only he'd come to his senses earlier and seen him for who he really was. He could have gone to Dumbledore and taken him up on his offer to help keep him safe. He can feel Athena fluttering around his head before landing on his shoulder again. She pecks at his ear once which, strangely, is a comfort.

"You're a lot stronger than you know, Draco," Hermione whispers to him which he finds soothing.

"No." He shakes his head.

"Yes." She insists. "You were scared of what your father would do under house arrest to your mother. You used that fear to take matters into your own hands and asked Kingsley to send him to Azkaban. It was very brave of you." She says, then chuckles. "It's very Gryffindor of you."

Draco opens his eyes and glares at her. "If anything, I was being very Slytherin showing my self-preservation."

Hermione continues to laugh. "Either way, your fear made you stronger, not weaker. I'm glad I got paired with you. Someone who can push past his fears and protect his family." She tells him and he's not sure he can handle the wave of emotion that hits him so he closes his eyes tightly and nods his thanks to Hermione, who must sense he need to be left with his thoughts and turns the television back onto the Lion King.

Draco sits back up against the arm of the couch but keeps his eyes closed for a while thinking through what Hermione had just told him. Who would have thought a week ago at the Ceremony that they would both be glad to be married to each other? He'd never have thought he would owe Kingsley his thanks but he did. Without the decree, Draco's not sure what he would be doing right now. Probably moping around the manor or traipsing around Diagon Alley with Blaise. Although he has no doubt in his mind that Blaise and Luna would still have gotten together. Maybe the three of them would have gone to the Leaky Cauldron a few times. It wouldn't have lasted long, though. Blaise would try to still come and see him but eventually he'd spend more time with Luna until Draco was lucky to see him once a month. He'd probably snap at him and he wouldn't hear from him again until he got a wedding invitation which he wouldn't attend. Then maybe a few years later, he read an announcement in the Daily Prophet about the birth of their first child. His mother would have sent a congratulation card with his name added at the bottom but he wouldn't hear anything back. It would have been too late. There would have been too much time spent apart. He would have been alone for the rest of his life. He probably owed Kingsley a lot more than a thank you.

He must have fallen asleep because he opens his eyes to find the television black again and Hermione asleep, lying across his chest. She must have fallen asleep during the film and then slipped down the couch onto him because he doubts she would have willingly used him as a pillow. He argues with himself whether to wake her or not. He decides not to since she looks so peaceful. He moves a few strands of hair out of her face and almost laughs at how far they've come. Hermione had called him her friend the other day. In all the years he's known her, he would never have thought they'd ever be any more than arch enemies.

Athena flies over to him from Merlin knows where as she senses his consciousness. After a few circles of his head, she settles on his shoulder.

"Hello, Sarah." He greets her, testing to see if she really does recognise her name.

She tilts her head confusingly to once side.

"Athena?" He asks her. She chirps excitedly making him chuckle. "Hello, my dear." He greets her properly and she hops towards him, snuggling herself against his cheek.

His fingers are still coming through Hermione's hair when she wakes up with a yawn. Once she realises where she is and that she's lying on him, she jumps away from him, muttering apologies as she stands up.

"It's fine." He tells her, standing up himself, Athena digging her tiny claws into his shoulder to stop herself being thrown off, and stretching out his limbs.

"Oh, the films finished. I'll go make us a sandwich. We should probably go to the shop and buy my parents some shopping since we've used so much of it recently without even asking them." She continues to ramble on as she walks into the kitchen.

He leans against the counter and watches as she put the kettle on to boil, then grabs the sandwich ingredients. Athena lands atop a cupboard between them, which he assumes is so she can hear both of them.

"Hermione!" He calls her name to get her attention.

"Hmmm." She hums as she butters four slices of bread.

"I'm glad we got paired together too." He admits.

Hermione stares at him for a moment before blushing furiously and looking back down at the bread.

"You saved me from an inevitably lonely, depressing future." He adds.

She drops the knife on the chopping board and looks up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Draco!" She gasps.

"It's true. I was heading down a path I'm not sure I would have been capable of getting off without you." He says staring down at the bread, avoiding her teary eyes.

Then without warning, Hermione throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her body tightly. It takes a moment for Draco to respond and wrap his own arms around her waist. He's still not used to being in such close proximity with anyone which is why it really shocks him when Hermione presses her lips to his own in a chaste kiss.

It only lasts a second before Hermione is backing away, apologising profusely. He hears her run up the stairs, two at a time, then lock the bathroom door. His finger ghosts across his lips. Hermione Granger just kissed him. On his lips. A tingling sensation is still pulsating through them. He absentmindedly licks his lips as remembers his first and last kiss.

It was Christmas Eve during his fifth year, he had been trying to enter the Slytherin common room when Millicent Bulstrode had tried to exit. He'd glared at her to move out the way but when she's tried they discovered they were stood underneath one of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes Mistletoe. They'd been stuck under it for ten minutes before Draco had given up on trying to find a countercharm, and just kissed her. He'd then pointed his wand at her throat, scaring her into never telling anyone. Ever.

He shakes his head from the memory as he runs up the stairs after Hermione, Athena following behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please, COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 23 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione locks the door both the muggle way and the wizarding way before perching on the side of the bath, head in her hands. Why did she do that? She knows why. Draco was being so honest with her and she'd let her emotions get the better of her. She was surprised enough when she'd thrown herself at him for a hug but then she had to go and kiss him.

Suddenly there's a short rap at the door. "Hermione, we both know I can easily unlock this door if you don't let me in." He repeats her words from last night, making her laugh.

"I'd like to see you try." She chuckles.

She hears him tap the door handle with his wand then try to turn the handle but of course, it didn't open.

"I'm impressed!" He mentions surprised.

"Thanks." She replies. "It's my own charm." She adds. "We couldn't have just anyone getting into our hiding places when we were on the run last year." She explains. "I'm sorry, Draco." She tells through the door.

"For what?" He asks, making her huff a laugh.

"For kissing you. I don't know why I did it." She lies. "I know we've only just become friends and we would probably have to kiss in the future but I don't think either of us thought it would happen so soon." She stands up, starting to pace the bathroom. "I mean we've only been married a week." She tries to explain.

She hears Draco laugh on the other side of the door.

"What are you laughing at?" She stops in front of the door, leaning against it.

"We've only been married a week." He repeats. "Most married couples have their first kiss long before they even get engaged."

Hermione laughs as well. "We're not exactly like most married couples." She mentions.

"To be honest, I don't actually know many married couples who did kiss before their marriage. My parents didn't, neither do most pureblood couples." He says.

"Harry and Ginny did, obviously." She points out.

"Blaise and Luna as well." He adds.

"Blaise and Luna?" She asks slightly shocked.

"Yeah, they went on a few dates before Christmas. Blaise came back with pink lipstick smudges all over his face and looking very giddy." Draco explains.

She knew that they'd gone on a few dates but she hadn't known that they'd kissed.

"I'm assuming by their reaction to being paired together that Thomas and Finnegan had also kissed before their marriage?" Draco asks.

She hears him shuffling around on the other side of the door and then the sound of his body scraping against the wall as he slid to the floor. Hermione follows suit, sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall.

"I'd assume as much too but I was just as surprised as everyone else was when they got paired. I don't think anyone knew about their relationship." She tells him.

"I'm more surprised they kept it a secret for so long. There are very few secrets that stay a secret within the walls of Hogwarts. Especially with all the paintings and ghost walking around the castle." He points out.

"I'm more surprised that Harry, Ron and Neville didn't notice something. I remember finding them almost lying on top of each other, asleep on the couches in our common room early one morning but I just assumed they'd drifted off and fallen onto each other during the night. We don't even know how long they've been together. It might have been years or just a few months." She comments.

"I would guess a year or so from the way Thomas ran down that aisle and the way Finnegan hugged him." He sighs.

Hermione's not sure what that sigh means since she can't see his face, but it sounds almost like jealousy. Not that he would ever admit it.

"A part of me is jealous of them." She mutters before she can stop herself. "It would have been nice to have been in love before the ceremony." She adds as an explanation.

"Are you taking back your earlier statement already?" Draco jokes, although she can hear the serious undertones beneath.

"Of course not." She replies quickly before he starts to doubt her. "I just wish I'd been given the opportunity to fall in love before I got married." She says with a sigh.

"You can always divorce me." He jokes again in the same tone.

"I've told you that I'm not going to divorce you unless you give me a reason to." She tells him and when he doesn't reply, she carries on talking. "I planned on starting my career before settling down and having children but it looks like we're going to have to do it the other way round."

"What is it you want to go into?" Draco questions through the door.

"Ever since I started primary school, I've wanted to be a teacher. Nothing's changed since I discovered the wizarding world." She admits, turning her head to face where she assumes Draco is sat on the other side of the door.

"Which subject?" He asks.

"Transfiguration, definitely." She answers straight away.

"Really?" Draco wonders aloud. "I always thought you'd prefer charms." He mentions.

"No, when I first got my school books, back in the summer before the first year, I was most interested in transfiguration. The first thing most muggles think of when they think of magic is turning things into frogs. When I discovered that transfiguration is so much more than that, I fell in love with the subject." She admits.

"Why a frog?" He questions, making her laugh.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's got something to do with the witch trials back in the seventeenth century." She suggests. "What about you? What does your future hold?" She asks.

"I'd have to check the tea leaves, crystal balls and stars for I haven't an idea." He tells her.

"What did you want to do when you were a child?" She asks, looking up at the locked door handle.

"Lucius wanted to make a ministry man out of me. I wanted to be a professional Quidditch player." He chuckles. "Now, I'm not sure if there's anyone who would be willing to employ me." He sighs.

With a flick of her wand, the door unlocks then flies back, bouncing off the bath. The action makes Draco jump slightly. She reaches out to take his hand in hers as Athena excitedly flies over and lands on her shoulder.

"You need to have a little faith, Draco. Professor McGonagall would gladly have you as a professor if that's what you wished." She tells him, giving his hand a slight squeeze but he simply shrugs and continues to glance down at their clasped hands. "We both know you are probably the best potions student since Severus Snape himself." She stares at him until he looks up and meets her eyes. "And I've seen you explaining the ins and outs of potions to Blaise on more than one occasion. You're obviously passionate about the subject, Draco."

"That's what happens when Severus is your Godfather and spends two weeks of his summer in Malfoy Manor's guest room." He mutters glancing back down at their hands.

"Is this okay?" She asks squeezing his hand. "I should have asked." She adds as she tried to untangle her hand but he holds on tighter.

"You don't have to ask for permission to hold my hand." He looks back up at her face, sending her a soft smile.

She smiles back as she drops his hand then spins her body around, startling Athena, so she's sat against the wall, next to Draco. She looks him in the eye with a smirk as she grabs hold of his hand again.

"I might take advantage of that." She murmurs, getting flashbacks to Hogwarts. She often finds herself thinking back to their past whenever she touches Draco. She can't quite believe how far they've come and now he's given her open permission to hold his hand.

"You don't exactly need permission to hug me either." He adds smirking back at her.

She narrows her eyes at him for a moment, unsure of where this is going when she decides that there's no harm in resting her head against his shoulder.

She sighs contently when Draco adds, "Or kiss me," in a barely audible whisper.

She lifts her head off his shoulder, slightly shocked. She just stares at him for a few seconds before placing a hand on the side of his neck, where she can feel his pulse quicken as she leans closer to his ear. "Don't push your luck." She whispers to him before pulling away. "I think we should go shopping before my parent's get home. Maybe we can cook them dinner as a thank you for not changing the locks." She suggests and he just nods with a soft blush dusting his cheeks.

She chuckles to herself as she heads down the stairs, Athena flying after her.

Draco can't quite believe he just gave Hermione permission to kiss him again. He's surprised she hadn't slapped him for it, although, from the warmth on his cheeks, she did leave a red mark on his face. He'd actually thought she was going to kiss him for a moment and frozen again until she'd whispered in his ear. He's almost glad she didn't. He's not exactly experienced in the area and would have most likely embarrassed himself further.

He tries to push all thought of kissing Hermione out of his mind as he scrambles to his feet and heads downstairs where he finds Hermione tidying the living room and kitchen. He helps her with washing and drying the dishes, leaving her to put them away in the correct cupboard.

A few minutes later, they're pulling their shoes on and leaving through the front door. As soon as Hermione locks the door, they set off towards the market. Draco smiles to himself when she takes his hand in hers again. He takes that to mean she's not annoyed at him for asking her to kiss him.

"We should probably watch the Lion King again when we get back. Can you remember where we got up to?" She asks as she guides him down the street.

"There was a song. Simba was a lot older. It might have been about love." He suggests with a shrug. He didn't remember much after she paused it.

"Oh yeah, Elton John." She laughs. "My Grandma Emily loves Elton John." She adds, leading him left down a street.

"Who's he?" Draco asks curiously.

"He's a famous muggle singer. He wrote 'Can you feel the love tonight' for the Lion King. My Grandma took me to see it at the cinema when it first came out about five years ago. She wouldn't stop talking about Elton John." She chuckles then starts talking more about this Elton John.

Draco doesn't know what a cinema is but from she said, he assumes it's somewhere you got to watch television and musicals. He's not sure why muggles need a place to go watch television if they've got one in their house. He tunes back into Hermione as she trying to describe the tune to a song about a crocodile. He just nods as she guides him across the road.

"It's just on the other side of this bridge." She points out as she pulls him down some steps towards the bridge. "We'll just pop in for five or ten minutes. I want to take you to this record shop just down the road from Kings Cross actually." She tells him.

"Okay, what do we need from here?" He asks.

"Just some milk, bread, and something for my parents tonight. Maybe a chicken dinner. We can take some home for dinner tomorrow, I don't think I've eaten a vegetable since the ceremony." She jokes seriously.

"There were carrots in my Spaghetti Bolognese." He mentions.

"Great," She rolls her eyes. "One piece of vegetable a week. You know the recommended is five fruit and vegetables a day?" She asks rhetorically.

"We might want to go to the market when we get home then. I think the closest thing we have to a vegetable is half a block of cheese." He tells her quite seriously.

"I don't think we'll have time if we're going to this party tonight and having dinner with my parents. We might as well just get everything we need here." She says. "We won't get too much. Just some things for the next couple of days." She adds as they make their way through rows upon rows of cars.

"I don't have any muggle money, though." He comments.

"Well, I do." She shakes her head. "You don't have to pay for everything, Draco." She tells him.

"You paid last time and then you also paid for my treatment at St. Mungo's." He points out.

"How do you know I paid for it?" She asks, stopping just before they were about to cross the road.

"Healer Matthew said you'd already filled out my vault details for payment for treatment but I've never given you my vault details." He points out.

"I didn't want to worry you with paying for your treatment as soon as you'd woken up so I just gave them my vault number." She shrugs d carries on across the road.

"How much was it?" He asks, jogging to catch up with her.

"I'm not sure. It doesn't matter, though. It's been paid for." She tells him.

"I need to pay you back." He tells her.

"No, you don't. If it's any consolation, it wasn't exactly _my_ money." She says. "It was the compensation I received from the ministry after the war. I didn't want it but Kingsley insisted. I threw it in my vault and left it there. At least it was put to some good." She clarifies as he frowns at her questionably.

"I still want to pay you back." He tells her.

Hermione sighs, stopping once more. "If it means that much to you, you can buy our shopping for the next two months. Okay?" She asks.

"Fine." He sighs.

"Great, I'll grab a small trolley."

Hermione lets go of his hand leaving it feeling cold and empty. He follows behind her as she places on of those gold pound coins into the trolley. She leads him over to what he thinks is the entrance but he's not entirely sure as there's no door, just moving panes of glass.

"What this?" He asks as Hermione continues to walk towards it.

"What's what?" She asks, pausing just before the glass to look back at him.

"The moving glass?" He clarifies.

She looks back at the glass then back to Draco, as though asking if he's serious, before smiling then chuckling to herself.

"It's a revolving door. It's supposed to filter customers through at a safer pace." He explains.

"How do you use it?" He asks, feeling stupid.

"Wait for the openings, enter, shuffle along until you're on the other side, then exit." She instructs him the sets off through the door.

He watches her as she takes small steps whilst pushing the trolley around then exits on the other side. She turns around and waves him through. He slowly waits for the door to move so he can enter into an opening when a lady pushes past him into the door he was just about to enter. He sighs then waits for the next door but then a man shows up with a little girl in his trolley pushes in front of him. He looks through the glass door at Hermione, who's laughing as an older lady with a walking stick, dawdles past, scoffing at him as she goes. He sees the lady grumble something to Hermione before carrying on into the market. He takes a few steps forward until he's only a few inches away from the glass, claiming the next opening as his own. When it comes around, he steps straight into it but for some reason, the door just stops dead in its tracks making him almost walk straight into the still glass. He looks confusingly behind him, where a few other people were waiting to enter, then over at Hermione, who's still laughing at him. Suddenly, the door starts moving again, making Draco jump. He shuffles forward until there's an opening again. He throws himself out of the door, which makes it stop again. He glances behind as he walks over to Hermione to see the people inside the door looking annoyingly at him.

"I don't know why _you're_ laughing." He stares at her pointedly, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry, Draco," She laughs. "But it was funny. Watching you try to use such a simple piece of muggle technology." She explains.

"That was not simple." He frowns. "It was moving too fast and then it just stopped."

"It stopped because you were in the way. They have motion detectors that stop the door if anything blocks them so people don't get their arms or trolleys trapped in them." She explains a little too cheerfully. "And if you think that was fast, I can't wait to show you an escalator." She giggles as she pushes the trolley towards the fruit.

Draco looks around the shop for the first time since entering. He hadn't expected it to be so large. What he expected to be a fruit aisle, turned out to be about the size of the entire market on the estate.

"Are all muggle markets this big?" He questions as Hermione throws some carrots and broccoli into the trolley.

"This is only a medium sized supermarket." She tells him. "Some have an upstairs as well." She explains as she carries on throwing fruit and vegetables into the trolley.

"If you want some more apples, go and get some." She tells him before going around the corner.

Draco glances around at all the fruit. He didn't recognise some of it which he thought was strange since he assumed muggles and wizards ate much of the same food. He picks up the closest fruit which has a furry, brown texture. Do muggles actually eat this? He wonders as he frowns at the fruit in his hand.

"It's a kiwi fruit." Someone tells him.

He looks up from the fruit to find a girl around his age smiling at her.

"Do you actually eat this?" He asks looking back at the fruit.

The girl laughs, pushing her long brunette hair over her shoulder. "I don't personally, but some people do."

"But it's furry." He frowns at her.

"It's like a banana, you don't eat the skin. You cut it in half then eat the insides." She says, looking curiously at him. "I can't believe you've never seen a kiwi fruit before."

Draco just stares at her, not sure what to say that won't make her suspicious of him so he just shrugs and places the kiwifruit back down on the pile.

"Not for you then." She laughs.

"No, I much prefer apples." He tells her glancing around the fruits and vegetables for a glimpse of an apple.

"I need some apples too. They're over here. Come on, I'll show you." She flashes him a smile as she pushes her trolley over to where he assumes the apples are. "Are you a green or red apple kind of man?" She asks.

"Definitely green." He answers. "They're far juicier than the red ones." He adds as they walk past another display of fruit.

Draco spots a bright pink fruit with green spikes out the corner of his eyes. "What is that?" He asks curiously going over to the strange fruit.

"I think it's a dragon fruit." The girl tells him which makes him chuckle.

He picks one up and turns it around curiously.

"What's so funny?" She asks.

"My name is Latin for dragon." He mutters as he grabs a small plastic bag and places the fruit inside.

"So what's your name, Dragonus?" She asks, laughing.

"No," He glares at her. "It's Draco."

"Sorry, I don't think schools even teacher Latin anymore." She mentions as they set off for the apples again. "My parents named me after a mythical creature too." She mentions. "I'm Vanessa." She holds her hand out for him to shake, which he does in confusion. "Or Nessie." She adds with a laugh.

He smiles politely but doesn't understand what creature a Nessie is. She stares at him for a second, probably expecting some other kind of reaction.

"Like the Loch Ness Monster." She tries to clarify. "Nessie." She repeats.

Draco had always known that muggles had thought dragons, unicorns and vampires to be mythical but he hadn't been aware that they thought the Rapha Homalopsinae was mythical too. He realises that he's been lost in thought, staring for a while.

"I wasn't named after dragons, I was named after a constellation." He explains, trying to change the topic of conversation.

"I wasn't really named after the Loch Ness Monster either." She admits. "I just tell people that to sound more interesting." She laughs again as they stop in front of the apple display.

He places three green apples into another small plastic bag, tying the handles in a knot, whilst Nessie grabs her own apples. "Thank you for showing me the apples." He tells her. She frowns at him confusedly. "You're welcome." She laughs. "What do you need next?" She asks pushing her trolley around the same corner Hermione had.

"Thank you for showing me the apples." He tells her. She frowns at him confusedly.

"You're welcome." She laughs. "What do you need next?" She asks pushing her trolley around the same corner Hermione had.

Draco follows her, hoping to find Hermione somewhere nearby but all he sees is an old man trying to decide between two loaves of bread.

Hermione manages to find everything she needs to cook her parents a nice chicken dinner this afternoon and some extras like milk, bread and eggs. As well as some fruit and vegetables for themselves. She sets back off for the fruit and vegetable sections, wondering what's taking Draco so long. He was only looking for some apples. She turns a corner, into the bread section, and nearly crashes into a girl around her age.

"Sorry." She apologises subconsciously glancing over her shoulder trying to find Draco.

"Hermione." She hears Draco call her name and glances to the right of the girl to find him stood next to her.

"Draco!" Her stomach twinges in jealousy but she tries to ignore it.

"Where have you been?" She asks, looking at the girl, who's frowning at her.

"I couldn't find the apples but Nessie offered to help." He explains as he places two small bags in their trolley. "She's not named after the Rapha Homalopsinae." He adds, which confuses her.

"The what?" She asks with a frown.

"I think he means the Loch Ness Monster. Don't you Draco?" The girl asks, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Hermione glares daggers at the smirking girl.

"So how do you know Draco?" She asks with a forced smile. "Work colleagues?" She suggests.

Hermione turns her attention to Draco, who's staring at the girl's hand on his shoulder. She watches as he steps away, looking offended.

"No, we're married." He clarifies as he steps closer to Hermione. Hermione can't help but smile at the girl's reaction.

"Really? You didn't mention it." She says, obviously trying to make Hermione jealous but she just continues to smile at her.

"He doesn't need to tell everyone he meets that he's married so they don't flirt with him." She jibes at her.

"Goodbye, Draco." She scoffs as she pushes past them

"Is Hermione Granger jealous?" He asks with a slight smirk as they set off for the checkouts.

"Of course not," She scoffs.

"I just felt sorry for her, flirting with a married man."

"I don't think she was actually flirting with me," Draco mentions.

"No, she definitely was." She huffs. "The way she touched your shoulder was very flirtatious." She snaps in annoyance.

"Are you sure you're not jealous?" He asks, but she simply glares at him to shut him up.

She places all their shopping on the conveyor belt of a free till. Draco tries to help but he doesn't know how to place them so the eggs won't get cracked and the fruit are all together so she tells him to stop. Instead, he stands at the end of the till, watching her as she packs the shopping correctly.

"There's a system." She explains. "All the fruit and vegetables go in one bag then I like to put the bread on top so it doesn't get squashed." She places that bag back in the trolley. "Then the drinks go in this one." She places the milk and lemonade bag next to the fruit and vegetable bag. "And then the cans and jars go in one bag with the eggs on top so they don't crack." She finishes putting the last bag in the trolley. She turns to face the cashier man, who's staring at them curiously.

"That'll be £24.56." He tells her with a customer service smile.

She hands him £25 then waits for her change. Once he hands 44p over, she puts it in the muggle money side of her purse, places it back in her bag then pushes the trolley towards the exit.

"Hold the trolley with me." She tells him.

He looks at her curiously but places a hand on the trolley.

"Unless you want to go through the revolving door by yourself again." She smiles at him, making him roll his eyes.

As they come up to the door, Draco tries to slow down but Hermione pushes the trolley straight towards it and into an opening. She sees him do a little jump so not to get stuck in the door, which makes her chuckle and Draco glares at her.

"Here, you can carry the drinks bag and the jars and cans bag. They're the heaviest." She tells him after they've exited the revolving door.

"Why do I have to carry the heaviest bags?" He complains as he takes them anyway.

"Well Mr Quidditch player," She brushes his hair out of his face to reveal his makeup covered scar. "You have more upper body strength than I do." She tells him, picking up the fruit and vegetable bag.

"They're not that heavy anyway." He mutters as they set off walking.

"Good, I want to take a little detour to that record shop. It's not that far away from here. Just a ten-minute walk." She tells him as she guides him down a street towards other shops. "I'm going to warn you now. We have to go up an escalator to get to the record shop." She mentions. "They're moving stairs but not in the Hogwarts sense. The steps move." She adds at Draco look of confusion.

"Why do muggles feel the need to make stationary fixtures move? Do you have moving windows too?" He asks rhetorically.

"Well, you can get remotes that open windows for you when you press a button." She admits. "But that's usually for skyscrapers." She adds when Draco glares at her pointedly.

When they come up to the three-story shopping centre, Draco stops suddenly to stare up at it in awe.

"This is a shop?" He asks doubtfully.

"It's a shopping centre. There are about sixty shops in there. It's as though the whole of Diagon Alley was in one building." She explains watching his face as he takes it all in. "The record shop is on the first floor. Come on." She pulls him by the sleeve towards the doors which, thankfully, are completely normal.

She tries to pull him straight towards the escalator but he stops at every shop on the way to gawp in the windows.

"How did they get a car in there?" He asks at one shop with a car in the window.

"I don't know, Draco." Hermione sighs out of boredom. "Maybe through a back door. Come on, we don't have time to look at every shop. We can come back another day if you want." She tells him, pulling him towards the escalator.

"Fine." He sighs allowing her to drag him over.

"Okay, you go first so I'm not left stranded at the top waiting for you." She tells him.

"I'm not scared." He scoffs.

"I didn't say you were but just be careful because this goes faster than the door." She reminds him as she places her hand on his back to guide him.

He stops just in front of it to let a young lady with a toddler on, then, before he can let anyone else on, she pushes him forward. He inches forward until he's a few inches away from the moving steps. She gives him a little reassuring nudge and he steps forward, however, with only one foot. As his right foot starts moving ahead, he panics and jumps back but misjudges the distance and ends up toppling over backwards. Hermione, with her hand still on his back, pushes him awkwardly upright but he continues to wobble until they're at the top of the escalator. She tries her hardest to hold in her laugh since she doubts he'll appreciate it.

"Are you okay?" She asks with a smile as he clambers off. Draco turns around looking very red. She not sure if it's anger or embarrassment so she bites her lip to hide her smile.

"I am NEVER using one of those again." He shouts at her, glaring at the offending escalator. "What is wrong with a set of normal stairs? Why do you people need to make everything move?" He continues to argue.

"Draco, people are beginning to stare." She whispers under her breath as she places a hand on his elbow to guide him towards the record shop. "Come on."

Draco's still frowning as the bell above the door rings, announcing their arrival. An eighty-odd-year-old man looks over the top of his glasses and his book curiously but upon seeing them he goes back to his book.

"The CD shop is on the next floor." He grumbles to them.

"Actually, I'm looking for a record." She walks towards the desk where the man sat.

The man glances back up from his book, gives her a once over then goes back to his book.

"Of course, have a look around. The new Backstreet Boys album is over there." He gestures vaguely to the front of the shop.

"And what about Elton John's Crocodile Rock?" She asks with a sly smile.

The man's eyes pause in their reading before looking up at her surprised.

"I want to show my boyfriend." She tells him, motioning behind her to where Draco was stood looking intently at a record player.

He's placed the bags down on the floor as he strokes his fingers across the arm of the record player and then the spines of some record albums nearby. The man sighs as he stands up and shuffles his way over to a box of records. He flicks through them all, one at a time.

"Aha." He mutters as he pulls out the record she'd asked for. "Here we go."

He shuffles over to the record player Draco had been staring at, and places the record down. He flicks a switch and the first chords of crocodile rock start to faintly play. The man sighs in exertion as he shuffles back to his desk. Hermione places here bag next to Draco's then turns the volume up slightly and starts the song from the beginning. She turns to face Draco, who was stood watching the record spin around and around.

"When I use to stay with my grandma Emily, she used to play this record on repeat whilst we danced in the kitchen and baked cakes." She smiles as she remembers the memory. "What do you think?" She asks, turning to face him.

"It's… very different... from our music." He comments.

"You hate it." She smiles at him.

"I don't… hate it. I just don't particularly like it. He sounds very cheerful to me." He mentions.

"Well, you're not wrong. Most of his songs are quite cheerful but… let me have a look." She mutters as she fingers through the box of records the man had looked through a few minutes ago until she found what she was looking for. "Here, listen to this one." She swaps the records over.

As the piano starts to play through the record's speakers, Draco listens, expecting it to be a similar happy, bouncy tune but instead, he hears the start of a rather sad song.

"Well, this is much more sombre than the previous one." He says.

"Sorry seems to be the hardest word." She tells him which he assumes is the title.

"I can understand that." He admits with a sigh as he turns to face her.

Even with everything he did for the Dark Lord, apologising to a few of his victims was one of the hardest things he had to do. He'd felt so vulnerable walking up to Madame Rosmerta, a week after the battle of Hogwarts. He's apologised profusely then begged her to accept it. After an hour of listening to her tell him off, she hugged him and told him she forgave him. It was a lot more than he was hoping for.

"Have you heard anything from Sally?" Hermione asks, interrupting his thoughts.

"No." He shakes his head.

"At least you tried." She tells him, stepping forwards and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"And I'm sure there're a few other people you can apologise to." She mentions.

He breathes out a laugh. "Yeah, just a few." He mutters, looking back down at the record player.

"Who's next then?" She asks.

Faces flash through the forefront of his brain as he thinks back to the all those 'detentions' he both observed and participated in. One face that kept reappearing was the face of Colin Creevey. As a Muggleborn, he was subjected to detentions at least once a week. That was until his brother got caught trying to send an owl home. Dennis was given detention until the end of the year for trying to send secrets of the wizarding world to the muggles. To save his brother from the cruciatus curse, Colin begged the Carrows to let him take his brother's punishment. They allowed it, instead, making Dennis watch. He'd never be able to apologise to Colin for just sitting and watching as the Carrows to it in turn to crucio him but he could apologise to Dennis.

"Dennis Creevey." He mutters, looking back over to Hermione.

"Dennis?" She questions.

"I can never apologise to Colin but I can apologise to his brother." He explains. "I need to apologise to him as well anyway." He adds.

"Do you want to send him an owl?" She asks.

"No," He shakes his head.

"He won't read it. I tried at Hogwarts."

"Do you want me to find out where he lives?" She offers.

"Do you really think he's going to appreciate _me_ showing up at his house?" He asks, quirking his eyebrow.

"Probably not, but he I'm sure he'd feel safer if I'm there with you too." She suggests.

"Would you?" He asks, hopefully.

"Of course, I would." She reassures him, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She flashes him a quick smile. "I think we should head back to my parents' house so I can cook this dinner for them before they get home." She tells him as she picks her bag up off the floor.

Draco picks his two bags up as she goes to thank the old man. He waits at the door for her to return. Thankfully, she guides him towards the stairs rather than the escalator. He never wants to use one of those damned things again. It doesn't take them long to walk back to her parents' house. Athena is very excited to hear them enter the house and flies around their heads as they take the bags into the kitchen. Hermione puts everything away whilst Draco feeds Athena by calling her name from different parts of the kitchen.

"Here, cut these up." She passes him the chopping board, some carrots, a broccoli and a knife.

He sits down at the kitchen table as he chops, talking to Athena whilst Hermione puts the chicken in the oven and makes some stuffing, gravy and roast potatoes. When he finishes, he scrapes the vegetables into a pan of boiling water.

They then head back into the living room to watch the rest of the Lion King. Draco finds it highly unlikely that Simba would be physically able to fight his uncle after spending years living in the jungle with a warthog and a meerkat eating insects. Although, he does find it enjoyable and is looking forward to seeing Sophie's play.

Hermione plates up the dinner, once it's cooked, then places two in the oven for her parents and charms the other two not to spill so they can carry them back to their house for dinner tomorrow.

Draco tries to bribe Athena back into her cage so they can leave but after five minutes he just grabs her out of the air and places her on her perch. She doesn't appear to appreciate it as she chirps angrily at him, turns away and huddles in on herself. He tries to apologise but she flutters her feathers and ignores him so he lets her be for the now, heading to the back door where Hermione is waiting to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 24 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

They disapparate back to the estate separately, Draco with Athena and Hermione with their dinner for tomorrow. She casts a sideways look at Draco to check that he's alright after their disapparation. He seems fine so they set off for their house.

"Do you think you're feeling well enough for the party tonight?" She asks as she places their plates of dinner into their oven.

"I'm perfectly fine." He sighs, opening Athena's cage for her.

"I'll just take a quick shower and I'll be ready to go." He announces as he heads upstairs.

"We only have forty minutes." She shouts up the stairs behind him.

She about to head upstairs herself to get changed when she hears a tapping noise at the kitchen window. She goes to investigate and finds a large ministry owl stood majestically on their window ledge. When she opens the window for it, the owl flies straight in, landing smoothly on her shoulder and holding its leg out for her to take the post. She unties two envelopes then watches as the owl swoops back out of the window.

Glancing down at the envelopes she sees one addressed to herself and one addressed to Draco. She takes them both upstairs with her to their bedroom, placing them both on the dressing table before opening her side of the wardrobe to find a dress for the party. Settling on a yellow, knee-length dress, she pulls it on just as she hears the shower turn off.

Draco enters their bedroom dressed only in a towel, tied around his hips. He pauses for a second upon finding Hermione in the room then hangs the towel he had just been using to dry his hair over his shoulders, hiding his chest and the long scars.

Hermione looks away since he obviously doesn't want her looking at them, instead, she goes over to the dressing table.

"We both got a letter from the Ministry." She mentions as she puts some earrings in.

Draco sighs in annoyance behind her as he reaches around her for his letter then perches on the edge of their bed as he opens it. She watches him in the mirror as he unfolds the piece of parchment, reads the first couple of lines then rips it up.

"I thought these had stopped." He mumbles as he grabs his wand and incendios the pieces of parchment.

"What was it?" She asks opening her own letter.

"The Ministry have just arrested Rabastan Lestrange and want me to testify against him. I don't know how many owls I've sent back to the Minister. He just doesn't take no for an answer." He shakes his head as he throws the wardrobe door open.

Hermione unfolds her own piece of parchment.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Wednesday 8** **th** **June 1999**

**Dear Ms Granger,**

**The Ministry is writing to invite you to a Ministry dinner on Tuesday 2** **nd** **November 1999 to celebrate eighteen months since the end of the wizarding war. We ask that you make a small speech after the meal about the impact of the war and the positive steps being implemented to rebuild the wizarding world.**

**We eagerly await your response.**

**Approved and Signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister of Magic.**

She's about to follow Draco and rip the letter into many pieces when a thought crosses her mind. The Ministry needs something of her and it just so happens that she needs something off the Ministry. The Minister to be exact. She needs access to The Ministerial Wizarding Register Department.

"Draco!" She calls his attention excitedly. "I have an idea." She turns to face him, holding her letter out to him.

She waits as he quickly scans the piece of parchment then glances up at her confused. "I don't understand."

"I've been receiving letters like this at least once a week since the end of the war. It stopped a few months ago but it looks like Kingsley has exactly given up hope that I'll give in." She explains. "We need access to The Ministerial Wizarding Register Department to look at those filing cabinets and we could also do with having a look through those banned books on marriage decrees." She smiles.

"You want to bribe the Minister." Draco quirks an eyebrow at her.

She rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't exactly call it bribing. It's just an arrangement that ensures we both get what we want. We should do it tomorrow."

"I wish you'd had this thought before I'd burnt my letter." He admits, going back to rummaging through his wardrobe.

"Would you have testified against Lestrange?" She asks curiously.

"If I got something I want in return, then yes." He answers as he pulls a blue shirt and pair of black trousers out of the wardrobe and heads back into the bathroom to change.

Hermione sits on the edge of their bed thinking. Is there anything else they need from the Ministry? Anything that can help them discover why the marriage decree was enforced in the first place. What they really needed was access to those banned books? She can't help but think that the first two volumes of 'Seventeenth Century Laws' hold something important. Maybe Narcissa hadn't had the chance to hide them and the Ministry had taken them. Draco could ask her about, although it would have to be before they go to the Ministry since it would be a waste of time searching through the books if they hadn't been taken.

Draco exits the bathroom, fully dressed, but hair still dripping wet. He sits in front of the dressing table mirror as he dries his hair with his wand and applies the make-up charm to the scar on his forehead.

"Draco, I was thinking about those books we took from your attic." She mentions, making eye contact with him through the mirror. "Do you think your mother would know more about the first two volumes of 'Seventeenth Century Laws'." She asks.

Draco pauses his wand as he frowns confusedly at her through the mirror. "I'm not sure she knows anything about them. She rarely goes into the attic. Most of the book in there were moved by order of Lucius." He answers going back to casting his make-up charms.

"Great!" She rolls her eyes sarcastically. "The only person who might know anything about the books is locked in Azkaban for the next fourteen years." She sighs.

"Fourteen years and four days." He tells her, earning him a raised eyebrow. "He was arrested on 4th May but wasn't sentenced until 12th June." He clarifies but going back to the topic of the books. "If the books were ever in the Manor, they would either be in the attic or the library. Since we found them in neither, it is safe to assume that the Ministry has taken them." He tells her.

"I suppose there's no harm in searching the books in the Ministry." She mutters as Draco finishes and they head downstairs where they both pull their shoes on.

Hermione leaves Athena a few owl pellets before they leave, locking the door behind them, and set off for 17B, hand in hand.

* * *

When they arrive at 17B, Draco knocks on the door and is slightly shocked when Richard opens the door with a forced smile.

"Come in." He tells them as he walks up the stairs, leaving the door open.

He glances at Hermione who just shrugs then steps into the house. They make their way into the living room where they find Sue, Mandy and Oliver sat talking. Sue looks up as they enter, giving them a quick smile before going back to whatever the three were talking about. Draco and Hermione continue through to the kitchen where Theo, Blaise and Gregory are leaning against the counters, sipping at glasses of wine.

"DRACO!" Blaise screams upon seeing him, running over and pulls him into a tight hug, squashing his arms against his side.

When he pulls back, he punches him in the arm, hard.

"What was that for?" Draco asks, glaring at his best friend as he rubs his arm.

"For flying head-first into a goalpost, you idiot." He goes to punch him again but Draco pushes his arm away. "I could have lost you, you idiot." He hugs him tightly again before pulling back and looking up at his forehead.

"Are you using a make-up charm?" He laughs.

"Shut up, Blaise." He punches his friend's shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"Good." Blaise smiles at him as he hands him a glass of wine off the counter. "I worry about you, you know." He tells him making him roll his eyes.

"I'm a grown man. You don't need to worry about me." He tells him, taking a sip from the wine glass.

"A grown man wouldn't have flown straight into a Quidditch goal post." He smirks at him.

"He's never gonna let you live that down," Theo calls out.

"I'm going to go find Luna," Hermione whispers in his ear before heading outside.

"Come one Draco." Blaise pulls him over to counters. "So how's it going?" He asks him.

Draco doesn't know how to answer the questions. He feels as though his life is a little chaotic at the moment. His mind is constantly thinking about his mother, Lucius, the Rowle's, the Minister, Hermione's cousins, Hermione, their marriage, the Ministry. He could go on.

He sighs deeply. "It's going… busy. We've been very busy." He admits.

Theo laughs, "Hey hey, are you going to be the first then?" He elbows him suggestively.

"Not that kind of busy." He rolls his eyes at his immature friends. "Family is very important to Hermione so we've been visiting them quite a lot." He tells them.

"Who do you think is going to be the first, though?" Theo asks quietly, leaning closer.

"First to what?" Draco questions.

"To get pregnant." Theo answers, eyes wide.

"Are we really going to gossip about our friend sex lives?" He asks, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Well, we know it's not going to be." Theo sends him a pointed look.

"What about you Theo?" Draco smirks at him.

Theo stands a little taller. "We want to get to know each other first." He says, looking down his nose at them all.

"It might be me." Blaise suddenly announces.

"You've slept with her." Gregory snickers.

"You can say sex, Gregory. It's not a dirty word." Blaise sneers at him. "And yes, we've had sex. We had sex on the night of the ceremony. And it wasn't the first time." He smiles proudly.

"No need to boast," Theo says before downing the rest of his wine. "I need some firewhiskey." He mutters before walking off.

"What's wrong with him?" Gregory asks.

"Probably just jealous." Blaise shrugs as the three of them head outside into the garden.

They take a seat at the garden table with William, who's pouring himself a shot of firewhisky. He glances around for Hermione, finding her sat with Luna, Isobel and Megan over by the gate. She looks over at him, smiling, which he returns.

"Wow, you've got it bad, Draco." William chuckles as he takes the shot.

"Excuse me?" He questions.

"You fancy Hermione, don't you?" He asks.

Draco stares at him for a moment. "Yes. I _like_ my wife."

"No, it's more than that. You really like her." William nods as he pours himself another shot of firewhisky.

"Well, we have a lot in common." He admits, pouring himself a shot of firewhisky then downing it.

"Oh, I get it. Are Slytherin's not use to talking about their feelings?" He asks.

"I think it's mainly pure-blood Slytherin's. I'm more than happy to discuss my love for Luna." Blaise points out.

"You're not pure-blood?" William asks, looking at him curiously.

"Three-quarters. My father's father was half-blood." He shrugs.

"I didn't know that," Gregory says.

"Not something I could really come out and admit in the Slytherin common room, is it?" He rhetorically asks.

"I'm half too. I suppose the worse kind of half, though. Muggle mum and Muggleborn dad." William scoffs as he downs another shot of firewhisky.

"Are you alright, William?" Blaise asks him, glancing at Draco nervously.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He laughs. "How does old Xenophilius feel about you, Blaise?" He asks.

"Erm… I think he likes me. I've only seen him twice since the ceremony." Blaise answers.

"Good for you," William says snidely then sighs. "Sorry. I'm sorry." He lets his head fall into his hands. "Isobel's father found out that we've been together for over three years and that we aren't getting divorced."

"How did he not know?" Blaise asks.

"We didn't want him to know until we left Hogwarts. He would have just excused our relationship as a school crush." He laughs. "We've been together since our fifth year, I think it's pretty serious." He grumbles.

"How'd you stay together through our fifth year with Umbridge roaming the halls?" Blaise laughs curiously.

"Isobel was part of Dumbledore's Army so we would just meet there after dinner most nights." He explained. "She tried sneaking me into the Ravenclaw common room once but we got caught by the prefect." He laughs at the memory before sighing again.

"William, do you really think Lucius would accept Hermione as my wife?" Draco asks him.

William burst out laughing. "No offence but there's more chance of you-know-who returning." He laughs again.

"Do you think that's going to stop us from making the best of this situation?" He asks, ignoring that comment.

William stops laughing. "It's different for you two. Your father is in Azkaban, Isobel's father works down the corridor from me in the Ministry." He mutters.

"It could be worse." Blaise leans across the table to whisper. "Imagine if you got paired with someone you couldn't even tolerate and then their father hated you as well." He says, nodding behind William.

They all turn around to find Pansy stood by herself, drink a bottle of butterbeer.

"I don't think Arthur actually _hates_ her. Just strongly dislikes her father." Draco mentions.

"I'm talking about Ron." He corrects him. Draco's suddenly filled with anger although he's not entirely sure why. "He got paired with Pansy, who he despises, and whose father hates him. No wonder he drinks so much. I would if I was paired with her." He mutters.

At that moment, Pansy decides to walk over to them. They all quickly lean back into their chairs.

"So yeah, I would definitely recommend 'The Pentagon'. Luna and I went there a few days ago for lunch, it was grea- oh hi Pansy." Blaise rambles on as Pansy leans against Draco's chair.

"What are you talking about?" She asks glaring at them all.

"'The Pentagon', have you been, Pansy?" William asks her with a smile.

She sends him a glare. "What were you being so secretive about?" She asks, not believing him.

"Draco's crush on Hermione." Blaise answers.

"Blaise." He says warningly. His friend knows how Pansy can get at the mention of Hermione's name.

He looks up at Pansy to find her looking down at him with watery eyes. "I don't need to put up with this." She shakes her head. "I'll leave you to it." She tries to smirk but all she manages is a sad, forced smile.

They watch as she walks into the kitchen.

"Why can't you play nice, Blaise?" He rhetorically asks as he follows after Pansy.

He finds her sitting at the bottom of the stairs with a glass and an entire bottle of wine to herself.

"What do _you_ want?" She asks as he settles down onto the step below her.

"How are you doing?" He asks as he awkwardly watches her wipe a tear away.

"How do you think?" She smiles at him holding her glass and bottle up before downing the rest of the wine in her glass and pouring more. She places her bottle between her legs then raises her free hand to his face.

"Pansy,-" He starts but she shushes him.

"How are you?" She asks, moving his hair out of the way, revealing his covered scar. "My _dear_ husband told me about your accident." She spits.

"I'm fine, Pansy." She tells him, pushing her hand away. The anger returns at the mention of Weasley.

"How is your _dear_ husband?" He asks.

"Drunk." She mutters. "He might be right, you know. This all might be more bearable if we're drunk." She laughs, before taking a large gulp of the wine.

"Have you even talked to him?" He asks.

"About what?" She huffs.

"Your future. What happens once you've had a child together?" He questions her.

"Oh Merlin," She groans as she drinks the rest of the glass. "Our child is going to be so fucked up." She grumbles. "Parents who hate each other, an alcoholic father, an overbearing grandmother, a strict grandfather and then me as a mother." She laughs for a few seconds before sighing. "They'll have every right to hate us." She mutters, drinking straight from the bottle.

"I don't even know why you were even paired with him," Draco mentions. "You're both pureblooded." He thinks aloud. It's something he's been wondering since the ceremony.

Pansy scoffs as she takes another swig from the bottle and ends up coughing and spluttering. "I'm half-blood." She admits.

Draco's eyes widen as he takes in what's she just said. All his life, Lucius and his mother had told him to find a nice, pureblood wife like Pansy. How had he not known that she was only a half-blood? How did Lucius not know?

"I was just as shocked as you when I found out." She smiles at him. "I was filling out that questionnaire in my bedroom when it glowed red when I tried to enter pureblood. I must have tried about twenty times before I went to my father." She laughs as she takes a sip from the bottle. "It turns out that his father's mother was only half-blood. Thought he could keep it a secret." She shakes his head. "Is that how they paired us?" She questions. "Based on our blood?" She frowns.

"We're trying to find out. We think it's a mixture of blood and how many children the person wanted." He explains.

"I wanted two." She admits quietly. "A boy and a girl. There's no way I'm staying with Weasel any longer than I need to so I'll have to live with one." She mutters.

"Draco!" He hears his voice being called from the living room.

Hermione looks over to where Draco had been sitting with Blaise, Gregory and William only to find him missing. Worrying that his head is hurting, she excuses herself and walks over to the table to ask the boys where he went.

"He followed Pansy inside a few minutes ago?" A slightly drunk William tells her and she feels jealousy fill her stomach.

She smiles and thanks him before walking into the house. She cast a quick eye around the kitchen but they're not there so she moves into the living room, which is now empty.

"Draco!" She calls heading towards the hall. She walks through the door and finds both Draco and Pansy sat on the stairs. The jealousy makes her stomach cramp up. "Oh, er… sorry, I'll be in here." She turns to leave but Pansy jumps up and grabs her wrist.

She spins around in shock, her free hand resting on her wand inside her bag.

"Stay, Granger. I'm going to go throw up." She tells her, then crawls up the stairs towards the bathroom.

She looks at Draco confusedly.

"She was upset so I sat and listened to her." He tries to explain but she shakes her head.

"You don't need to explain yourself. She's one of your friends." She smiles at him even though the jealousy is probably clear on her face. "I think someone should go check she's alright up there." She mentions.

"I'm not going up there." He tries to push past her into the living room but she stops him.

"She's your friend." She points out.

"I don't care. I can just about deal with crying women. I don't want to deal with throwing up women." He tells her and tries to make another exit.

"Fine, I'll go comfort _your_ best friend." She calls after him and then instantly regrets it. She really doesn't want to be alone in the same room as Pansy but with no one else offering, she heads up the stairs after her.

She gently knocks on the door before opening it to reveal Pansy leaning over the toilet. She lifts her head up a few inches to see who's invading her privacy only to groan when she realises who it is.

"Come to gloat." She asks

"I've come to help." She tells her as she hangs her bag on the door handle as she shuts it behind her.

She takes her wand out and locks the door before using aguamenti and then incendio to fill the sink with hot water. Opening the cupboard under the sink, she finds a hairbrush and a hair bobble. Carefully, she brushes Pansy's hair back and ties it into a ponytail. She has to stop a few times as she throws up into the toilet.

"Why are you helping me, Ganger?" She grumbles.

"Draco refused and I doubt any of the other party guests would offer." She answers as she rubs her back soothingly. "Except Luna. She'd help anyone out, no matter who they are." She tells her.

"Blaise loves her." She states.

"That's good." She smiles.

"He never shuts up about her." She says as she slumps back against the door.

Hermione finds a flannel in the cupboard and soaks it in the hot water and wringing it out. She kneels on the floor in front of Pansy then uses the flannel to wipe vomit and sweat from her face.

"I wish I had a friend like you." She mumbles, making Hermione pause in her actions. "I never had any girl friends, only boy friends. It would have been nice." She sighs as she closes her eyes. "Can our children be friends?" She mutters.

Hermione stares at her in shock before deciding it's probably the drink talking so she smiles and nods. "Of course, Pansy." She tells her.

"Thank you, Granger." She says.

"I think it's time you went home." She tells her as she helps her to her feet, unlocks the door and helps her down the stairs. She sits her down on the stairs again. "I'll go get Draco to take you home." She tells her.

She finds him in the kitchen, drinking a butterbeer, talking to Luna and Megan. She goes over and grabs his hand, pulling him away from the girls, who giggle and whisper to each other.

"I think Pansy needs help getting home." She tells him.

Draco sighs as he places his bottle on the counter then follows her into the hall where Pansy was leaning against the wall.

"Just make sure she gets into the house alright." She tells him.

"Come on Pansy." He reaches out for her hands and pulls her up, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her steady.

Hermione opens the front door for them.

"I'll be back in ten minutes." He tells her as he sets off towards Epsilon Street.

They're half way down Alpha Street when Pansy suddenly stops in her tracks.

"I want a baby. You need to have a baby." She stares at him.

Draco stares back at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Pansy,-" He starts but she interrupts him.

"Come on, Draco." She whines. "They'd be best friends like we were when we were children."

He realises what she means.

"I think you need to talk to Weasley about that, not me." He tells her.

"I can handle the Weasel." She scoffs. "But you need to have a baby too. Granger said they'll be friends." She continues to whine.

"Okay, okay." He gives in, urging her forward.

She squeals excitedly, which is something he has never seen her do before, as she runs down the street.

"Pansy!" He calls after her but she doesn't stop so he runs after her.

She doesn't stop until she reaches her house.

"HUSBAND!" She shouts as she bangs on the door. "WHERE ARE YOU?" She calls as she continues to knock.

After a few minutes of continued knocking, the door finally opens to reveal a shirtless Weasley.

"What are ya fuckin' shoutin' at?" He slurs. "What ya want Malfoy?" He glares at him.

"I'm simply returning your wife home." He smirks at him, anger rising in him again.

"I WANT A BABY!" Pansy shouts in Weasley's face.

"What the fu-" Weasley steps back, away from her but she follows, wrapping her arms around his neck, trying to kiss him. "Geroff me." He tries to push her off but she clings on.

"Upstairs Weasel." She orders. "We're having sex." She tells him as she pushes him back towards the stairs.

"Geroff me." Weasley tries pushing her off him again and this time she lets go, placing her hands on her hips.

"Do you want this over with?" She asks.

"'Course." He spits.

"Then upstairs now Weasel." She tells him.

Draco watches as they both head upstairs, leaving him stood outside with the front door wide open. He closes the door then heads back to William and Isobel's house. He finds Hermione sat on the stairs waiting for his return when he opens the front door.

"Did she get in alright?" She asks.

Draco looks down at her. "They're having sex." He tells her.

"Who? Pansy and Ron?" She asks, to which he nods. "Oh God, in that state?" She shakes her head.

"Did you tell her our children could be friends?" He asks her doubtfully.

"Oh, yeah, I doubt she'll remember in the morning." She chuckles.

"Still, thank you for being kind to her." He tells her, taking her hand in his. "She doesn't have many friends." He adds, bringing her hand up to his lips for a peck.

Hermione's face blushes as she looks down. "As long as Pansy can accept that things have changed, then I'm sure we'll be able to get along with each other." She explains.

Draco smiles at her as she glances back up at him.

"You're amazing." He tells her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

They walk over through the living room into the kitchen where they grab a drink each. They're just starting a conversation with Blaise and Luna when Megan calls everyone's attention to her. William and Isobel come in from outside whilst Sue, Mandy and Richard come through from the living room.

"Gregory and I have an announcement to make." She says once she has everyone's attention.

"You're pregnant already." Isobel gasps excitedly.

"No, no we're not pregnant," Megan shouts over the eruption of mutterings. "We're moving to America." She announces and the room goes silent.

Draco looks at Gregory who doesn't seem to be showing any emotion.

"What do you mean?" Lisa asks.

"I've been asked to work in the British Wizarding Embassy in America. We're leaving next Thursday on the 16th." She explains. "We're having a small party next Tuesday to say goodbye before we leave."

"Megan!" Lisa cries, running forward to hug her friend.

"I can't believe you're leaving," Isobel says as she joins the hug.

"It won't be forever," Megan tells them tearfully. "I've been told five years. Maximum."

"Five years. You'll have to come back for holidays and we'll come and see you over there too." Lisa continues to cry as she makes plans. "And we'll send each other owls, every week." She promises.

"Of course we will." Megan nods.

Draco, Hermione, Blaise and Luna head outside to give them more space. They settle on the garden chairs with a bottle of wine between them all. Luna pours everyone a glass then raises it.

"To Gregory and Megan." She toasts and they all follow.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Blaise states as he sips his wine. "How this whole marriage decree can be the worst thing to happen to some people but then the best thing to happen to others. What do you think Gregory would be doing if the marriage decree wasn't enforced?" He asks.

"Probably following in his father's footsteps like most pureblood sons do." Draco answers.

"So having an arranged marriage to some pureblood witch with whom he would have a child and then live the rest of his life off his family's wealth?" Blaise chuckles rhetorically.

"Megan really is the best thing that could have happened to him." Luna agrees, leaning her head tiredly against Blaise's shoulder.

Blaise hums contently as he downs the rest of his wine. "I think it's time we got home." He announces, standing up and wrapping an arm around Luna's waist. "Do you want to join us for the walk?" He offers.

He glances at Hermione, who is in the middle of yawning and decides that it's time to go home. They quickly congratulate Gregory and Megan and thank Isobel and William for the invitation, before leaving. They all walked down Alpha Street, chatting to each other until they came to the Zabini house on Epsilon Street. They hug goodbye, then set off for their own house.

"Do you fancy a cup of tea?" Hermione asks him as she unlocks the door.

Her choice of wording reminds him of what William had asked him, 'You fancy Hermione, don't you?' He knows he likes her. They've gotten along better than he could ever have expected to have and she'd even called him her friend on more than one occasion. But did he like her as more than a friend? He supposes he does. He enjoys holding her hand and hugging her, which is something he'd never liked doing before. She's definitely changing him for the better.

"Yes," He answers as he kicks his shoes off and follows her into the kitchen. "I would fancy a cup of tea." He mutters as he leans against the counter, watching her as she puts the kettle on and adds a tea bag to two mugs.

Once made, they take their mugs of tea into the living room where they both sit on the couch. Draco stretched his legs out, resting his feet on top the coffee table, whilst Hermione curled her feet beneath her as she leant against Draco's side, sipping on her mug of tea.

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow." She admits with another yawn. "If anyone ever finds out that I bribed the Minister of Magic for access to private records, my reputation would be ruined. I doubt Professor McGonagall would ever hire me as a professor after that." She mutters.

"You could assassinate the Minister and McGonagall would still want you." He reassures, making her chuckle, which he has to admit feels nice with her pressed against his side.

"It's not exactly a secret that she… disapproves of his governing methods." She defends the Headteacher.

"Please." Draco scoffs. "She's hated him since the end of the war." He adds. "I can't blame him. Some of his decrees are rather pointless. He doesn't want to be seen as doing nothing so he does too much." He tells her to which she just hums. "Are you falling asleep?" He asks, nudging her with his shoulder.

She hums again in confirmation. He takes her half-drunk cup of tea out of her hands, placing it on the coffee table before pulling her to her feet.

"Go up to bed, I'll be up in a minute." He tells her as he guides her towards the stairs.

He picks up the mugs, taking them into the kitchen to wash then follows Hermione upstairs to the bedroom where he gets changed into his pyjamas whilst Hermione brushes her teeth in the bathroom. He casts his own tooth cleaning charm before climbing into bed to wait for Hermione to return. When she does, though, she climbs into her side and falls straight to sleep leaving Draco lying on his back, trying to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 25 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

After checking the clock on the wall for the fifth time in an hour, Draco decides that he's not getting to sleep anytime soon and gets out of bed, making his way downstairs into the kitchen for a warm glass of milk. Mitty used to make him a glass whenever he woke with a nightmare as a child and couldn't get back to sleep.

He takes the glass into the living room where he lounges on the couch. Athena chirp at him for attention. With a flick of his wrist, the cage door burst open and Athena flutters around the room for a few minutes to stretch her wings before landing on Draco's shoulder.

"Hello, Athena." He greets her, stroking the top of her head, glad that she's forgiven him.

Athena chirps at him again as she leans against his touch.

"What are you doing awake at…" He checks the clock. "Half one in the morning?" He sighs, leaning further back into the couch. "Can't sleep either?" He yawns.

Athena chirps in reply.

Draco sips at his glass of milk as he thinks. Will the Minister take their 'bribe'? What if he doesn't? Bribery is an imprisonable offence that could end them both in Azkaban. When he testified against his father, he promised himself that he would never end up there with him. Would he risk it for Hermione though?

"She's confident it will work out in our favour." He tells Athena who cocks her head sideways at him. "I'm not so sure a simple speech at a dinner will be enough to persuade the Minister to give us both access to the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department." He admits. "We need to give him something he won't be able to turn down." He mutters as something hits him.

He needs to go to the Manor.

Draco runs as quickly and quietly as he's capable of up the stairs and sneaks into their bedroom over to their wardrobe. He grabs a black pair of robes, a black cloak and his black boots, taking them into the bathroom to get changed. He's about to creep back downstairs when he remembers that he left his wand on his bedside table. He opens the door wide enough to fit his hand through and whispers, "Accio wand."

His wand flies silently into his hand, which he pockets then heads back down the stairs. He finds Athena already in her cage, asleep on her perch when he enters the living room and downs the rest of his milk before leaving it in the sink to wash later. He finds a scrap piece of parchment and a quill which he uses to writes Hermione a note.

_Hermione,_

_Don't go to the Ministry. I should be back before lunch._

_Draco_

He leaves it on the coffee table, where he hopes she'll find it when she wakes up. He rushes out of the front door, locking it behind him, then almost runs down the street towards the gate where he disapparates straight to the gates of the Manor. He doesn't waste a moment in unlocking the gate and running across the grounds towards the door.

After a minute of banging on the door, Gharther finally answers then bows when he sees it's him.

"Master's Mother is sleeping, sir." He announces, nose almost touching the floor.

"I need to use the library." Draco pushes past Gharther and rushes towards the library doors. "Mitty!" He calls out and a second later, his house-elf is stood in front of him, looking sleepy. "Sorry to wake you Mitty but I need your help."

"Mitty is grateful to help Master." She tells him with a curtsy.

"I need every issue of the Daily Prophet since Sunday 3rd May 1998." He tells her as he starts fingering through the piles of newspapers on the shelf. "In chronological order please." He adds.

Mitty finds the start of the newspapers a few shelves above him and starts using her magic to fly them all over to the desk in the centre of the room. Draco removes his cloak as he walks over to the desk, folding it over the chair. He picks up the issue from the day after the war and skims through the first couple of pages, finding nothing of importance he hands it to Mitty who send it flying back into its place on the bookshelf.

He picks the next issue up from Monday 4th May 1998. The front cover was entirely taken up by the picture of Lucius being taken from the Manor with the words 'MALFOY ARRESTED' written above. He flicks through the next couple of pages which detail a few other high profile Death Eaters that were also arrested that day.

He stands up and with a quick flick of his wand, the chair is transfigured into a large chalkboard. He swishes his wand again and a list appears on the board of the arrested Death Eaters. He duplicates the pages of the Daily Prophet he needs then hands the original copy to Mitty to send back to the shelf.

He carries on with this for the next five hours until he's gone through all four hundred and one issues and there are one hundred and thirty-two names of Death Eaters written on the board. He'd managed to cross out eighty-four names that had already been sentenced and thirteen who had died in awaiting trial. He was left with thirty-five Death Eaters still waiting to be sentenced, of which he personally knew twenty-one of them well enough to testify against them, including Rabastan Lestrange.

With a wave of his wand, the chalkboard disappeared in a white cloud of chalk, leaving the chair in its place. Draco stretches before slumping tiredly down in the chair.

"Master want coffee," Mitty asks him as he yawns deeply.

"Yeah, please." He mumbles. "I need to be as awake as possible this morning." He yawns again as he picks up the pile of articles relating to the list of twenty-three Death Eaters and his cloak, then follows Mitty into the kitchen.

He transfigures a teaspoon into a mirror and a fork into a comb then uses them to comb all his hair back then charms it to stay still. He removes the makeup charm from his scar and glares at his reflection in the mirror. He looks like a younger, shorter haired Lucius. He really needs a haircut before it gets any longer.

He fastens his cloak as Mitty pours him a mug of steaming coffee, which he proceeds to sip until it's cool enough to down. He shrinks the articles down so they fit in his cloak pocket then thanks Mitty for the coffee and the help before sneaking out the back door to avoid his mother.

Once out of the Manor's gates, he disapparates straight to the Ministry, ready to take the risk for Hermione.

Hermione awakes to Athena chirping in her face at around half seven in the morning. She rolls over to try and ignore her but Athena just flutters onto her shoulder and starts nipping her ear. She tries brushing her off but the damn owl won't stop so she sits up, scaring Athena a little, which is when she notices Draco's empty side of the bed.

"Did Draco let you out?" She asks Athena, who chirps happily. "Let's go find him and tell him off." She tells her, climbing out of bed but she doesn't find him anywhere in the house.

Wondering whether he's gone over to the market, she heads out into the garden to look for him when she remembers she'd placed Geoffrey next to the gate. She walks over to him, checking that no one's around since she's still in her pyjamas. When she's close enough, he jumps into an Irish jig.

"What's the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish funeral?" Geoffrey asks as he continues to dance.

"Geoffrey, have you seen Draco walk past here this morning?" She asks him urgently, glancing around and quickly dropping to the grass when she sees Dean and Seamus walking hand in hand across the green.

"What's the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish funeral?" He repeats.

"I don't have time for this, Geoffrey." She tells him. "Have you see-"

"WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN IRISH WEDDING AND AN IRISH FUNERAL?" Geoffrey shouts, interrupting her.

She really hopes Seamus didn't hear but when she peers over the top of the fence, she sees them both looking around confused.

"Fine," She whispers to Geoffrey. "What's the difference?" She asks.

"ONE LESS DRUNK." He laughs loudly.

"Oh, Godric." She curses as Dean and Seamus both look over in her direction. She quickly ducks behind the fence, hoping beyond hope that they're not on their way over. "Geoffrey, have you seen Draco come this way?" She asks him quickly, planning on running back into the house away from her friends.

"Nope." Geoffrey pops. "Haven't seen no one since ya left me out here with Pinky." He gestures to the flamingo across the path.

"Okay, thank you, Geoffrey. I'll make sure we come talk to you more." She promises as she peeks over the top of the fence again to see where Dean and Seamus have gone, only to find them stood right in front of her, making her scream.

"Hermione!" Dean frowns down at her. "What are you doing lying on the grass?" He asks her curiously.

"Oh, erm… I was talking to Geoffrey." She admits, avoiding eye contact.

"Who's Geoffrey?" Seamus asks, leaning over the fence then smiling when he spots the garden gnome. "Is that a muggle garden gnome?" He asks.

"Nothing muggle about me," Geoffrey tells him, puffing his chest out, making Seamus jump back slightly.

"You charmed it." He states.

"No." She sighs, folding her arms across her chest, remembering again that she'd only in her pyjamas. "Blaise charmed it and gave it to Draco as a birthday present." She explains. "He likes telling really bad jokes." She adds as an afterthought.

"My jokes are hilarious." He stamps his foot. "What's the difference between an Irish wed-"

"Shut up, Geoffrey." She interrupts, covering his mouth with her hand.

"Once less drunk?" Seamus raises a questioning eyebrow.

Hermione laughs awkwardly. "You heard that then."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the whole estate heard him." Dean laughs. "I thought it was quite funny." He adds.

"It's not the worse one I've heard." Seamus shrugs then glances her up and down. "What are you doing?" He asks her.

"I'm looking for Draco." She tells them.

"Oh, lost him already have you?" Dean chuckles.

"I haven't lost him. I've… temporarily misplaced him." She admits with a smile.

"He's not a quill, Hermione." Dean points out.

"Are you sure he hasn't… erm, left?" Seamus asks.

"No. He hasn't just left." She frowns at them, annoyed.

"Sorry," He apologises. "How have you been since the ceremony?" He asks, changing the topic.

"It's been hectic, to be honest. Trying to figure a way to introduce Draco to my family, since they know nothing of the wizarding world, a few parties and Draco had a Quidditch accident." She tells them.

"Oh yeah, Harry told us about that. Said there was blood everywhere." Dean says but then apologises under Hermione's stare.

"How are you two anyway?" She asks. "I can't say that I expected you two to be partnered together." She raises a questioning eyebrow, making Seamus blush.

"Our families already knew about us so it wasn't much of a shock to them," Dean admits.

"How long have you been together?" She asks curiously.

"Since the yule ball." Seamus smiles softly.

"The yule ball." She gasps. "Fourth year. How in Godric's name did you keep it a secret for four years?" She asks, then gasps. "Oh my-. Seventh year." She glances at them, noticing their hands clench tighter together.

"Seventh year was obviously a tough time for the both of us but we spent that entire summer together with our families," Seamus explains.

"It's when we told them about us," Dean adds.

"Then when we got the letter from the Ministry, we went straight to Kingsley and told him." Seamus scoffs. "The dickhead told us that 'I don't pair people together, the goblet will make the decision'." He imitates the Minister badly.

"Like hell, he didn't have a say in it." Dean laughs. "He ordered us into the Ministry the day after and told us that when we're ready to have children, we are to make an appointment for a meeting and he'll make some arrangements but we have the same time frame as everyone else." He laughs.

"What kind of arrangements?" Hermione asks.

"We're not sure." Dean shrugs.

"We were still kind of in shock that we'd even got partnered together at the time," Seamus admits, smiling down at his husband.

"Well, congratulations to you both." She smiles at them. "I should probably get inside though and find my husband." She adds.

"Of course." Seamus nods at her.

"We'll see you around." Dean smiles at her before they set back off across the green, chatting.

Hermione rushes back into the house, before anyone else can see her, and locks the door behind her.

"Alright, Athena, where's Draco gone?" She asks rhetorically as she stands in the kitchen thinking.

Athena chirps excitedly around her head trying to grab her attention. Hermione follows her around the room curiously.

"Do you know where Draco's gone?" She asks Athena.

She chirps once more before flying off into the living room. She follows the owl quickly through the room and up the stairs into their bedroom.

"I don't think Draco's hiding under the bed." Hermione sighs when Athena disappears under the bed but then a few seconds later, she returns with a small piece of parchment in her beak. "What have you go there?" She asks, taking the parchment.

_Hermione,_

_Don't go to the Ministry. I should be back before lunch._

_Draco_

"Well done, Athena!" She says as the owl lands on her shoulder, chirping proudly. "But where's he gone?" She wonders aloud.

If he's telling her not to go to the Ministry then he must have found some new information out that changes something. Although she doesn't know when he had time to find something out. She decides to get dressed, make some breakfast and read a book whilst she waits for Draco to return.

Draco apparates in front of the main doors to the Ministry. He pauses for a moment to take a deep breath and compose his face. Then, with a perfect Malfoy smirk, he waves his hand in front of the door, making them burst open. He stalks into the Ministry's foyer, the wind making his cloak billow behind him. He glares down his nose at the few wizards and witches that don't get out of his way quick enough as he makes his way toward the lifts at the other end of the foyer. He stands behind a small group of people also waiting for the lift, impatiently tapping his foot. A few of them turn around, annoyed, but quickly face the lift again once they realise who it is. When the lift finally arrives, he waits for the occupants to exit before he enters with the small group, standing at the front of the lift.

He lets everyone else press the number for their floor first before making a show of pressing the button for the top floor where he knows the Minister's office is. He hears a few mutters behind him but ignores it. When they stop at the other floors, a few people look like they want to get on but think better of it and wait for the next one meaning that when he reaches the top floor, he's the last one in the lift.

He waves his hand again when he reaches the doors to the receptionist of the Minister, who jumps looking terrified upon his presence in her office.

"M-Mr Malfoy, how ca-" The receptionist stutters.

"I wish to see the Minister." He interrupts her.

"I'm a-afraid the Minister has meetings all morning. Would you like to make an appointment?" She gushes as she flips through the Minister's diary. "His next availability is Friday 17th June at 16:35." She looks up at him hopefully.

"Maybe you misunderstood me, Miss-" He pauses for her to tell him her name.

"Ivory, Sir." She tells him.

"Miss Ivory, I wish to see the Minister today." He reiterates. "I'm sure he can spare five minutes for such an urgent matter." He adds.

Miss Ivory stares at him for a few seconds before she flicks through the diary again to the correct date. "I'll try and squeeze you in Sir b-but, I don't think it will be anytime soon." She tells him.

"I'll wait." He spins around, making a show of taking his cloak off before sitting down on one of chairs. He watches the girl intently as she fiddle around with something on her desk before she suddenly stands up and rushes into the Minister's office.

He wouldn't be surprised if she was just going in there to get away from him. She returns nearly two hours later, giving him a quick smile.

"The Minister has a spare few minutes to speak with you now." She tells him.

Draco stands up, stretching his limbs out before fastening his cloak on again and making his way over to the Minister's door. He knocks gently on the door and awaits an answer.

"Enter." He hears the Minister call through the door.

He opens the door slowly, offering the Minister a smirk before turning around and locking the door behind him.

"A locked door!" The Minister raises his eyebrow as he makes his way over to his desk. "It must be an urgent matter." He smirks back at him.

Draco removes his cloak, laying it across the back of the chair before glaring down his nose at the Minister.

"I received an owl yesterday afternoon." He starts, smirking. "Dear Mr Malfoy, the Ministry is writing to inform you that the Death Eater Rabastan Lestrange has been arrested in Peru. We ask that you testify against him during his trial on Thursday 15th July 1999. We await your owl in confirmation. Approved and Signed, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic." He says, word for word. He had received the same letter, with a few changed details, since the end war.

"Oh, I apologise Mr Malfoy. I was unaware that you were still receiving them. I'll send a message to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement straight away to inform them." The Minister reaches across his desk for a quill and a piece of paper.

Before he can reach them, though, Draco flicks his wrist and Rabastan Lestrange's article fly out of his cloak pocket, slamming down on the desk, making the Minister jump. He picks the article up, giving it a quick read until he recognises it.

"I don't understand." He states, glancing up at him in confusion.

"Rabastan Lestrange. My Aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange's brother-in-law. He would do anything to impress his older brother, Rodolphus Lestrange. Including murdering a family of six muggles in their own home, making the mother watch as he killed her husband, then her children, eldest to youngest." Draco states.

"W-what-" He starts but he doesn't let him finish.

With another flick of his wrist, another article slams down on the desk on top of Lestrange's.

"Erik Jugson, the snatcher who murdered Edward Tonks after weeks of torture by the cruciatus curse when he wouldn't tell him where Potter, Weasley and Hermione were hiding." Another flick of his wrist and another article. "Maximus Gibbon, the snatcher who tortured Dirk Cresswell with the cruciatus curse for a week. In the end, Cresswell was so sleep deprived he suffered a heart attack and died." Another flick, another article. "Walden Macnair lost count himself of how many muggles he murdered but will always remember Halloween of 1998 when he killed seventeen muggles in one night and was rewarded by the Dark Lord himself in my library."

He goes to flick his wrist by the Minister holds his hands up, stopping him.

"What are you doing?" He asks angrily, standing up from his chair, leaning towards him across his desk.

Draco simply sneers at him, flicking his wrist once more as all the rest of the articles fly out of his cloak pocket and fan out across his desk.

"I know enough about each one of these Death Eaters for you to sentence each of them to Azkaban for at least the next twenty years." He states.

"And you're willing to testify against them all?" He questions doubtfully, standing taller.

Draco nods once. "Of course, my services don't come for free." He smiles him.

The Minister sighs as he sits back down in his desk chair.

"Of course not." He mutters to himself. "When I was elected into office, I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those ministers who would do whatever the highest bidders asks for." He stares him straight in the eye.

Draco scoffs. "I don't need your money." He almost laughs.

"What do you want then?" He asks confused.

"I want unsupervised, unlimited access to the Department of Registration's archives with my wife." He states seriously, staring the Minister straight in the eye.

"What do you want with the archives?" He asks becoming increasingly more confused.

"It's best if you don't ask too many questions," Draco smirks at him.

"If you want this deal then you'll tell me what you want with the Department of Registration." He says sternly.

"If you must know, my mother mentioned something about the legality of one of my ancestors. I simply wish to investigate." He lies easily.

"Is that all?" The Minister questions. "You want to look in the Malfoy files?"

"Not just the Malfoy's. Also, the Black's and any other family name my blood may be linked too." He explains.

The Minister stares at him for a while before standing up again and holding his hand out. "We have a deal." He announces.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement," Draco says as he shakes the Minister's hand.

The Minister sits back down in his chair and quickly writes a letter to the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department which he signs then duplicates.

"Simply show this letter to the Head of the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department and they'll show you to the archives." He explains as Draco reads through the letter. "I'll send him a copy so he knows to expect you both and I'll let the Department of Magical Law Enforcement know that you'll be testifying in the upcoming Lestrange case." He smiles at him. "May I keep these?" He adds, pointing down at the article fanned out on his desk.

"Of course." He smiles politely at the Minister. "I assume you'll let me know when the trials for the twenty others are."

"Yes, I'll assure you receive a letter with the details of each case." The Minister nods standing up and holding his hands out once more. "Thank you, Mr Malfoy."

"No need to thank me, Minister," Draco told him as he shook his hand. "We both got what we want out of this." He smirks before grabbing his cloak, turning on his heel and walking out of his office.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Ivory." He nods at her as he leaves, fastening his cloak as he heads towards the lift.

There's no one occupying it when it finally reaches the top floor so he stands in the middle and rides it down a few floors before it stops for someone. He moves over to the side to allow them in, earning himself a shocked stare which follows him down to the ground floor. He stalks back through the foyer and out of the main doors where he disapparates to the estate's gate.

Hermione's lounging on the couch reading a book when she hears the key in the front door. She places her book on the coffee table as she jumps to her feet and runs to the door.

"Where have you been?" She asks before Draco can even enter the house. "And what are you wearing?" She asks, looking him up and down. He looks scarily like his father.

Instead of answering her, he genuinely smiles at her and hands her a piece of parchment, which she reads as he removes his shoes.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Thursday 9th June 1999**

**Alexander Vyner,**

**I hereby give Mr Draco Malfoy and Ms Hermione Granger unsupervised and unlimited access to the** **Ministerial Wizarding Register Department's archives. They will present you with a duplication of this letter. You will escort them to the archives then duly leave them.**

**Approved and signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister for Magic**

Hermione rereads the letter a few times before looking up at Draco confused.

"You went to the Ministry?" She asks. "By yourself?" She adds. "I don't understand." She admits, rereading the letter again.

He leads her into the kitchen where he puts the kettle on with a yawn.

"Draco, what have you done?" She demands him to tell her.

"Exactly what you were going to do." He tells her, turning around to face her.

"Okay, why did you go alone?" She asks next.

"Bribery is an imprisonable offence, Hermione. If we'd gone together and it hadn't worked, we both could have been sentenced to Azkaban for a minimum of five years." He explains.

She'd known it was an imprisonable offence but she hadn't known how long the sentence would have been. She'd thought twelve months at the most. Why would he risk being sent to Azkaban with his father?

"Why did you risk it?" She asks.

"We need access to those archives and if it's between both of us going to Azkaban or just me then I'd rather risk just myself." He admits, turning around to make himself a cup of tea. "Do you want one?" He asks her.

"No thank you." She mutters. "So you're going to testify against Rabastan Lestrange?" She asks him but he scoffs.

"Lestrange wouldn't have been enough." He shakes his head. "I'm testifying in twenty-one upcoming trials." He admits. "Including the father of one of my best friends." He sighs, turning back around. "Theo's." He adds when he notices her confusion. "He's been on the run since the end of the war. He was arrested last month."

"Twenty-one." She repeats. "Are you sure you want to do this, Draco?"

"Of course I don't but we need to get into those archives and this was our best chance." He tells her as he sips at his tea.

"Well thank you." She smiles at him. "For taking the risk for us." She adds as she steps towards him and pulls him into a hug. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." He tells her as he hugs her back with one arm.

"I guess we don't need to visit Audrey today then." She mentions. "I think this is the first time since the ceremony that we've got nothing planned." She adds.

"I didn't get any sleep last night so I'm going to take a nap," Draco tells her with another yawn.

"Come on then, I'll read my book in bed for a few hours." She pulls him by the hand into the living room, where she grabs her book then guides him up the stairs into their bedroom.

She climbs on their bed, sitting atop the quilt cover as she watches Draco unbutton his robes.

"You look too much like your father in that." She admits.

"That's what I was hoping for. I needed to look intimidating." He tells her.

"Well, it works." She mutters.

She politely averts her eyes as he pulls on his pyjamas then climbs into bed. Hermione props her pillows up against the headboard for her to lean against as she reads. It only takes Draco a few minutes to fall asleep. She manages to read a just over one hundred pages before he wakes up three hours later.

"How are you feeling?" She asks him, laying her book on her bedside table.

"Not much better." He yawns. "But if I sleep any longer I won't sleep again tonight." He mumbles as he sits up and stretches.

"I was thinking we could go visit Harry and Ginny this afternoon." She suggests earning her a glare. "Come on Draco, they were more than friendly on Monday." She turns to face him, pouting.

"They were but it doesn't mean we're friends and I want to visit them outside of family occasions." He tells her, looking away.

"I'm making an effort with Blaise." She tries to convince him.

"You like Blaise." He points out.

"Yes, and if you got to know Harry and Ginny, you'd like them too." She pulls on his arm for him to look at her. "They're two of my best friends." She adds.

"Fine, but I'm not staying for long." He gives in. "I need to visit Theo afterwards." He tells her.

"Perfect, then we can come home for dinner." She tells him.

Hermione heads downstairs to feed Athena, grab her bag and pull her shoes on whilst Draco gets dressed again. It's not until they've stepped out of the house and locked the door behind them that Hermione realises that she doesn't actually know where Harry and Ginny live. She suggests they ask George since she knows where he lives and they set off for Epsilon Street.

She knocks on George's front door then wait patiently for someone to answer. Angelina answers a minute or so later, wearing an apron covered in flour.

"Oh, hi." She greets them.

"Hi, Angelina." She greets her in return whereas Draco simply nods. "Is George in?" She asks.

"No, he's at work." She replies. "Anything I can help you with?"

"You don't happen to know Harry and Ginny's address, do you?" She asks her hopefully.

"Yeah, they live in 5D." She answers. "How's your head Draco?" She smiles at him.

"I've been left with a scar but I'm fine." He tells her.

"It's was nice seeing you but I've got a cake in the oven that I really need to check." She excuses herself.

"Of course, we'll probably see you at the Burrow again sometime soon," Hermione says before they set off down Epsilon Street towards Delta Street.

When they reach 5D, Hermione knocks on the door and not long after Harry answers wearing his pyjamas and a long dressing gown wrapped around him. He pushes his glasses up his nose as he takes them in.

"Oh, hi guys, what are you doing here?" He yawns.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asks concernedly as she notices his pale face and red, blotchy eyes.

"Hmm, oh, yeah. Ginny's… not feeling very well. She was up all night being sick. She's gone to visit Molly for some of her sickness potion. Apparently, it works wonders." He explains with a small smile. "Do you wanna come in?" He asks opening the door.

"Thanks, do you want me to make you a cup of tea?" She asks as they follow him through into the living room.

"Hey, this is my house, I should be offering to make you a drink. Sit down, I'll make a pot of tea." He rushes into the kitchen.

Hermione looks at Draco in confusion as he sits on the couch.

"What's wrong with him?" He asks as he glances around the room.

"I don't know, I'll be back in a minute." She mutters as she goes into the kitchen.

"Harry?" She says and he turns around with an uneven smile. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." He proves his point with a yawn.

"What's wrong with Ginny?" She questions curiously.

Harry smiles as he turns around to pour the boiling water into the teapot. "I- I'm not sure. Probably just the flu or a fever." He shrugs. "She's sure that Molly's sickness potion will help." He adds.

"Harry," She says seriously. "Is Ginny… pregnant?" She asks trying to hide her excitement.

"What, no. Of course not Hermione." He scoffs with his back to her.

She places a hand on his shoulder and he turns around with a massive smile on his face. Hermione can't help smiling too.

"You can't tell anyone, Hermione. Promise me." He whispers. "She'll kill me if she finds out I told you." He frowns suddenly.

"You still haven't actually told me." She can't stop smiling. "Just tell me how long because I know it's more than a week." She raises an eyebrow.

Harry sighs deeply before whispering, "Nearly three months."

Hermione gasps, shocked. "Nearly three months?" She whispers back as she does the maths. "February half term." She gasps again as she hits Harry's arm. "At school." She adds.

"No, in the shrieking shack." He smirks, looking almost proud.

"What would the marauders say?" She shakes her head.

"To be honest, I think they'll be proud or at least find it funny." He admits.

Hermione sighs. "You're probably right." She shakes her head again.

"Please don't tell anyone." He begs her to which she nods in agreement.

Harry smiles as he turns back around, placing the teapot, cups and sugar bowl on a tray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (again):
> 
> Hi, so I wanted to answer some questions and comments I've received recently.
> 
> 1)Are you going to finish this fanfiction at the end of November?
> 
> NO. I'm going to be honest. I don't know how or when I'm going to finish this fanfiction but I do know that I'm nowhere near finished yet. I'm still working out the detail of when to finish it. Whether to finish it with the birth of a Dramione baby or to carry on past that to the child/children growing up with other children. Or maybe I could write a sequel with Dramione raising their children. I've got a few plotlines that haven't come up yet but I have subtly hinted at them. So subtle in fact, that you won't even know I was foreshadowing something until the plotline is revealed and you go back to find the hints. So no, I definitely won't be finished by the end of November.
> 
> 2)You are focussing too much on the Ministry/Rowle/Muggleborn storyline and not getting Hermione and Draco together.
> 
> Ministry: Okay, If this fic was canon, do you really think that Hermione or Draco would just sit down and accept their fate. No. they'd do everything they could to try and find out both why they were paired together and why the ministry needed to pair everyone together in the first place.
> 
> Rowle: To be honest, I didn't think I'd mentioned it that often. Probably because I'm currently writing chapter 28 and the Rowle family tree storyline hasn't been mentioned in detail since chapter 22, which I wrote in the beginning of October. When Hermione finds out if she is or isn't a descendent of the Rowle's it won't be mentioned very much after that since it kind of links into one of those foreshadowed plotlines that is to come and more focus will be on that.
> 
> Muggleborn: For this one, I had an idea of who which cousin I wanted to be the Muggleborn because I was going to link it into a different plotline but the people, you, have spoken and wanted a different cousin to be the muggleborn, but I do have an exciting plotline for this cousin as well and I'm not going to scrap the plot I wanted to do, it'll just be a side plotline that won't have much to do with anything.
> 
> 3) You make quite a few spelling, grammatical errors. Why don't you get a beta?
> 
> I write this fanfiction on my keyboard is only 11" (3" smaller than a full sized laptop keyboard), meaning that when I type, and I do type pretty quickly, I sometimes press the wrong key. It explains why 'make' was 'male' that one time. I also seem to have a problem with the word 'back' as my left hand is quicker than my right and it presses the 'a' key before my right hand has pressed the 'b' key. With my grammar, I do use a grammar software before I post which reads through my work and highlights any incorrect grammar and spellings and suggest a correction. It isn't 100% correct but it makes my work better than what it would be if I posted without running it through the software.
> 
> Why don't I get a beta? You don't know me but I'm a highly unmotivated and unorganised person. If I had a beta, I'd have to be organised enough to send them each chapter a few days before my upload days so I have time to make changes when they send it back and I honestly don't have time to do that and I can't be bothered to do that. I started university in September and I don't always have time to write that much with uni work and work work. So I apologise but what you get is what you get, please try to look past the mistakes as I'm trying my best.
> 
> Thanks for all your comments and please send more if you have any other questions or comments that need answering.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 26 for you all. I'm posting this a few hours later because I had a job interview today at a really fancy restaurant/hotel as a waitress. The managers going to get back to me within two weeks. I've got my fingers crossed.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

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"Wait, Harry," She places her hand on his forearm to stop him moving. "Do you know where Dennis Creevey lives?" She whispers in question.

"Dennis Creevey?" He wonders curiously.

"Yeah, didn't you go to his house last summer?" She asks hopefully.

Harry frowns at her for a moment. "Yeah, I went to Colin's funeral last May then there was a small buffet at his house." He pauses to angle his head like a confused dog. "Why do you want to know where he lives?" He questions her.

"Draco wants to visit him." She admits quietly.

"What does he want to visit Dennis for?" Harry glares towards the door where Draco was still sat in the living room.

"It's not really any of our business, it's between Dennis and Draco." She admits.

He crosses his arms. "Shouldn't we know why he wants to see Dennis? He was one of us. He was a member of the DA." He arches an eyebrow.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "Harry, I loved being a part of the DA and It's something that will always tie us together but times have moved on. We need to move on with them. You were getting on with him on Monday, don't let whatever has happened in the past change that." She explains.

"But what if he-" Harry starts but she cuts him off.

"I'll be with him when we go to Dennis' house. It's important to Draco so it's important to me." She tells him.

Harry stares at her for a while, just watching her. She stands strong, not breaking eye-contact until he sighs.

"Let me have a look for the address." He mutters as he rummages through a few draws. "And if Dennis comes to me angrily, I'm blaming you completely." He tells her, half-jokingly, as he pulls out his address book.

He writes Dennis Creevey's address on a blank page then rips it out for her. She folds it up, placing it in her purse, thanking Harry with a smile.

"Can we have our tea now?" He asks her with a half-smile.

"You only have two non-Quidditch books between you and Ginny," Draco states in disbelief as he reads the spines of the few books residing on their bookshelf.

"Sorry, we aren't nerds like you two." He mutters. "No offence, of course." He adds as an apology.

"Offence already taken." Draco half-smiles, half-smirks at him as he sits down on the couch next to Hermione.

"So what have you two been up to since I last saw you?" He asks politely. "Oh, how's your head Draco?" He asks as though he just remembered.

"It's fine." He subconsciously flattens his hair down over it.

"It looks alright. Not much of a scar." He points out, leaning closer to get a look.

"It looks worse without the make-up," Hermione states before taking a sip of her tea.

He sends her a quick glare as Harry laughs.

"You're wearing make-up?" He asks as he chuckles.

"It's very effective at hiding scars." He mentions seriously before taking a sip from his own cup of tea. He refuses to let Harry Potter make him feel embarrassed about wearing make-up to cover a scar that was partly his fault in the first place.

"Anyway, how have you been?" Harry asks again.

"We've been great actually. We went to my uncle's barbeque on Tuesday night then yesterday we did a bit of shopping then went to Isobel and William's party. We haven't actually been up to much." Hermione explains.

"Ginny and I are planning a party next Wednesday at the Burrow actually. We'll send you an owl with more information later." Harry mentions, smiling down at his cup of tea.

Draco never thought he'd ever be this busy once he left Hogwarts. He's not complaining since it's far better than the alternative but it does get tiring having such a full schedule.

"Speaking of Ginny," Hermione says, making Harry pause with his cup half-way to his mouth. "What have you both been up to recently?" She asks.

Harry chuckles nervously for a second. "Nothing really. We've just been getting settled in here and visiting the family." He mentions. "How are you getting on with Narcissa?" He asks suddenly.

Hermione frowns as she sips at her tea, leaving Draco to answer.

"We haven't seen her for a while." He tells him. "We've been busy." He adds as an explanation.

Harry seems to get the hint that they don't want to talk about it because he changes the topic of conversation.

"Luna and Blaise came over yesterday, they seem to be happy." He mentions with a shrug.

"They've been together since just before Christmas." Draco points out.

"Have they?" Harry looks slightly surprised but not too shocked. "I'm surprised they kept it a secret for so long."

"They didn't try too hard," Draco tells them. "Not like two of your friends." He reminded them.

"Of course, Dean and Seamus." Harry laughs. "Ginny and I bumped into them at the Pentagon the other day, how did we not know they'd been together for four years?" He continues to laugh.

"Four years?" Draco questions in shock. He assumed they'd only been together since the war. A lot of couples had gotten together after the war, not all had lasted but the majority of them were still together, even with the marriage decree.

"Yeah, I actually caught them cuddling on the couch once when I came back from the library early in the morning. I thought they'd just fallen asleep next to each other, then fallen against each other." Hermione mentioned.

"What about Pavarti?" Harry asks. "She and Charlotte didn't even take the vow. I'm surprised there hasn't been anything in the Prophet about it." He adds.

"I'm not sure about them," Hermione admits. "But I know Abigail Cummings, from the year above ours, is into girls. I caught her in a broom cupboard with another girl when we were in our fifth year." She mentions.

"Why didn't you tell anyone," Harry asks as though it was vital information he should have known back at Hogwarts.

"It wasn't my business to tell anyone, Harry." She says pointedly.

"What about Penelope though?" He asks her. "Didn't she go out with Percy for three years?" He asks, eyes wide.

"You don't know what her sexuality is." Draco points out.

"And it's none of your business, Harr," Hermione adds. "You know I'm glad your father's map only caters for Hogwarts. You'd never have it out from under your nose if it worked everywhere else." She tells him.

"What map?" Draco asks curiously.

"My Dad and his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, created a map that shows the whereabouts of anyone who's within the walls of Hogwarts. It's called the Marauder's Map. I received it in our third year." Harry explains, looking proud.

"Then spent the next three years using it to sneak around the school after hours and stalking you." Hermione points out with a laugh.

Draco frowned at Harry for a few seconds as the other man blushed slightly.

"Should I be looking into getting a restraining order?" He asks jokingly.

"I suspected you were up to something and I was right." He explains pointedly.

"And what if the Dark Lord had been able to get hold of this map. I know how careless you are, Potter." He smirks at Harry.

"You don't know anything about me, Malfoy." Harry spits with a glare.

"You forget that I've seen you in potions." Draco laughs. "Very careless."

"Well, yo-" Harry starts.

"STOP IT!" Hermione shouts, gaining both their attention. "You sound like you're back at Hogwarts before the war. I thought we'd moved on past this." She glares at them both.

Guilt washes over Draco as he realises Hermione's angry at him. She's right. Things have changed and it's unhealthy to live in the past.

"I apologise, Harry." He tries to smile at him but he's sure it looks more like a grimace. "I seem to have forgotten myself there for a moment." He adds.

"No problem, I apologise too." Harry apologises with an actual smile. "I guess I'm just tired."

"We should get going and leave you to catch up on your sleep," Hermione suggests, placing everyone's cups back on the tray and taking it back into the kitchen.

Draco watches her as she walks away then goes to looking at the rug underneath the coffee table. It was a very Gryffindor with a woven red and gold pattern. When Hermione returns, both Draco and Harry stand up. Harry walks them to the front door where Hermione thanks them for having them before leaving. He hears Harry locking the door behind them, probably so he can head back to bed.

"Are we off to Theo's now?" Hermione asks, making his stomach drop.

He'd forgotten about visiting Theo. He's not looking forward to it but it's something he needs to do by himself.

"I think I should go by myself to visit Theo's." He tells her as they set off towards Gamma Street.

She frowns slightly but nods. "I'll get dinner started." She gives him a sincere smile then takes his hands.

When they reach Theo's house, Hermione squeezes his hand in encouragement, kisses his cheek then carries on to their house, two doors away. He waits until he hears her shut the door before taking a deep breath and knocking on Theo's door.

Lisa answers the door with a smile. "Hi Draco, are you here to see Theo?" She asks.

"Yeah, is he at home?" He peers around her but the living room door is closed so he can't see further into the house.

"Yeah, he's in the garden, just go straight through." She opens the door wider for him to enter then leaves him in the hall as she heads upstairs.

Draco walks through the living room and kitchen to the garden where he finds Theo reading a book at the garden table. He looks up when he hears someone step outside then smiles in surprise to see him stood there.

"Draco, I wasn't expecting to see you until Gregory and Megan's leaving party." He tells him as he motions for him to sit down at one of the vacant seats, which he does.

"Something's happened that I would like to tell you about in person before you read about it in the Daily Prophet," Draco tells him, not wanting to stall.

"There's no chance of that happening." Theo chuckles, placing his book down on the table. "I've stopped reading it since the Partner Ceremony. It's nothing but gossip these days about either you and Hermione or the Potters." He states with an eye roll.

"Really?" He asks. "Isn't there any real news they can report on?" He wonders rhetorically.

"Apparently not. Lisa says she reads it to keep up to date with everything that's going on but really she just wants to know all the gossip before her friends can tell her." He chuckles. "She tells me some things, like how you and Hermione were caught holding hands the other day." He smirks at him.

"How scandalous." Draco rolls his eyes making Theo laugh.

"So what's happened that you need to tell me about in person?" Theo puts them both on track.

Draco tries to smile at his friend reassuringly but he's sure it's not working so he stops.

"The Ministry has started sending me owls again." He starts.

"They never take the hint, do they?" He jokes.

"No, they don't, but this time it just so happens that I need something off the ministry as well." He explains, hoping Theo gets the idea. "I went to visit the Minister this morning to discuss a deal that would benefit the both of us." He carries on as Theo frowns at him in confusion. "We came to a quick understanding. I would testify against the Death Eaters I knew and in return Kingsley would give me what I need."

"What exactly is it you need from the Minister?" He asks focusing on the wrong point.

"It's best if you don't know in case it backfires on me." He explains.

Theo quirk a curious eyebrow. "Could this end you in Azkaban?"

"Very much so," Draco smirks.

"Draco!" Theo sighs. "Why would you risk ending up there with your father?" He leans forward to whisper, glancing around to make sure they're alone.

"If I didn't do this then Hermione would have done it. I'd much rather risk my reputation than hers. She has much more to lose than I do." He explains, leaning closer to Theo. "It's important to both of us that we get what we need from the Ministry and we've got it."

"But at what cost?" Theo asks.

"I told you, Kingsley needs me to testify against some Death Eaters." He reiterates.

"Then in twenty years when you and Hermione are happily married with two kids or whatever, they get released from Azkaban and come straight for you and your family. Did you even think this through properly?" Theo shouts at him in a whisper.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Draco tells him.

"Are you sure the war didn't effect that brain of yours?" He asks, knocking on his head.

Draco pushes his hand away, annoyed at his friend for blowing things out of proportion. He hasn't even told him that he's testifying against his father yet.

"Theo, what I came here to tell you is that the Ministry has asked me to testify against your father." He breaks the news to him, watching his friends face for what emotion he's feeling.

He looks taken aback for a moment before becoming confused, then annoyed.

"And I'm sorry but I need to do it or the deal with Kingsley is off." He adds as an explanation.

"I didn't even know he'd been caught," Theo tells him. "Where did they arrest him?" He asks curiously.

"He was hiding in a remote Chinese village. The Ministry was tipped off from a local wizard who recognised his dark mark. He was arrested two hours later." Draco tells him.

"I haven't heard from him since last August when he sent me a birthday present and I haven't heard anything about him since November when he was allegedly spotted in Guernsey." He admitted. "Why wouldn't the Ministry contact me to ask me to testify or at least let me know he's been arrested?" He wonders aloud.

"I don't know, Theo. Would you testify against him?" He asks curiously.

"Merlin, no. I never want to see him again. Can you make sure he's sent away for as long as possible?" Theo begs him.

Draco nods with a small reassuring smile. "I thought you'd be angry at me for testifying against him."

"No, of course not, Draco." He chuckles but the joy doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm glad someone is otherwise I might have had to do it."

"Theo, dinner's ready." Lisa's voice calls through from the kitchen.

"I'll take my leave then." Draco stands up with Theo who gives him a quick hug and pat on the back before they head back into the house.

"Draco, would you like to join us for dinner?" Lisa asks him with a smile.

"Thank you for the offer but Hermione's made something for our dinner so I should be heading home now." He nods his thanks then lets himself out of their house.

On the short walk back to his and Hermione's house, he thinks back to what had just happened. Theo had been more upset about him risking his reputation than he was about him testifying against his father. He tried to think if Theo ever mentioned his father during their final year at Hogwarts but the only thing that comes to mind is when he questioned him on who was sending him letters every day and he told him his mother was very lonely without anyone in the house.

Draco lets himself into their house and removes his shoes in the hall, which had become almost second nature to him now, before heading through into the kitchen to find Hermione stood stirring a large pan of something and talking to Athena.

She doesn't seem to have heard him come in so he leans against the doorframe, watching as she goes from pan to pan stirring the different contents and chatting to Athena about something or other. He moves from one foot to the other, making the floorboard creak and Hermione spin around.

"Oh, Draco. When did you get back?" She asks smiling at him as he makes his way over to her.

"A few minutes ago." He answers as he wraps his hand around hers and stirs the pan with pasta in it. "Pasta?" He questions as he peers into the other pan to find a tomato sauce and some sort of meat.

"Yeah, I felt like a tuna pasta bake. Have you ever had it before?" She asks him.

He shakes his head. "But it smells delicious," He tells her, removing his hand from hers and heading back towards the living room door. "I'm going to go change." He tells her as he leaves.

Hermione's hand still feels warm from where Draco had been touching it. She tries to ignore the warmth but can't. He keeps doing these little things that leave her mesmerised. She turns back to their dinner and continues to stir the tuna tomato sauce.

Once it's cooked, she divides it between two plates and sets them on the table alongside a bottle of wine. Draco returns a few minutes later wearing pyjama trousers and a t-shirt. He'd also washed his hair free from whatever he had used to make it slick back. It left his hair falling in front of his eyes.

"Your hair's getting long." She comments as they sit down at the table.

"I noticed that this morning." He mentions as he unscrews a bottle of wine and pours out a small glass for them both. "Mitty will have to cut it soon." He adds.

"Not too short, though." She tells him.

He stares at her through narrowed eyes for a moment. "Do you prefer men with long hair?" He asks her, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I just think most more handsome with longer hair." She shrugs as she digs into her dinner.

"Fourth year must have been a great time for you," Draco mutters as he stares at his forkful of pasta before tentatively nibbles at it.

"Why fourth year?" She asks confusedly.

"Nearly all the boys had long hair that year. I know Theo and I did as well as half the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs." He explains as he continues to eat. "This is very nice." He motions with his fork.

"Thank you." She smiles. "Both Harry and Ron had shoulder length hair but it didn't suit them very well. It definitely worked for Fred and George though. Most of the Gryffindor's were all over them." She chuckles as she remembers a second year offering them both some of her Christmas chocolate.

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow at her. "Most of the girls." He smirks at her half-joking.

Hermione huffs out a laugh. "No Draco, they're like my brothers. I used to think of the whole Weasley clan as my wizarding family. It's easier to talk to them about the wizarding world because they're a part of it whereas my parents only have limited knowledge and my extended family don't know anything about it." She explains to which he nods in understanding.

"Do you think you'll ever tell your extended family about the wizarding world?" Draco asks her, making her pause mid-bite.

She knows she'll have to tell one of her cousins if she finds out one of them does have magical blood. If it's Sophie then she'll have to tell her Uncle David but if it's Lauren or Craig then she'll most likely have to tell her grandparents as well as her Aunt Louise.

"I suppose I'm going to have to tell some of them soon enough if we find out one of my cousins has magical blood." She admits.

Draco nods again, obviously wanting to say something that he's holding back. She narrows her eyes questioningly at him, urging him to speak.

"I assume it will be difficult to admit that you've been keeping such an important part of your life a secret from them." He says.

"I never made that decision, nor my parents. The Ministry Official who came to visit me with my Hogwarts acceptance letter told us it would be best if we didn't tell anyone who didn't need to know." Hermione explains, feeling hurt that Draco would assume that she would purposefully keep this from her grandparents especially.

"The wizarding world was entirely new and probably scary to you. When a Ministry Official suggests you keep our world a secret you do as you're told." He says, making her feel better. "Your family will probably feel the same when you tell them." He adds as they finish their dinner and start clearing the table.

Hermione starts to wash up the dishes and cutlery as Draco goes into the living room to feed Athena. He's right as he usually is. If- when she tells her family, they're going to feel hurt, as though she didn't trust them not to tell anyone else. It's like she's been lying to them all these years. She places the last fork on the drying rack as she hears Draco head upstairs so she follows him into their bedroom where she finds him taking his shirt off. He doesn't even bat an eyelid when he notices her entering the bedroom.

Hermione, not entirely comfortable with getting changed in front of him yet, takes her pyjamas into the bathroom to get changed into before brushing her teeth. She returns a few minutes later to find Draco lounging on top of their quilt, against the headboard as he reads Dracula. It's been a few days since she's seen him reading it and had assumed he'd gotten bored of it. She climbs onto her side of the bed and curls up under the quilts.

She watches Draco read for a few minutes until he seems to notice and he shuts the book with a sigh, placing it on his bedside table. He shuffles down under the quilt until he's looking Hermione in the eye. He doesn't say anything, instead, waiting for her to speak.

"You're right." She tells him to which he smiles at her. She ignores it and carried on. "At first, we didn't tell my family because the Ministry Official told us not too but once I found out about Voldemort, I couldn't risk telling them and the Death Eaters somehow finding out and killing them. I was just trying to protect them." She admits with a sigh. "But they're not going to see it that way are they?" She asks rhetorically. "They'll think I've been lying to them all these years, which I technically have been."

"They'll understand." Draco tries to reassure her.

"It's not all lies. I did attend a boarding school in Scotland, it just so happens that I learnt potions and transfiguration there instead of maths and English." She points out with a sigh. "That's the only truth. I didn't get into Hogwarts on a scholarship, I didn't miss a year of school because of the governors, I'm not going to university in Edinburgh and our entire love story is fake." She complains, with tears in her eyes. "They're going to hate me. They'll never forgive me." She begins to cry, trying to hide her face in the quilt.

There's a split second of awkward atmosphere between Hermione starting crying and Draco remembering what she told him to do when she's crying. He reaches out and pulls her closer towards him where he wraps his arms around her. She nuzzles her head into his chest as she continues to cry and he can feel her tears on his naked chest.

"I've met your grandparents, Hermione and I don't think they could ever hate you. They might feel a little hurt but in the end, they'll still love you just as much if not more than they do now. Especially if you tell them about the war and everything you did. Just maybe don't mention that you're married to one of the men you were fighting against." He tells her, making her chuckle against his chest. "It won't change their opinion of you but it will change their opinion of me and despite everything I've been brought up to believe, they are some of the most caring, loving people I've had the pleasure of meeting. Beaten only just by Molly Weasley." He carries on talking until she's stopped crying.

He feels her pull away slightly so he slackens their embrace enough for her to release her arms and wrap them around his waist.

"I've found myself wishing recently that Voldemort never existed for the simple reason that I could have gotten to know this you at Hogwarts and we could have been friends as children." She admits, making a warmth spread through his chest. "But I think everything that's happened, had to happen for us to get to where we are now." She adds with a small sigh.

"Everything happens for a reason." He tells her as he leans forward to kiss her forehead then rest his chin on the top of her hair. "I'm just glad that we are where we are now." He mutters, closing his eyes and just taking in the moment.

Hermione moves her head back slightly. He assumes she's looking up at him, until suddenly, without warning, he feels the light touch of her lips against his own. His eyes flicker open to find Hermione staring back at him. Neither of them moves until Draco breaks contact by a few millimetres.

"Hermione..?" He starts to question her but he's not sure what to say.

"Sorry." She mutters, starting to pull away but he wraps his arms around her tighter, keeping her pressed against him. She narrows her eyes at him suspiciously. "I seem to remember you telling me that I didn't exactly need permission to kiss you." She smirks at him.

"And I seem to remember you telling me not to push my luck." He returns, earning him a laugh.

"Maybe… I'm pushing my luck now." She whispers, looking down at his lips for a second.

"Not in the slightest, Hermione." He whispers, afraid of breaking the moment by speaking too loudly.

She stares into his eyes for a while, seemingly gaging his thoughts before she leans forward again, capturing his lips with her own. Gently applying more pressure, he realises how soft her lips are against his. How hadn't he noticed this before? Attentively, Hermione runs one of her hands from his hip up along his scarred chest and up into his hair, sending a shiver down his spine. Using her grip on his hair, she pulls him closer, opening her mouth to deepen their kiss into something completely new. Draco uses their embrace to pull her closer still until their bodies are flush against each other. Suddenly, there's a sharp pain shooting across his bottom lip. He realises a few seconds before she pulls away that she bit him. Accidentally or purposely, he's not sure.

"Sorry." She gasps breathlessly as she sits up, away from him.

Draco, not ready for the kiss to be over yet, sits up follows her to take her lips once more, bring a hand to the nape of her neck to pull her closer for a minute or so before breaking apart again.

"Forgiven." He mutters as she rests her forehead against his.

Licking his lips, he discovers that they taste like toothpaste which makes him laugh breathlessly.

"What?" Hermione questions him, sounding nervous.

"You taste like toothpaste." He explains, eyes still closed.

He feels Hermione cup his cheek in her hand before chastely kissing him.

"And you taste like tuna pasta bake." She whispers against his lips. "Go brush your teeth." She tells him, untangling herself from his embrace and flopping down onto her pillow.

Not wanting to get out of bed or leave Hermione, he grabs his wand from next to Dracula on his bedside table and charms his teeth clean. It earns him a sigh and a roll of her eyes from Hermione but as soon as he lies back down, she scoots over towards him, pressing her body against the side of his. He lifts his arm up allowing her to cuddle closer as he wraps his arm around her back and rests his other hand atop of hers which she positioned on top of his chest.

Draco contently sighs as he kisses the top of her head once more before closing his eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Hermione wakes the next morning with the memory of the previous night in her thoughts. She'd kissed him. Again. This time, though, he'd kissed her back. Quite enthusiastically at that. She smiles to herself as she realises she's still encased in Draco's arms as the small spoon. She tightens her hands around his own which rest around her stomach. She wonders if he's awake yet.

"Draco!" She whispers quietly.

She gets a warm breath of air against the back of her neck as a reply which makes her shiver. She slowly shuffles around until she's face to face with him. She hasn't really had the opportunity to look at Draco properly and she hadn't noticed certain aspects of his face. She hadn't noticed how long and thick his eyelashes are before. Or how he has a few freckles hidden in his eyebrows which she could just about make out this close to him.

Suddenly, Draco opens his eyes then widens them in obvious shock. Hermione blushes at being caught staring at him but she can't stop. She abruptly sits up, pulling Draco into a sitting position with her. With a wave of her hand, the lights in their bedroom come on brightly. She gently grabs the side of Draco's head, positioning him underneath light then stares at his eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asks frowning confusedly at her.

"Shush." She quietens her as she continues to look him in his eyes. "I thought your eyes were blue." She states, leaning closer to get a better look. "A really pale blue." She adds.

"They _are_ pale blue." He tells her, trying to pull away from her grip.

"No, they're grey." She tells him. "They're like shiny, stainless steel." She smiles at him, finally looking at his whole face rather than just his eyes.

He's still frowning at her in confusion. "Thanks." He tells her sounding disappointed.

"They're very pretty." She mentions softly as he tries to pull away again. This time she lets him go but he doesn't move away.

He stares back at her as though silently questioning whether she's teasing him or not. "Okay." He says in disbelief as he climbs off the bed and heads into the bathroom.

Hermione sighs as she climbs off the bed as well. She dims the light with a wave of her hand as she opens their wardrobe to pick an outfit for the day. She was hoping to convince Draco to visit Dennis Creevey this morning and then they had Sophie's school play this afternoon at one o'clock. That reminds her that she needs to go get the tickets from her Uncle David's house.

Draco comes back into the bedroom as she's pulling on a pair of black jeans and a yellow floaty shirt. He gives her a small smile with a raised eyebrow as he takes her in then heads over to their wardrobe. She takes it as a compliment as she perches on the edge of the bed. She watches as he pulls on a black shirt and trousers.

"I need to take you muggle clothes shopping." She mentions as he fastens his buttons.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" He asks looking down at himself.

"Nothing, you suit them very well but most of them are very formal." She tells him. "Not exactly something muggles would wear to go food shopping or for a walk around the park." She mentions.

"Fine." He huffs. "What are we doing today?" He asks, grabbing a pair of socks and sitting next to Hermione to pull them on.

"It's Sophie's play this afternoon. We have to be at school for one o'clock but we need to go to my Uncle David's house for the tickets." She explains, waiting a few seconds before adding, "I was thinking that you might like to visit Dennis Creevey this morning."

Draco halts in his action, foot half in his sock, and turns to face her. "You said you didn't know where he lives." He says.

"I asked Harry yesterday. He went to Colin's funeral last summer." She tells him.

"You asked Harry." He repeats, looking paler than usual.

"Yes," She nods then realises what he's hinting at. "Oh, I told him it was important but none of his business." She explains.

Draco nods as he carries on pulling his socks on. "I suppose today is as good a day as any." He mutters as he stands up.

Hermione follows him down the stairs, into their kitchen. He puts the kettle on as Hermione grabs a few owl pellets for Athena.

As usual, Athena is excited by Hermione's presence as she chirps and flutters in circles around her head until she holds her hand out with the food pellets in it. She lands on her thumb and quickly nibbles the pellets before fluttering around the room again, happily stretching her wings.

She watches her for a moment before returning to the kitchen where Draco hands her a cup of tea and offers her a plate of toast. She takes a slice to eat with her tea as they lean against the counter tops.

"Maybe we could go shopping between visiting Dennis and watching Sophie's play." She suggests, sharing out the window to watch the sun make its way over the estate.

"Okay," He nods. "I'm not confident that we'll be welcome in Creevey's house." He tells her.

"If you're not then I'll talk to him, try to convince him to listen to you." She tries to reassure him but Draco shakes his head.

"You don't need to do that." He mumbles.

Hermione looks over at Draco. He's staring out of the window.

"He trusts me, he'll listen to me when I tell him that you won't hurt him and just want to talk." She walks over to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He turns to face her, still not convinced.

"Both Dennis and Colin were a part of Dumbledore's Army. It's a bond we'll all share long after the war is a distant memory." She explains with a soft smile.

Draco nods, looking down at his tea. "We should get going then." He offers her a forced smile but she takes it anyway.

Hermione drinks the rest of her tea and toast, then heads upstairs to clean her teeth and brush her hair, pulling it up into a high ponytail. Draco follows her, cleaning his teeth next to her then leaning against the doorframe to watch her fix her hair.

"Ready?" She asks once she's done.

He simply nods in return, throwing on a light jacket as they head back downstairs and pull their shoes on. Hermione locks the door then takes Draco's hand in hers as they walk towards the gate. She gently rubs comforting circles on the back of his hands.

When they reach the gate, she looks him in the eye to ensure he really wants to do this. He nods his confirmation so she takes her wand out, casting a disillusionment on them both. This time, it should only last a few minutes. With a quick turn, they disapparate straight to Dennis Creevey's front door then stand and wait for the disillusionment charm to wear off.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENT and KUDOS It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 27 for you all. 
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco takes the few minutes it takes for the disillusionment charm to wear off to glance around his surroundings. The Creevey's front garden has a large hedge around it, hiding both itself from the rest of the world and the rest of the world from itself. The house itself looked like any other muggle house. A front door with a large window to its left, then two more large windows upstairs. The door was painted Gryffindor red which made him think the Creevey brothers had asked their parents to paint it after they'd both been sorted into their house. He then noticed that the door knocker was a golden lion stood on its hindquarters which he took to confirm his suspicion.

Hermione squeezes his hand so he glances to his right only to find her looking back him. The disillusionment charm's worn off. With a deep breath to calm his nerves, he knocks on the door with his knuckles, refusing to use the Gryffindor style knocker. They wait a few seconds before a tall, slender man opens the door wearing an apron on top of a suit.

He smiles politely, looking between them both before he seems to recognise Hermione as his eyes widen and stay transfixed on her.

"Hermione Granger?" He questions, looking her up and down.

"Yes?" She replies uncertainly.

"Wow, I've heard so much about you from my sons. Colin sent multiple pictures of you and your friends through the years." He explains.

Hermione nods with a sad smile. "I'm deeply sorry about what happened to Colin. He didn't deserve to die the way he did. His bravery will never be forgotten, especially by the DA." She tells him.

Mr Creevey takes a deep breath as he looks up at the sky for a moment.

"Harry told me at the funeral. That he wasn't supposed to even be in the school. That he snuck back in to help his friends fight that evil man and his follows." He sniffs, blinking rapidly. "I would give almost anything to have my son back with me but knowing that he died bravely in a war, for a cause he believed in, helps with the grieving." He finally admits defeat as tears break from his eyes. He quickly wipes them away with the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognise you from any of Colin's pictures. Were you friends?" He asks, looking down at Draco.

He had no idea what to say. No sir, I wasn't your dead son's friend, in fact, I was one of the evil guy's followers who didn't stop the other followers from torturing your son in detention when I could easily have done so. Draco didn't think Mr Creevey would appreciate hearing that.

"This is Draco, my husband," Hermione answers for him once it's clear he doesn't know what to say.

"Okay," He sends him a quick smile before turning back to Hermione. "Are you here to see Dennis?" He asks.

"Yes, we are." Hermione smiles. "Is he home?" She asks, peering behind Mr Creevey.

"Yes, he's in his room." He sighs sadly. "He hasn't really left that bedroom since he got back two weeks ago. I know it's especially hard on him, losing not only his brother but his best friend, but I thought going back to the routine of school would help. Maybe it was too much, going back to school, after everything that happened there." Mr Creevey thinks aloud.

"He has many friends from the DA at school who know what he's going through and some who understand what he's going through. He was never alone and always had someone to talk to if he needed to. I think coming back to Hogwarts was probably the best decision you could have made." She quickly explains, obviously not wanting Dennis to miss out on his education. "Do you talk about Colin together?" She adds curiously.

"I don't like to bring him up too much. I don't think Dennis is ready yet." He says carefully, making sure his son doesn't hear him.

"Maybe you should start. Dennis could tell you more about what Colin was like at school. It might help both of you to talk about him." She suggests.

Mr Creevey nods as he thinks.

"Dennis' room is the first on the right." He tells them as he steps to the side to let them in.

Mr Creevey closes the door then leaves them in the hallway as he heads back into the kitchen.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asks him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Maybe you should go up first." He suggests. "I don't want to scare him." He adds when Hermione narrows her eyes suspiciously at him.

"Fine, you wait here." She tells him as she walks up the stairs.

* * *

Hermione pauses outside the door Mr Creevey told them was Dennis', although he needn't have bothered since the door had Dennis' name painted on it. Before she loses her nerve, she knocks on the door, awaiting an answer.

"Go away, Dad!" Dennis' voice grumbles through the door.

"It's not your Dad," Hermione calls back through.

There's silence on the other side for a few seconds before she hears the movement of fabric, the creak of a floorboard and the door swinging open to reveal a tired looking Dennis stood in front of her.

"Hermione!" He exclaims, frowning at her. "What are you doing in my house?" He asks her.

"Nice to see you too." She smiles at him kindly. "Do you want to maybe throw some trousers on?" She asks.

Dennis looks down at himself and seems to notice he's only wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt.

"Oh, sorry, wait a minute." He blushes as he slams his bedroom door in his face. He appears dressed in a pair of jeans less than a minute later. "So what are you doing here?" He asks, frowning at her again.

"I need to ask you to do something that you won't want to do." She tells him, giving him a warning that he's isn't going to like what she's about to say.

He narrows his eyes at her for a moment as he thinks then suddenly glares at her.

"Has this got anything to do with Malfoy?" He asks, which surprises her.

"How did you know?" She asks curiously.

Dennis shrugs. "You're married to him, right? I shouldn't be so surprised he roped you into this 'apology' thing he's trying to do." He finger quotes apology with an eye roll.

"Do you really think Draco Malfoy could ever rope me into anything I don't want to do?" She raises her eyebrow.

He looks down at the floor, nervously. "No, I suppose not." He mutters then looks back up into her eyes. "I don't want to see him." He tells her, eyes wide.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to." She reassures him. "But Draco would like you to give him the opportunity to apologise and explain his actions." She tells him.

"Has he told you what he did?" Dennis whispers, eyes still wide as he looks down the hall nervously.

"No, it's between you and him." Hermione tried to explain.

"He stood there and did nothing." He whispers quickly, leaning closer to her. "He did nothing as the Carrows took it, in turn, to crucio my brother or imperio me so I had to watch. I'm not like you or Harry. I couldn't break free from the curse. I had to watch. I had to listen to his screams whilst Malfoy just stood there and did nothing." Dennis's voice has steadily increased into a shout.

"I'm not going to make excuses for him, Dennis. I only know some of what happened during the year Harry, Ron and I were searching for the Horcruxes but I do know that Draco has changed since the end of the war. I may only have been married to him for nine days but I've seen a lot of changes in those nine days." She tries to reassure him.

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

Hermione gives him a smile. "This afternoon we're going shopping for some muggle clothes for him, then we're going to my muggle cousin's play." She continues to smile. "Does that sound like the Draco Malfoy you knew during the war?" She asks.

Dennis shakes his head as he thinks. "Fine." He huffs. "I'll listen to him for five minutes." He tells her. "But I want you there with me." He adds as he steps out of his bedroom. "And we wait for my dad to leave. I haven't told him anything about Colin's last year at Hogwarts. I don't want him to know what we went through. He wouldn't have let me back last year and there's no way he'd let me back this year." He mentions.

"Draco's stood in the hall." She tells him as they're about to walk down the stairs.

"Wait a moment." He mumbles as he quickly runs back into his bedroom.

He returns a few seconds later with his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"Dennis! You can't use magic." She reprimands him but he shrugs.

"I won't feel safe with him around if I don't have it." He glares down the stairs at where Draco's waiting for them.

Hermione shakes her head. "He won't do anything." She tells him confidently as she makes her way downstairs.

"Just in case." He mutters as he follows her.

* * *

Draco could hear the odd word being said up the stairs between Hermione and Creevey. He tried not to listen but he couldn't help it when he started shouting.

"I'm not like you or Harry. I couldn't break free from the curse. I had to watch. I had to listen to his screams whilst Malfoy just stood there and did nothing." Creevey shouts as the memory returns to Draco.

The Carrows couldn't let Dennis off, punishment free, after his brother begged to take the cruciatus curse for him. Instead, they held Dennis under the imperius curse, making him watch every convulsion his brother's body made and every scream his brother made. The Carrows took turns on each brother, laughing at the cries from each one, whilst Draco just stood there. Dennis was right. He didn't do anything to stop it. He couldn't. Blame it on his Slytherin self-preservation or the beliefs Lucius instilled in him at a young age, but no matter how painful it was watching the Creevey brothers' punishments, it would be nothing compared to how painful his own punishment would be if he intervened.

Footsteps at the top of the stairs pull him out of his memories. He quickly pushes himself back against the front door. He didn't want to scare Creevey. He held his hands in front of his stomach so the boy would know he wasn't armed, although he doubts it would have made much of a difference since they were both aware that Draco was well versed in both wandless and nonverbal magic.

Hermione steps towards him, creating a barrier between himself and Creevey who looks crossed between shocked and angry at his presence.

"Dennis, are you finally up?" Mr Creevey calls from the kitchen, appearing in the door. "I'll just finish making my lunch then I'll be out of you and your guests' way." He announces, a little too happily.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight." Dennis mutters, heading into the living room.

Hermione follows him into the room, so Draco follows behind her, not sure how this is going to work out.

"You can sit on the couch if you want." He offers, gesturing to the furniture with his wand.

"Thank you, Dennis." Hermione smiles at him, then pulls Draco by the hand over to the couch. "Sit down, Draco." She mutters as she takes her own seat.

Draco follows her order, perching on the edge of the couch next to her, ready to defend himself if he needs to. Creevey sits on the arm of the opposite armchair, glaring at him.

"We'll wait for my dad to leave if you don't mind." He says, not breaking eye contact.

"That's fine." Hermione answers.

There's a rather awkward silence for a few minutes where Creevey continues to glare at him, Draco stares back and Hermione taps her fingers against her knee.

"I thought your dad was a milkman." She mentions out of nowhere, breaking Creevey's glare on him as he turns to face Hermione.

"He was but he got a new job about three years ago." He explains before turning his gaze back on Draco.

A few minutes later, Mr Creevey sticks his head through the door to announce his departure. Creevey waits for the front door to slam shut before standing up. He paces back and forth in front of him a few times before going back to glaring at him.

"Go on then." He snaps angrily, stopping his paces in front of him.

Draco's eyes widen slightly. He didn't think he'd be let into the house let alone given the opportunity to apologise, so he hadn't prepared what to say.

Creevey rolls his eyes in annoyance at him. "Why did you just stand there and watch?" He questions angrily.

"What would you have wanted me to do?" He asks rhetorically but Creevey answers him anyway.

"You could have stopped them. I saw the way it affected you. You didn't like watching it any more than I did. Why didn't you stop them?" Creevey shouts at him.

"It wouldn't have worked. If I'd tried to stop them, I would have gotten my own punishment from them both. Be thankful your brother only had to suffer through one of them at a time, not both. I would have then gotten punished off Lucius. He would have tried to hide my failure from the Dark Lord but he would have found out somehow and either have his own way with me or grant one of the death eater's permissions to do his dirty work. The honest answer is that I was simply looking out for myself."

Dennis scoffs with a roll of his eyes.

"I know, how Slytherin of me but I wanted to survive the war. I didn't care which side won as long as I made it through." Draco explains. "And I'm very sorry about your brother. I wish I could apologise to him as well but I can't." He sighs. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I'm asking that you'll accept my apology."

Creevey stares at him for at least a minute, leaving Draco to prepare for any attack he might throw at him.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you." He says, looking at the wall behind him.

Draco turns to find a portrait of Colin smiling down at everyone.

"If he was alive, it might have been easier but I don't even want to think about forgiving you. I accept that you're a selfish, cowardly sheep who cares about no one else but himself. That's the only acceptance you're going to get from me." He says softly as though looking at his brother's picture calmed him down. "Now I'd like it if you both leave, please." He adds walking towards the living room door.

Both he and Hermione stands up, following him into the hallway.

* * *

Hermione pauses in the hallway to give Creevey a quick hug.

"Thank you, Dennis." She tells him. "Make sure you keep in touch when you go back to Hogwarts." She adds.

"It won't be the same without most of the DA there." He says sadly.

"I might organise a little party for all of us to just get together again." She suggests, already making the plans in her head. "Do you still have your galleon?" She asks.

Dennis gives her a sly smile as he taps his chest. Hermione can just about make out the circular shape of a galleon.

"Luna made them into necklaces for those of us who stayed at school. It made it harder to lose and we could always feel the heat." He continues to smile at her.

"I never knew that." She frowns. "Does anyone else still wear there's?" She asks.

Dennis shrugs. "I think most people who do wear it as a keepsake. Something that still unites us all together." He explains.

"I'll send an owl as well then, just in case anyone's lost theirs or thrown it in a box somewhere." She laughs.

"I made sure Colin was wearing his when we buried him. It's why I still wear mine. It helps me feel connected to him still." Dennis admits.

"Dennis, you are connected to Colin in so many better ways than the DA. You have all your memories, feelings, pictures and so much more." She tells him.

"I know, but this helps." He admits, playing with the coin through his shirt.

"Okay, well, I'll see you soon." She tells him, giving him one more hug,

"I'll be waiting for the heat." He winks at her with a sad smile.

"I'll send an owl as well." She tells him as both she and Draco exit his house.

Once Dennis has shut the door on them, Hermione takes Draco's hand and disapparates them straight to the side path to her Uncle David's garden.

She unlocks her uncle's front door with the wave of a hand. "I think the tickets are under a magnet on the fridge." She mentions as she heads straight into the kitchen.

She grabs the two tickets off the fridge then turns to show Draco. "We've got the tickets now we have three hours to waste." She smiles at him. "I'm taking you shopping." She laughs when he rolls his eyes.

Hermione makes sure to lock the front door once they've left before taking Draco by the hand again and pulling him towards the side path where she disapparates them away.

They reappear in an unfamiliar alleyway. There's a very large, tall building to their left and a few smaller buildings to their left.

"Where are we?" Draco asks curiously as they walk towards the main street.

"The shopping centre we went to the other day. They've got quite a few clothes shops that we can look in." She explains.

He looks down at her with a frown. "I'm not using those moving stairs." He warns her.

"I know." She chuckles lightly, taking his hand in hers once again. "We'll take the lift or the normal stairs." She tells him.

* * *

Draco nods his thanks as they enter the shopping centre. He glances around in awe as he takes in every shop. He still doesn't understand how they managed to get that car into the shop. He shakes his head as they make their way to the lift, walking past two bakeries, a children's clothes shop, a shoe shop, a few domestic shops and a pet shop.

Hermione presses the up button on the side of the lift and the doors open instantly. They enter along with a woman, pushing a pram. She presses the button for the next floor. The young girl in the pram stares up at them both, eye wide. Draco stares back at her until they arrive on their floor. The woman exits first with her pram, the little girl giving them both a large smile as she waves her chubby hand at them. Hermione waves back whilst Draco sends her a smile.

"We'll start over in this shop." She announces, pulling him by the hand over towards the nearest shop.

The models in the window were either wearing loose blue jeans with large jumpers or loose blue jeans with large, plaid shirts.

"Is _this_ what muggles think is fashionable?" He asks as they enter the shop.

"Yeah, I suppose so." She tells him as she glances around the shop. "I haven't exactly spent much time in the muggle world the past eight years." She explains, walking over to a rack of shirts.

She pulls out a few shirts, a green one and a plaid grey one, which he's thankful for until he notices a red plaid shirt in the middle. He might have been conditioned into hating the colour through house rivalry at Hogwarts but there's no way he'd ever let anyone catch him dead in a red shirt. Or red anything for that matter.

Draco follows Hermione over to the trouser racks where she makes her way through the different sizes and styles.

"What do you think about these?" She asks holding up a pair of light blue, baggy jeans.

He stares at the jeans in horror, then at Hermione, then back again before shaking his head with a forceful, "No." What would his friends say if they saw him wearing them? They'd probably think he finally lost his mind.

Hermione laughs to herself, putting them back on the rack.

"I think the darker jeans are quite nice." She mentions as she continues to look along the railings.

Draco follows next to her, checking his watch every few minutes whilst he waits Hermione to choose the right pair of trousers. He stifles a yawn as she finally pulls out a pair of black jeans that looked fitted.

"Great, are we done?" He asks, checking his watch once again.

"Yeah, I'm done." She chuckles. "The changing rooms are over there." She gestures over to the other side of the shop.

"The what?" He asks, looking over to where she pointed.

"The changing room." She reiterates. "We need to see what they look like when you're wearing them." She states obviously, guiding him over to the changing rooms.

Sighing deeply, Draco enters the changing room with the multiple items of clothing Hermione has chosen for him. He hangs them on the pegs in the room before unbuttoning his own black shirt, revealing his long, faint scars across his chest. He quickly pulls on one of the green shirts to hide them. He hates looking at them. They're a constant reminder of who he was back then. He doesn't blame Harry, at least not anymore. He deserved so much more from him, although when he looks at them for too long he does get angry. Who throws a curse at someone when they don't even know what it does. He could have died. Would much have changed if he had died? He stops that line of thought before it takes him someplace dark.

He changes his trousers for the pair of black jeans then pulls the curtain back to reveal his outfit to Hermione, who's sat on a stool next to a full-length mirror. He eyes widen as she smiles brightly at him.

"That looks great." She comments as she walks up to him. "Maybe do the top button up." She suggests as she fiddles with the button.

Her warm fingers tickle him as they graze across his neck. She takes him by the hand, dragging him over towards the mirror. He looks himself up and down carefully. She's right. The outfit does look better with the top button fastened.

At that moment, a member of staff enters the changing rooms, an arm full of clothes. She hangs them on a rail before walking over to him, giving him the once over.

"The shirts a bit tight, don't you think?" She announces looking him in the eye and tilting her head to the side.

"Really?" He asks, looking down at the shirt before looking at Hermione questioningly.

"Yeah, men are wearing their shirts baggy these days. It's the latest fashion. Justin Timberlake, Paul Rudd, that guy from the backstreet boys, and half the cast of friends." She chuckles, looking him up and down again. "Those jeans are quite tight too, but I don't think anyone's going to mind that." She winks at him, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Well I think my husband looks better in fitted shirts, but thanks for your opinion," Hermione mentions, brushing something off his shoulder then flattening the shirt down his chest.

Draco smirks at her knowingly with a raised eyebrow, earning himself a glare in return. He likes jealous Hermione. She tends to be a lot more touchy than usual.

The woman's smile falters as she nods at them. "Okay, if you need any more help I'll be over here sorting some clothes out." She tells them before walking off.

"You need to look less attractive." Hermione mumbles, flattening the collar of the shirt. "Everywhere we go, women just throw themselves at you. First, it was Nessie, now it's her." She continues to complain as she looks him up and down. "Do you like them?" She asks him.

Draco smiles down at her. "The clothes or the women throwing themselves at me," He asks with a smirk.

She narrows her eyes at him.

"I do like the clothes and the only attention I like, is from you." He explains before walking back over to his changing room.

* * *

Hermione can't stop the blush that graces her cheeks after what Draco said. She turns to look at her full-length mirror, hoping it isn't too obvious but her entire face has a pink tinge to it. She sits back down on the stool, waiting for him to try on the next shirt. The woman who was staring at the tightness of his jeans is humming along to a song as she sorts through the clothes rail. Hermione sends the back of her head a glare.

When Draco comes out again, he's wearing the red shirt she'd picked out for him. She didn't think he'd bother trying it on but he had and he'd even fastened the top button. He looked really good in red which makes her blush deepen. He walks over to the mirror to check himself out. Hermione takes the opportunity to check him out as well.

"I don't hate it as much as I thought I would." He comments as he unbuttons the sleeves and rolls them up his arm.

Godric! That's probably the hottest thing Draco's ever done. She stares at him for a moment, mouth hanging open before she remembers where she is and jumps to her feet. She can't stop her hands from running down his chest.

"I think this is my favourite shirt." She whispers, not trusting herself to speak any louder.

She smooths out the sleeves, still not making eye contact with him.

"Really!" He says and she just know he's smirking knowingly at her.

"Yeah. You look… er…" She doesn't know how to finish the sentence. There are too many adjectives she could use but none of them seemed fitting enough.

"Attractive?" Draco offers one jokingly and she nods.

"Insanely attractive." She smiles, finally glancing up at his face but instead of a smirk across his lips, she finds a sincere smile.

She reaches up on her tip toes to kiss a chaste peck to his lips before pushing him away.

"Now go try on the other shirt before we get kicked out of here." She jokes, pushing him towards his changing room.

* * *

He turns to smile at her once more before pulling the curtain shut. Hermione goes back to her stool where she flops down on it with a deep sigh. Her heart is beating faster than she thinks it ever has before. She's gone and she knows it.

Draco smiles at himself in the mirror as he takes off the red shirt. He might be prejudice against the colour red, but he would buy the shirt if it meant Hermione would react the same way again. He'd never wear it in public, though. That's one risk he's not willing to take. He hangs it back on the hanger before pulling on the last plaid grey shirt. It looks similar to the red one except for its grey.

He buttons it up to the top then takes a quick glance in the mirror at his reflection before throwing the curtain open and making his way to the mirror for the last time, hopefully. Hermione takes her time to look him up and down as she circles him.

"I'm not sure about the grey." She tells him, stopping next to him to check him out in the mirror. "It makes you look grey." She adds. "Maybe it needs some colour. Wait here." She tells him as she runs back out into the shop.

He takes a seat on the stool next to the mirror as he waits for her to return.

"I think the shirt makes you look paler than grey." The woman still sorting the clothes in the corner mentions.

"I think I'm pale enough." He says, glancing over at her.

"Being pale is really hot right now. Most people would kill for your complexion." She states, smiling over at him.

"Thanks?" He says unsure about whether she meant that as a compliment.

"You're welcome." She flashes him another smile just as Hermione runs back into the changing rooms with a gold tie.

He raises a questioning eyebrow at her as she throws it around his neck and ties it.

"Are you trying to turn me into a Gryffindor?" He asks.

"Of course not." She rolls her eyes at him. "Although, this tie would go very well with that red shirt. Maybe for Christmas." She tells him as though hinting at something.

"I'll wear the red shirt and I'll wear this tie but there's no way I'll ever wear them together." He tells her.

"We'll see." She mutters as she tightens the gold tie around his neck then flattens it down his chest. She gives him a final once over before stepping away from him. "Take a look."

Stepping down from the stool, he stands in front of the mirror. He isn't sure how he feels about the tie. It does make his face look less grey, or pale but it blends in with the shirt rather than standing out.

"It'll go really nice with that black shirt you're wearing. A splash of colour." Hermione tells him.

"I'll go try it on." He sighs, making his way back to his changing room.

They've been here far too long. He checks his watch to find that they've only been here twenty minutes. He changes back into his own trousers and shirt, buttoning it up to the top, then ties the tie around his neck. He throws his jacket on to get a better look. Hermione was right. It does go really well with all black. He pulls it off before grabbing the hangers of new clothes and exiting the changing room.

"What do you think?" Hermione asks, taking the clothes off them.

"Yeah, they all looked good. Can we go now?" He asks as they leave the changing rooms.

She sighs, rolling her eyes. "After I've paid for these." She tells him, leading him over to the till.

"Next time we're in Diagon Alley, I'll exchange some galleons for pounds." He tells her as they wait in the queue.

"I don't mind buying you things." She smiles at him.

"I want to be able to buy my own things in the muggle world." He whispers as a man joins the queue behind them. "From experience, people tend to frown upon others buying things for me."

"From what experience?" Hermione questions as they move forward.

"Howard from the… chippie?" He says unsure. "Is that right?" He asks.

"Yes, it's the chippie and you shouldn't listen to anything he says. He likes to gossip and cause trouble." She tells him.

Draco nods. "I just hate not being able to buy my own things when I can afford to." He explains.

"Okay, how about we go to Gringotts on Monday after your check-up at St. Mungo's?" She suggests.

"I'd forgotten about my check-up." He admits, subconsciously flattening his hair down.

"Stop playing with your hair." She snaps at him, pulling his hand away. "You can barely see the scar when you use makeup." She reassures him.

"It still feels like everyone stares at it as they walk past." He says, flattening his hair down again.

"Well there not, so stop ruining your hair." She pulls his hand away again, this time reaching up to brush his hair back, away from his face.

"Next, please." A man at the nearest till calls so Hermione drops her arm to make her way over.

Draco follows her, waiting patiently as the man scans the items and Hermione pays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 28 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Once outside the shop, Draco takes the bag off of her then takes her hand in his. Hermione guides him towards a little café a few shops away.

"Where are we going next?" He asks, sounding hopeful.

"Well, we've got you some new clothes, I thought we'd go get some lunch." She points towards the café.

Draco smiles happily. "Are we done with shopping?" He asks.

"Yes." She laughs. "For today at least." She adds, making him groan in annoyance. "How do you shop for clothes in the wizarding world?" She asks curiously.

He light embarrassed blush spreads across his cheeks. "I don't, usually." He admits. "I have enough clothes as it is and if I need anything special, like my wedding robes, Madam Malkin knows my measurement so Mitty or my mother would order it for me." He says, avoiding looking at her.

"Well, I won't be ordering your clothes for you so you better learn to do it yourself." She tells him sternly.

"I know how to order clothes." He rolls his eyes. "I just prefer to not waste my time doing so." He adds as they enter the café.

Hermione heads over to an empty table near the window where she tells Draco to sit down.

"What do you want to drink?" She asks him, placing her bag on the table top.

"I'll just have a cup of tea please." He answers.

She turns on her heel, heading over to the counter where a young man is stood in an apron, waiting to serve her.

"Can I have two pots of teas, please?" She orders, glancing up at the chalkboard menu on the wall behind the man.

"Would you like to upgrade it to a cream tea, it's free for today?" He explains.

"Yeah, okay then." She says, handing over the money.

"I'll bring it over for you when it's ready." He tells her after handing her the change.

"Thank you."

She sits down at their table to find Draco staring blankly at the wall behind. She glances around but finds nothing of interest there. She watches him for a moment before reaching across the table to take his hands in hers.

"Are you alright?" She asks, worriedly.

"Yeah." He mumbles, still staring at the wall.

"Are you thinking about Dennis?" She calmly rubs her thumb across the back of his hand.

His eyes shift quickly from the wall to her own, then back again.

"Draco," She squeezes his hand gently to gain his attention. "He's still hurting from the war. I don't think either of us can understand what he's going through but it must be tough to lose the one person who you can share both your wizarding self and muggle self with. They were not just brothers, but best friends and it's going to take him a long time to start to feel better. You saw George at the Burrow on Monday. He tries to smile for the sake of Angelina but when he thinks she's not looking, his smile falters. He doesn't involve himself in conversations anymore unless somebody else initiates it. Of course, he lost his twin brother but I'm assuming Dennis is feeling something similar. You need to give him some more time but I'm confident that one day he'll accept your apology and maybe even forgive you." She tells him.

Draco cups his hands around her as they begin to shake slightly. She tries not to think too much about George and his feelings, especially after the hen and stag night, because it upsets her more than she cares to admit. She knows she's being selfish but sometimes, she just doesn't want to cry.

"I still can't remember much from Monday night. Just little bits and pieces. I read a book once that said time heals all wounds, so maybe you're right but Dennis was right too. I am a selfish, cowardly sheep who only cares about himself." He says, avoiding her eyes by staring down at her hands.

"Maybe you were back during the war, and even before then, but you've changed since then and you know it. The Draco that Dennis described would not be sat here holding hands with me and he certainly would not have agreed to that deal with the Minister in order to protect Hermione Granger's reputation." She states, making him smile.

"I know I've changed but I can't help feeling that it's not enough. That no matter how much I change, it will never be enough because people will always see me as 'Draco Malfoy': blood traitor, Death Eat..." He stops mid-sentence.

* * *

Death Eater. He glances down at his makeup covered dark mark. Death Eater. A fury rises up from his stomach to his heart as memories come flooding back. That fucking Weasel. How dare he? If Hermione wasn't holding his hand right now, keeping him grounded, he'd have disapparated straight from this café to the estate and hunted him down.

"Draco! Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione whispers, pulling on his hand to gain his attention.

"That… Weasel." He spits angrily. "I'll kill him." He grits his teeth.

"Ron?" She questions in confusion.

"What he called you that night. At St. Mungo's." He clarifies. "I'll make him regret the day he insulted me and my wife." He narrows his eyes seriously.

"You remember." She sighs, sounding ashamed, looking down at their still locked hands.

"Why you were ever friends with him, I'll never understand." He scoffs.

"He's just angry at the moment. He'll calm down soon." She says, defending him.

Draco narrows his eyes slightly. "Why are you defending him?"

Hermione sighs. "I don't know. I guess its habit." She mutters, leaving them in silence for a few moments.

"He tried to convince you to move to America with him." He whispers, remembering how his heart had sunk back in St. Mungo's. All he had known about this woman was that she was very pretty and his wife. Why was this man trying to take her away from him? She's already said that she doesn't love him. Maybe she loves this other man instead.

Of course, Draco remembers clearly Hermione telling him about her non-relationship with Ron but that doesn't stop him from worry that one day she'll decide to divorce him, take their child and run away with Ron or some other man. No doubt the beautiful, heroine of the wizarding world would have a line of suitors around the entire estate if she became single.

"Draco!" She says, pulling his attention to her once more. "I've told you before but I'll tell you again. I'm not going to divorce you unless you give me a reason to, or you want to. I'm not going to run away to America with our child or children and I'm especially not going to do so with Ron who can barely look after himself." She squeezes his hand to emphasise the point to which he nods at.

He turns to stare out the window, feeling as though this topic of conversation has come to a natural end. It's only then that he realises a man is stood in front of the window, smoking and holding something up to his ear.

"What's he doing?" He asks, gesturing to the man

* * *

"It's a mobile phone. You use it to make phone calls or send text messages." She explains but Draco gives her a confused look. "You type out a message on one phone then send it instantly to another person's phone. It's the new form of communication."

"Do you have one?" He asks her.

"No, I never felt the need to own one since technology doesn't work within the walls of Hogwarts and the reception in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley is supposedly terrible. " She tells him. "Although I might get one now. It'll be easier to keep in contact with my family. I wonder what the reception is like on the estate." She thinks aloud.

At that moment, the young man comes over to their table carrying a tray with their cream teas. He balances the tray on the edge of the table as he places a cup of tea in front of them.

"Your scones will be out in a minute or so. We're just warming them up for you." He smiles before leaving them.

"A cream tea?" Draco asks and Hermione's surprised he knows what one is to name it.

"Yeah, there was a free upgrade." She shrugs, sipping her tea.

A few minutes later, the young man returns with his tray. He balances it on the table once again as he places two plates of scones in front of them along with a small dish of jam and a small dish of cream. He gives them another smile before leaving.

Hermione sets about cutting her two scones in half and evenly distributing her cream onto the four halves then topping it with the jam. She takes a bite, almost moaning with how deliciously fluffy the scone is and she's sure the jam's homemade.

She glances at Draco to find him spreading his jam onto half a scone. She watches in confused shock as he then spreads the cream onto another half sconce before sandwiching them together and taking a bite.

"What in Godric's name are you doing?" She asks, staring horrified at him.

He frowns at her as he chews, confused by her sudden outburst.

"What's wrong?" He asks once he's swallowed.

"You don't- sandwich them together. My God. Where did you learn to eat a scone like that?" She asks rhetorically, snatching his plate off him, with his other scone on it.

"My mother taught me when I was a child." He admits.

Hermione shakes her head. "Well, it's insanely wrong. There are two ways to eat a scone. The Cornish way or the Devonshire way. I prefer the Cornish way simply because it's easier to spread." She explains as she cuts his second scone in half. "The Cornish way is to spread the jam first then the cream." She spreads some of his jam across the top of his scone. "The Devonshire way is to spread the cream then jam. Technically, it's the only way since Devon began the tradition in the eleventh century and back when the jam was expensive, putting a small bit on top of the cream meant you could taste both toppings." She continues to explain as she begins to spread the cream on top of the jam.

Once she's done, she hands one-half of the Cornish scone to him to try. She watches as he takes a bite then smiles at her.

"The scone is definitely less over empowering this way." He comment, taking another bite.

"Now fix that abomination." She hands him his plate back with the sandwich scone.

Hermione picks up her own scones to eat as she watches Draco fix his scone.

"Does it really matter how one eats their scone?" He asks before taking a bite of one.

"Not really, as long as you eat it one of the two ways. Although if you ever find yourself having a cream tea in Cornwall or Devon, just remember which way round it goes." She says, half-jokingly, not sure if the Cornish or Devonshire people feel strongly against the others way.

"I'll bare that in mind." He mutters as they both continue to eat their scones and drink their cups of tea.

* * *

Once they've finished, they head back to the alleyway they apparated to earlier. Unfortunately, the binmen were halfway down the alley, driving towards them slowly as they collected the bins.

"We'll have to find a different alleyway," Hermione mentions, turning around only to be greeted by the disgusted look of an old lady walking past with her shopping trolley.

Unable to explain the situation, she blushes, grabbing Draco's hand and dragging him away from the judgmental look, towards the main street.

"Did you see that lady's face? I don't want to know what she thinks we need an alleyway for." She shakes her head as they continue walking.

Draco squeezes her hand as he chuckles. "What does it matter what she thinks? We'll most likely never see her again."

"It's still embarrassing." She frowns as she feels the heat rising up her neck. "We'll head home first to drop off the bag and feed Athena then we're straight back out again for Sophie's play." She explains what they're going to do. "We just need to find somewhere private to disapparate." She adds quieter as not to draw the attention of any muggles walking past.

They carry on walking for a few minutes before they come across a small side street with no one down it. Hermione pulls Draco down it and into the doorway of a closed shop, out of the way from any muggles that might peer down the street. With a quick turn, they've disappeared to the estate. They see a few couples walking up and down the streets as they walk towards their house. No one that they know so Hermione offers them a polite smile as they pass by each other.

Hermione unlocks the door, calling a hello to Athena as they enter. Draco heads straight upstairs to put his new clothes away so Hermione goes into the kitchen to grab a few pellets for Athena, then places them in her food bowl. She chirps her thanks to her before nibbling at them. She watches her for a minute whilst she waits for Draco to return. When she hears him coming down the stairs, she heads towards the front door, checking her watch.

"It's half twelve." She states, glancing up at Draco, who's now wearing the gold tie with his black shirt and new black jeans.

"What do you think?" He smirks, raising his arms up for her to get a proper look.

"Very nice but we're going to be late, so come one." She rushes him out the door, locking it behind her as she leaves.

They walk quickly to the gate, smiling politely at anyone they pass. She takes his hand in hers as they exit both the gate and the wards. They disapparate to her uncle David's house since Sophie's school is only a five-minute walk and Hermione doesn't know if there's anywhere hidden to apparate to nearby the school.

The school's doors have just open as they arrive, letting in a long line of the children's family members in. Hermione and Draco join the end of the line, tickets ready to show the two ladies at the door. Five minutes later they're being shown to the hall where a stage has been set up for the play. She drags Draco down to the second row where there are three spare seats. Ten minutes before the play is due to start, a woman comes up to them.

"Is this seat taken?" She asks pointing to the aisle seat next to Hermione.

"No, it isn't." She answers.

"Oh great, I could not find a parking space. I thought I was going to have to stand at the back of the room." She laughs. "How old are you? You're both far too young to have a nine-year-old child." She looks between them both.

"We're nineteen. My uncle's a teacher so couldn't make it so my cousin asked us to come instead." Hermione explains.

"And you dragged your boyfriend with you." The woman chuckles.

"Her husband and Sophie asked me to come as well," Draco tells her.

"Oh, you're married?" She asks, eyes wide. "You're both so young. I didn't get married until I was twenty-eight." She admits.

"We've been together four years." Hermione lies, remembering the story they told her family.

"Wow, so are young going to have any children of your own." She asks with a polite smile.

Hermione glances at Draco who's glaring at the women.

"Who are you?" He questions her.

"I'm Adam's mum. Adam Rochester." She tells them. "Which Sophie is your cousin? Sophie Parson or Sophie Lark?" She asks.

"Sophie Adair." Hermione answers, wondering why this woman wants to know everything about them.

"Oh, Sophie Adair. Didn't her mum kill herself straight after giving birth to her? How upsetting for her? Did her dad remarry?" The woman rests a comforting hand on Hermione's forearm.

"She didn't kill herself, she just didn't want to be a mother so she left and she and Sophie's dad weren't married." Hermione answers. "Also, it's not any of your business what happens in other people's families." She tells her before turning around to face Draco.

Just then, the lights in the hall turn off, then a spotlight appears on the stage. The circle of life starts playing through the speakers along the walls as children enter from the left side of the stage dressed in different animal outfits. From the right side of the stage, there's a raised platform where Rafiki, baby Simba, Mufasa and Sarabi enter. Baby Simba being a stuffed lion cub toy. Draco reaches over, taking her hand in his. She gives it a small squeeze before resting their clasped hands on her lap.

It turns out they had gotten two children from year two to play Young Simba and Nala. When Simba, Timon, and Pumba are walking across the 'log', a balance beam, they disappear behind a curtain at the back of the stage and reappear on the other side with adult Simba. When they've walked across the log once more, the hall lights go back on indicating an intermission. A woman, who Hermione thinks is the head teacher, appears on the stage, calling for everyone's attention.

"We will be having a fifteen-minute intermission whilst the children go to the bathroom and have a snack. There will be cups of teas and coffee in the lunch hall next door and the toilets are just down the corridor." She explains cheerfully before climbing down from the stage.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Hermione asks Draco, who nods, standing up.

They walk into the lunch hall to find a long queue of other people waiting to be served a hot beverage. They join the end, hoping to get served before the second act of the play begins.

"Do you know who Sophie is in the play?" Draco asks as they slowly shuffle forwards.

It's only now that Hermione realises that Sophie hasn't been on stage yet.

"No, she didn't mention it." She answers as she thinks. "All the main characters were in the first act." She adds trying to think if she's forgetting a character. "Maybe she's a hyena." She suggests as the queue moves forward.

"She was rather excited when she asked us to come. Would she have been that excited if she was just a hyena?" Draco wonder questioningly.

"We'll just have to wait and see. Maybe there's a dance at the end that she's a part of. Although, I'm unaware of her being able to dance very well. Especially if she takes after her father. My grandma will probably tell you the story of how my uncle David broke her foot at my parents wedding whilst attempting to do the hustle." She chuckles.

"And I'll pretend to know what the hustle is." Draco smiles at her.

"The Hustle's a song that came out in 1975, two and a half years before my parents got married. Thanks to the film Saturday Night Fever, the song became popular at weddings where people would try to recreate the dance from the film. If you ask my uncle very nicely, he might show you but he usually has to be very drunk." She explains as the person in front of them is given their cup of coffee and walks over to the sugar and milk table.

"I'll look forward to plying him with alcohol until he dances for me." He jokes as they take a step forward.

"Can I have two cups of tea please?" Hermione asks the woman behind the counter.

"Certainly." The woman says, turning around to pour them their drinks.

"If you film it, I'm sure he'll love you forever." She tells him. "Or at least I will." She laughs until she realises what she just said.

She's just told Draco that she loves him. He obviously heard her as well because he's staring wide-eyed and unsure at her. She doesn't love him. She's only known him properly for nine days. She can't love him yet.

Thankfully, before Draco can say anything, the woman comes back with their cups of tea. Hermione thanks her, handing one over to Draco, then walking over to the milk and sugar table. She fills the rest of the cup with milk as she silently waits for Draco to do the same.

What should she say to him? Should she apologise? Say she didn't mean it? That would only lead to a more awkward, uncomfortable silence.

"I know you don't love me, Hermione," Draco whispers in her ear as they walk back into the hall.

She looks up at him guiltily.

"I'd be worried if you did. We've only really known each other for little over a week." He chuckles as they make their way back to their seats, making Adam Rochester's mum stand up to let them past. "We may not love each other just yet," He leans closer to whisper into her ear. "But you do make me feel loved and I thank you for that." He moves away from her, taking a sip of his tea, leaving Hermione staring at the stage in awe.

She doesn't reply to his admission as the hall lights turn off, signalling the start of act two. The second act starts with Adult Simba lying in on the grass with Timon and Pumba, gazing at the 'stars', the ceiling with silver, foil stars taped to it. Hermione's just getting back into the play, trying to ignore Draco sat closely beside her, when he reaches his spare hand over, entwining his finger with her own spare hand, giving it a small squeeze. She translates the squeeze to mean 'I hope I didn't make you feel awkward by admitting you make me feel loved'. She does feel slightly weirded out but more by the fact he actually admitted it than the actual admission, so she squeezes his hand back, in acceptance before going back to the play.

* * *

Draco can't concentrate on the second act properly. Not after his little admission. He would blame Hermione for getting him thinking of love but it's not her fault. It's probably about time that they start discussing their feelings for each other. He's not sure about Hermione but he's definitely starting to feel more than friendship for her, which could make their relationship rather awkward if she does feel the same way yet. What if she never feels the same way? He told her that they don't love each other yet. He just assumed that at some point, Hermione would love him.

He's suddenly reminded of their kiss last night which makes him smile to himself. That was not a kiss a friend gives you. That was a potential romantic partner kiss. A kiss he hopes to repeat sometime soon.

He's lost in his thoughts when Hermione squeezes his hand.

"Look!" She points towards the stage. "Sophie's Nala. She's adult Nala." She whispers excitedly to him.

She's right. Sophie's on stage in a fur lioness suit, circling around Pumba before pouncing on him, but missing, then chasing him around the stage. Adult Simba shows up and they pretend to wrestle each other and growl before circling each other.

"I wasn't expecting her to be one of the main characters." He admits.

He's only met the child once before but she seemed to be more bookish and reserved than outgoing and confident.

"Neither was I but she's quite good." Hermione mutters, keeping her eyes on Sophie. "I suppose it comes from reading so many books." She suggests.

Draco nods in agreement as they continue to watch her cousin prowl around the stage as she tries to convince Simba to challenge his uncle for his rightful place as King. Then, can you feel the love tonight starts playing. Nala and Simba ballroom dance around the stage, which impresses him immensely, even with its simplicity. He was unaware that Sophie could dance, which he voiced to Hermione.

"So was I." She whispers as she watches her cousin.

He remembers his spending hours in the ballroom with his mother when he was younger, learning all the many dances he was expected to know for formal parties. He resented it at the time but he was thankful for all those painstakingly long hours when Hogwarts held the Yule Ball. What would Lucius have done if he embarrassed the Malfoy name? He blinks the thought from his head, concentrating back to the stage.

The play ends dramatically with Simba throwing Scar off the stage, onto a hard looking mat. He follows everyone around him in standing up and clapping the performance. The same woman who announced the break came back on the stage, waiting for the noise to die down.

"Let's give our year four classes a round of applause for their hard work this last term." She announces and everyone claps again as the year four children take a bow, except for Scar who was still lying 'dead' on the floor but still watching the woman. "Let's also give all the staff who made this possible a round of applause." She motions to who he assumes are the teachers, stood at the side of the stage, as everyone continues to clap. "Okay, now, if you'd like to wait in the here for ten minutes or so whilst the children get changed into their uniform, we'll allow them to leave with you now." The woman explains with a nod before walking off stage.

He glances down at Hermione next to him.

"Are we taking Sophie with us then?" He asks unsure.

"I don't see why not. We could take her out for dinner, save my uncle from cooking for a night." She mentions, then looks at him pointedly. "There's also the small issue of priority four."

Draco tries to think back to the priorities but he can't remember there being a fourth one.

"Which one is the fourth priority?" He whispers, making sure Adam Rochester's mother doesn't hear since she keeps looking at them when she thinks they aren't looking.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "To figure out which of my cousins is…" She pauses, widening her eyes.

"I thought that was priority three." He frowns, sure he remembered correctly.

"It was priority three but then finding out if I'm descendent became priority three after priority two was changed to somehow finding out how they paired people together." She explains in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Okay, I understand." He whispers back. "So how exactly do you plan on accomplishing priority four?" He asks.

"I don't know yet." She mumbles, obviously trying to think of a plan.

"If only we had the snitch," Draco suggests half-jokingly.

Hermione frowns at him. "I told you we're not using the snitch."

"It's the easiest and quickest way to test them all." He tries to convince her.

"We'll think of another way." She turns her away from him, looking over at the stage doors where the first couple of children were exiting in their uniform, ready to leave with their family.

"What do you want to do?" He whispers in annoyance. "Throw her in front of a car, push her down the stairs or threaten to burn all her books." He makes a few suggestions.

Hermione swings her head back around to face him, frowning him down.

"Why would I-"

"Frightening or scaring a child is the easiest way to force accidental… magic out of them." He whispers so quietly that Hermione has to lean forward to hear him.

"I would ne-" She starts to snap at him but he interrupts her.

"I know you would never, which is why it's ridiculous that you won't even consider using the snitch. We simply hand it to her and see what happens." He explains.

"Hermione, Draco, you came!" Sophie's excited voice called to them.

They both turn to face the voice to find her running towards them in her uniform, carrying her school bag. There is still some brown face paint around her hairline and on her ears but he doesn't mention it as she hugs Hermione and smiles up at him.

* * *

"Of course, we came," Hermione says. "We promised we would, didn't we?" She squeezes her cousin tighter into a hug.

"Yeah." She beams up at them both as they pull out of the hug. "Are you taking me home?" She asks, looking hopeful.

"Actually, Draco and I thought we'd take you out for some dinner to celebrate." She announces, elbowing Draco in the rib since he seems to be staring into space.

"Hmm, oh, yes. Dinner. What would you like, Sophie?" He asks, sending her cousin a smile.

Even though they'd just been in quite a serious argument that hadn't been resolved, her heart still melts when she sees Draco smile. Even more so when it's at her young cousin.

"Can we go to McDonald's?" She asks, jumping up and down excitedly.

Draco turns to face her questioningly.

"Of course we can. Do you have everything?" She asks her cousin as they walk out of the hall.

"I think so." She calls as she runs over to her friends stood at the gate.

Hermione takes hold of Draco's hand, giving it a small apologetic squeeze.

"I'm sorry for getting angry but we are not using the snitch and that's the end of this discussion." She tells him, punctuating the end of the sentence with a tighter squeeze.

"Fine." He huffs. "But we need to think of a new idea soon if you want to take advantage of this opportunity." He mumbles as they walk through the gate, Sophie walking a few meters ahead with her friends.

Since Draco doesn't have a clue how to order food or pay for their meal, Hermione leaves them in a booth near the window whilst she went to wait in the queue. She only had to wait a few minutes before a cashier called for the next person.

"Hi, how can I help you?" A bored teenage girl asks her.

"Can I order a kids chicken nugget happy meal, an adult chicken nugget meal and an adult cheeseburger meal. All with a coke please." She orders with a smile as the girl taps away at the till screen.

"Yeah, that'll be £12.89." She tells her, holding her hand out for the money.

Hermione hands her some money then waits for her food. Once the girls placed her order on the tray, she thanks her with a smile then walks over to where she left Draco and Sophie, grabbing three straws and some napkins on the way past.

When she reaches the table, see finds Draco and Sophie laughing together at something.

"What are you laughing about?" She asks them, placing the tray on the table and taking a seat next to Sophie.

"Adam Rochester," Sophie tells her between giggles. "He was Scar. When Scott Stevens threw him off the stage, he was supposed to crawl around the side of the stage, not lie on the mat pretending to be dead." She explains as Hermione serves the food out.

Hermione rips the cheeseburger in half, passing one-half to Draco and keeping one-half in her box. She then takes three chicken nuggets out of the box, placing it in her own.

"Since you've never had McDonald's before I thought you'd like to try both a chicken nugget and a burger. They're the two most popular meals." She explains to him.

"You've never had McDonald's before?" Sophie asks in shock. "Does your Dad not like it?" She asks, then takes a large bite of her chicken nugget.

"We don't have McDonald's where I live," Draco tells answers as he cautiously picks up a chicken nugget of his own. "This is chicken?" He asks, looking up at Hermione.

"Yes, it's a chicken nugget." She tells him, making Sophie laugh.

Draco nibbles the edge of the chicken nugget, chewing it a few times before swallowing it. Both Hermine and Sophie are watching him intently, awaiting his review.

"It's alright." He shrugs, taking another bite.

"Is he a fussy eater?" Sophie whispers to her, making her chuckle.

"Only with food he's never had before." She whispers back, sending Draco a smile.

"Grandma says I'm a fussy eater," Sophie tells her. "But that's just because Dad's a fussy eater and doesn't cook food he doesn't like." She continues to eat her chips.

"I'm sure if you asked Grandma, she'll love to have you over for tea if you want to try new food," Hermione suggests.

"No, Grandma and Grandad are busy with Lauren and Craig. I heard Dad on the phone with them yesterday, they've been looking after them for over a week now and haven't heard from Aunt Louise since the Barbeque. I think Dad's worried about them because they're getting old." Sophie says, looking at them with wide eyes. "Dad said he would look after Lauren and Craig on Saturday night so they might be coming to sleep over." She adds excitedly.

Hermione glances at Draco worriedly. Her grandparents are getting on a bit but to her, they'll always be the energetic people who ran around the park with her when she slept over at their house after getting picked up from school. She hasn't seen them much over the past nine years she's been at Hogwarts and she hasn't noticed them getting older.

"There's no need to worry," Draco announces suddenly. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end." He adds, looking at Hermione.

"Yeah, the adults will work something out." She confirms, taking a bite out of her burger.

"I'm not worried, it's just sad for Lauren and Craig. I haven't got a mum who cares about me but they haven't got a mum or a dad." Sophie explains, taking a sip of her drink.

Both Hermione and Draco glance at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Well, you, Lauren and Craig have got your Grandma and Grandad, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Chris, your dad and you've got me," Hermione reassures her cousin, brushing her hair out of her face.

"And Draco," Sophie adds, smiling up at him to which he returns the smile.

"Yes, you've got me as well. I'm not going anywhere." He tells her.

Hermione's heart warms as she looks at Draco. He's smiling at Sophie as he eats a chip. She reaches her foot out under the table, grazing his ankle for his attention. When he looks at her, she sends him a thankful smile then goes back to her dinner.

Once they've all finished their dinner, they walk back to her Uncle David's house to drop Sophie off. They stop off at a playpark on the way and both Hermione and Draco sit on a bench whilst Sophie runs off to play on the slide.

"When I was a child, my favourite part of the playpark was the witch's hat," Hermione admits with a laugh.

"Which one's that?" Draco asks, casting a glance around the park.

"That climbing rope in a cone shape over there." She points over to the corner next to the swings.

"Draco!" Sophie shouts over from the swings. "Come push me!" She shouts trying to swing herself.

"Be gentle," Hermione tells him as he jumps up from the bench and makes his way over to her.

Hermione watches from the bench as Draco pushes Sophie on the swing, gradually going higher and higher until she squeals for him to stop. She laughs as Draco tries to stop the swing but ends up getting kicked in the chest. In a revenge plot, he pushes her again, a little harder, making her squeal louder as the swing goes higher and faster.

Chuckling to herself, Hermione makes her way over to the swings to save her cousin, when suddenly, the swing stops in the middle of the air for a split second then gently swings back down to a sudden stop, parallel with the ground. Sophie hops off, angrily stomping towards the gate with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

Hermione whips her head to Draco, who's absentmindedly rubbing his chest where he got kicked as he glances back and forth between Sophie and the swing.

"D-Draco, did you do that?" She asks, taking his hand in hers.

He shakes his head. "No, I think that was Sophie." He answers, pulling her towards the gate where a still angry Sophie was stood waiting for them. "We should ask her," Draco whispers as they exit the playpark, making their way back towards her Uncle David's house.

"No, what if she doesn't know anything about it?" Hermione asks nervously.

"Hermione, she's nearly nine years old. If she's the Muggleborn then she should already have shown some accidental magic. We need to find out if she is aware of it or not." He explains seriously.

"We can't ask her yet. She's still angry at you and probably me for laughing at her." She tells him.

They both intently watch her as she leads the way back to her home. She stops at the roads to wait for them then speeds off ahead. Within a few minutes, they're turning onto her street.

"We need to ask her now, before her father's around." He tells her.

"Fine, I'll do it but you need to stay back a bit. I don't want to overwhelm her." She sighs.

Draco gives her hand an encouraging squeeze before she jogs forward to where Sophie is still stomping ahead.

"Sophie,-" She starts but doesn't know how to carry on.

Sophie stares up at her, looking both angry and scared.

"Sophie," She starts again. "How did you stop the swing?" She asks calmly, careful not to show her own nervousness in her voice.

Her cousin's eyes widen for a moment before narrowing and looking straight ahead. She shrugs before answering, "It just stopped."

"Are you sure?" Hermione questions her. "Because it looked like..." She didn't know how to explain without giving too much away.

Sophie looks up at her, shaking her head. "It just stopped at the bottom." She snaps then runs off towards her house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 29 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione starts to run after her but Draco runs up behind her, grabbing her hand.

"Leave it, for now, we don't want to push her. I'd imagine she's scared of something she can't control and scared that someone will find out about it." He tells her.

"I know how she's feeling." Hermione sighs. "I went through the same thing when I was her age. It's why she needs me to explain to her what's happening." She stops suddenly at the end of her Uncle David's drive, making Draco stop with her. She grips hold of his hand tightly. "I can't believe Sophie's a Muggleborn. I know you told me one of my cousins was but I still didn't truly believe it until I saw Sophie on that swing." She admits. "We're going to have to tell my uncle David at some point. Once we've gotten Sophie to talk about it." She frowns, not looking forward to admitting to her uncle that she's been lying about pretty much everything for the past eight years.

"I think we should wait until we've been to the Ministry and checked your ancestry. If it turns that the Karina Rowle is your ancestor, then we can use your family tree to explain it to him." Draco suggests to which she nods.

"Come on, we should go say hello to my uncle David." She says as they walk towards the front door, which Sophie left wide open.

"What's wrong with Sophie?" David asks as they enter the house, closing the front door behind her. "Did the play go well?" He wonders, glancing up the stairs where Draco assumes Sophie ran off to.

"I'm afraid that's my fault, we took Sophie to the playpark on the way here and I might have pushed her too higher." He explains, taking the blame.

David shakes his head with a chuckle. "She's scared of heights." He explains, leading them into the kitchen. "So, how was the play?" He asks as he fills the kettle on.

"It was amazing. Did you know Sophie was adult Nala?" Hermione asks, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Draco takes the seat next to her.

"Who?" David frowns, confused, as he flicks the switch on the kettle to boil.

"Nala, from the Lion King." She tries to explain but he just shrugs shaking his head. "You haven't seen it?" She rhetorically asks.

"Do you know what she's on about?" David asks him.

"The first time I heard about it was when Sophie asked us to see her play. We watched it the other day." He explains.

"Is it any good? I might rent it from Blockbusters for Sophie, Lauren, Craig and I tomorrow night." He ponders as he takes three cups out of the cupboard.

"I fell asleep so I'm not sure but the play was great," Draco admits, making David laugh as he makes them all cups of tea.

David sets the cups down on the kitchen table, taking a seat opposite them before sipping at the boiling beverage with a wince. He glances at his watch and sighs.

"I suppose I'll have to think about dinner soon." He grumbles. "Care to join us?" He offers.

"We actually took Sophie out for dinner after the play," Hermione tells him.

"Well, that'll save me an hour or so. I've got a tonne of marking to get through, most of it year eleven's GCSE coursework." He sighs. "Why I chose to become a teacher I'll never know." He laughs then looks at Hermione. "Oh, sorry love. I mean, teaching is great, the pupils are a delight and it's such a rewarding career." He nods with a fake grin plastered on his face.

Hermione laughs at him whilst Draco watches, confused.

"If you hate teaching so much, why don't you change professions?" He asks.

"I don't hate teaching, I hate the marking, the exams, Ofsted, the government who think they know my job better than me, but I don't hate the teaching aspect of being a teacher or the pupils. Well, I don't hate most of the pupils. I could throttle that bloody Sammy Jones. He has no respect for rules or authority." David shakes his head then smiles. "But there's at least fifty Robin Carters to every Sammy Jones. Robin's such an angel." He explains.

Draco nods. He can understand that, even if he has no idea what an Ofsted is. He's confident he'll love teaching potions but the marking of feet of parchment and dealing with idiotic children seems very boring, tiresome and a waste of time. The teaching profession definitely prematurely aged his godfather, which is something he doesn't want to happen to him. Then again, Severus was also dealing with being a double agent on top of all that, which he has no doubt was stressful.

"Sophie said you've got Lauren and Craig tomorrow," Hermione says, raising her eyebrows with a smirk.

Her uncle rolls his eyes. "Don't get me started on my bloody sister. Everyone's been trying to get hold of her since my barbeque but she doesn't answer. We think she's around at that Darren's place but of course, we don't have his number."

"Do you not know where he lives?" She asks, but he shakes his head.

"We don't have a clue. I've told my mum that if she hasn't been in touch by Monday, she should call social services but of course your grandma's having none of it."

"I can see why." Hermione frowns at her uncle. "They'd be taken off them into care."

"Social services hate taking children away from their family, of course, it has nothing to do with actually caring about the children and all to do with the amount of money it cost the government to foster children. They'd end up with either me or your parents." He explains. "Your grandparents still think they're capable of taking care of two under five-year-olds, full time but they aren't." He sighs. "If we haven't heard anything by this time next time next week, I'll call social services myself. I'm sure I'll be able to get custody of them as their uncle, at least until Louise sorts herself out." He says hopefully.

"Do you think that's going to happen anytime soon?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

"She might grow up in time to see her kids off to university." Her uncle chuckles. "Honestly Hermione, you're twice as mature as she is." He nods at her.

Hermione smiles appreciatively at her uncle. If only he knew that she was forced to grow up quickly the past couple of years due to the threat of an evil wizard who wanted to take over the wizarding world and murder people just like her and him. Well, she might have to tell him soon.

Once they've finished their cups of teas, Hermione bids David goodbye since he has so much marking to mark and he's going to busy over the weekend with three children in the house. Draco shakes his hand, thanking him for the tea, as they leave and is unexpectedly pulled into a quick embrace.

"I'll most likely see you at some point soon." He calls from the doorway as he and Hermione walk down his drive, towards the main road.

As soon as they hear the door close and lock behind them, Hermione grabs hold of his hand, pulling him towards the small path at the side of David's house. Just before they reach the garden gate, she disapparates them back to the gates of the estate.

"We need to come up with a plan of action for Sophie," Draco mentions as they walk towards their house.

"I know," She sighs, "but it can wait until later on. Right now I was to lounge on the couch with a book for a couple hours." She tells him.

"That can be arranged." He smiles down at her, squeezing her hand gently.

"You can join me if you want." She adds, looking up at him. "I know you're nearly finished with Dracula and you should probably start Alice in Wonderland before Sophie gets angrier with you." She smiles softly.

"I suppose lounging on the couch beside you, with a book, will be enjoyable." He mentions nonchalantly.

"I'm sure it will be." She smirks slightly, turning to face ahead.

Draco ignores his curiosity as they come up to their house and Hermione gets the keys out to unlock the front door. Once the doors open, he heads straight upstairs to get changed into his pyjamas, not planning on going out anywhere else tonight. He hangs his clothes up in the wardrobe then washes his face before grabbing Dracula, going back downstairs and finding Hermione in the kitchen where she's washing up some of the dishes from earlier. Draco leaves her to it, heading back into the living room to open Athena's cage.

"Hello, Athena." He greets her as she darts past his head. "Did you miss us?" He asks as she flies around the room happily.

He watches her for a few seconds before flopping down onto the couch, resting his feet on top of the coffee table, then starts where he left off with Dracula.

Hermione finishes washing up without realising she had even started. Her thoughts were too preoccupied with Sophie. She was so angry when they left. But was she angry at them or with herself?

_Thinking back on her life before she found out about the wizarding world, she was in denial at first that anything was wrong with her. Her Barbie didn't fly into her hand when she dropped it onto the floor and tried to reach it without getting off her bed._

_Then she was scared of what she could do. What is wrong with her? That ball Verity threw at her face just slowed down in time for her to catch._

_Next came the anger. "Hermione, did you turn the heat on the broccoli pan up so we couldn't eat them?" "No mummy." "Don't lie to me, Hermione." "I'm not lying, mummy." "Then you turned it down so we wouldn't notice." "No." "You can stay in your room for the rest of the night. I'll bring you a sandwich up for dinner later." "Mummy, I didn't do it." "Well, it wasn't your daddy or me." She'd been so angry her snow globe had exploded, then her mum had gotten angry herself and forgotten to bring her a sandwich._

_Then she began bargaining. She went to church with her Grandma Emily every Sunday and pray to a God she wasn't sure even existed for him to fix her, make her better again but after going for months and nothing changed, she gave up._

_For the longest time, she was sad. She stopped doing things she usually loved doing. Her teachers at school became concerned as her marks dropped, especially since she was due to take her SATs at the end of her year. Her parents were worried when she would flinch away from their touch for fear of hurting them with whatever this power was inside of her._

_Her acceptance didn't come until March of her last year at primary school when there was a knock at the front door. Hermione didn't bother getting out of her bed to see who it was until her mum called for her to come downstairs. With a sigh, she had trudged down into the living room where a man in a strange uniform was stood in front of the TV. She sat down on the couch, next to her mum, shaking in terror that this man knew what she could do and was going to take her away from her family._

_"_ _Hello Hermione, my name is Titan Morrow." He had introduced himself._

_"_ _Titan?" She had questioned, thinking it was a strange name._

_"_ _Yes, my mother named all her children after Saturn's moons." He explained to her. "I'm the eldest." He adds when Hermione continues to stare at him. He coughed to clear his throat, looked down at a file he had in his hands before looking back up at her. "Hermione, I'm here for a specific reason."_

_"_ _I'd like to know what that reason is and what it has to do with my daughter." Her dad had asked him._

_"_ _There's no easy way to say this but… Hermione," He crouched down in front of her. "You're a witch."_

_She hadn't exactly been sure what he meant by that but it sounded like an answer to all the questions she had wanting to ask over the past couple of years. She'd felt a weight lift off her shoulders as a sigh of relief left her. Her parents, on the other hand, had gone quiet for a minute or so before telling him to leave._

_"_ _I'm sorry Mr and Mrs Granger, but I'm unable to leave until I've given your daughter her Hogwarts letter." Titan had announced, pulling an envelope out of his coat pocket._

_"_ _I won't have you coming in her, spouting nonsense to my daughter about magic and witches. I don't care what this hog wart is. I want you to leave." Her dad had stood up at that point, point his finger accusingly at the man._

_"_ _Hermione, have you ever made something happen or done something that you didn't mean to when you were angry or not paying attention?" He asked her as her dad grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull him out of the living room._

_Hermione's eyes widened as she began to wonder if this man was telling the truth. Was she really a witch? But in all the stories, witches were evil, old ladies. She might have done some bad things but she didn't think she was evil._

_"_ _Mr Granger, if you don't remove your hand from me I will be forced to remove it myself." Titan had turned to her dad._

_"_ _Are you… the same?" Hermione had asked, not wanting to say the word._

_"_ _Yes, I'm a wizard and I can prove it if your father would remove his hand from my arm." Titan had told her before turning back to her dad._

_"_ _Please let go, dad." She had begged him._

_"_ _Don't listen to this man, Hermione. He's obviously crazy, an escapee from some hospital." Her dad had said angrily as he continued to pull the man by his arm towards the door._

_"_ _Mr Granger, this is your last warning to remove your hand before I do so for you." Titan has glared at her dad._

_For a few seconds, nothing happened then suddenly everything happened at once. Titan whipped what looked like a stick out of the pocket of his coat with his free hand, jabbing it into the throat of her dad. Her mum gasped, pulling her close behind her. Her dad just frowned in confusion at the man._

_"_ _It's alright Sarah. It's just a stick. What's he going to do with a stick?" Her dad has tried to comfort them but Titan hadn't liked that._

_"_ _Nox." He had said clearly, making the living room lights go out. Her mum screamed, pulling her closer to her. "Lumos." He said and at the end of his stick came a small, white light. "Lumos Maxima." He said next and the light exploded around the room._

_Hermione's eye went wider than she thought possible. There must be an explanation for this. An explanation other than magic. Her dad must have let go of him as Titan walked closer to her, knelt on the ground and peered around her mum's legs with a smile on his face._

_"_ _Do you believe me, Hermione?" He asked._

_She just stared at him unsure of whether she believed anything anymore._

_"_ _What can you do, Hermione?" He continued to smile at her._

_"_ _I… Once I made my Barbie fly into my hand." She whispered, afraid of what her parents and this man would say._

_Titan's smile widened considerably. "Like this?" He raised an eyebrow before holding his hand out and mumbling something. A few seconds later, a bottle of water that had been on the coffee table was flying through the air into his hand._

_Hermione nodded excitedly. "And I made a ball stop in the air." She told him, trying to move from behind her mum but she wouldn't let her._

_Titan's smile softened. "Hermione, I have a letter her for you from the deputy headmistress at Hogwarts." He handed her the envelope he had been holding earlier._

_"_ _Don't touch it, Hermione." Her dad warned her but she ignored him, taking the envelope out of Titan's hand._

_When she went to open it, her mum made a snatch for it, so she ran. Straight up the stairs, into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She closed the lid on the toilet, taking a seat on it before staring down at the envelope. She could hear her parents running up the stairs. They tried opening the door and then asking her to open it but she ignored them._

_The envelope was addressed to her in a green ink, handwritten beautifully. Turning it over, she found a seal. She'd never seen an envelope with a seal in real life before. Carefully, she picked open the seal, revealing thick parchment paper inside. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the parchment out and opened it. She re-read it more times than she could remember, sitting on the toilet. Each time she re-read it, she believed everything a little more._

_She doesn't know how long she locked herself in that bathroom for but when she came out, both her parents were sat at the top of the stairs and Titan was stood at the bottom. She passed the letter to her dad who held it between himself and her mum so they could both read it. Her gaze shifted between her parents and Titan as they re-read the letter a few times._

_"_ _Is this some kind of joke?" Her mum asked, voice wavering._

_Titan got his wand out again. "Do you need further proof of what I can do? Of what Hermione will be able to do once she's been educated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He asked, swishing his wand around._

_"_ _No!" Her mum called, eye going wide._

_"_ _If we can get back to the matter at hand. My first job was to deliver Hermione's letter, my next job is to tell you some rules and then I need to show you to the muggle entrance to Diagon Alley." He explained, glancing down at his watch._

_"_ _What?" Hermione questioned._

_Titan thought for a moment on which words she hadn't understood. "Muggle is a non-magical person, like your parents, and Diagon Alley is where you'll need to go shopping for all your Hogwarts supplies." He answered. "Now, there are a few rules you must abide by. You can't use magic outside of Hogwarts until you are of age, you can't tell anyone about the wizarding world."_

_"_ _Can I tell my grandma and grandad?" She'd asked hopefully, wanting to show off all her magical school supplies._

_"_ _It's best if you don't tell anyone who doesn't need to know," Titan informed her and she nodded solemnly._

_"_ _This is all madness." Her mum shook her head._

_Titan ignored her. "It would be best if we left now for Diagon Alley. I've heard muggle traffic can be a nightmare around lunchtime. Do you drive Mr Granger?" He looked up at her dad._

_"_ _Yes but we're not going anywhere with you." He told him._

_He rolled his eyes. "If you need more proof of the wizarding world, then you'll get it in Diagon Alley. It's the equivalent of muggle London." He explained then walked out the front door._

_Hermione tried to push past her parents to follow him outside but her dad caught her wrist._

_"_ _Hermione, where do you think you're going?" He asked her._

_"_ _With Titan. He can show us the magical London, then you'll understand." She told them._

_Her parents shared a concerned look as she tried to struggle out of her dad's grip. Her mum felt her forehead with the back of her hand._

_"_ _Are you feeling alright, darling? You can't honestly believe this crazy man." She scoffs a laugh._

_"_ _I'm like Matilda, mum. I can make things move, make them stop mid-air, make them turn on and off and all without knowing I'm doing it. Remember the broccoli mum. I didn't know I'd done it. I hadn't touched the oven with my hands but my magic must have done it." She explained excitedly, beginning to believe that her power, her magic was real and not something to fear or be angry about. Titan could control his with that stick or just his hand and he'd said she would be able to as well after going to the magic school._

_"_ _Hermione, we don't care about the broccoli anymore. That was nearly four years ago. You don't need to make silly 'magic' excuses." Her mum told her._

_"_ _You don't understand." Hermione had cried. "I didn't know what was wrong with me but this makes sense. I'm a witch." She had smiles, causing her parents to share another concerned look._

_"_ _We've never seen you do any magic?" Her dad told her. "Why don't you show us now?" He asked._

_Hermione didn't know what to do or how to do it. She'd never intentionally done anything before, only ever accidentally or subconsciously. Suddenly, she had a thought. She took the letter from her father, placing it on the floor next to the bathroom, she went back to stand next to her parents. She held her hand out like Titan had and tried to will the letter into her hand but it didn't so much as shake._

_"_ _Okay, that's enough Hermione. I think you need to go to bed for a nap." Her mum tried to guide her towards her bedroom._

_"_ _NO!" She shouted, stepping away from her mum._

_She could feel the anger building up in her. Why didn't they believe her? Especially after what they've seen Titan do with the lights and that bottle._

_"_ _Hermione, don't shout at your mum. You're overtired and we think you need a rest." Her dad tried to tell her but she stepped away from them future._

_"_ _WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?" She shouted at them just as the light bulb above her shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, raining down on her._

_"_ _Hermione!" Her mum cried._

_Instinctively, she raised her hands above her head to protect her face from the glass but after a few seconds had passed and she hadn't felt any glass hit her, she glanced up only to find the thousands of shards of glass floating in mid-air, millimetres from her head. In shock, she backed away from the floating glass and as soon as her concentration broke, the glass continued in their path to the floor._

_"_ _Hermione?" Her mum whispered tears in her eyes._

_"_ _I'm sorry mum. I didn't mean to. I got angry. You wouldn't believe me." She rushed her apology._

_"_ _I think we should go with that man." Her dad mutters weakly, sidestepping around the broken glass on the carpet, pulling her mum with her. "Come on, Hermione." He urged her to follow them downstairs._

_The front door was still wide open from where Titan had left. They found another piece of parchment on the car windscreen from him, giving them directions on how to get to Diagon Alley and to speak to a man called Tom behind the bar of the Leaky Cauldron and he'll open the wall for them. They'd gone that afternoon and Titan was right. Once her parents saw Diagon Alley, they didn't need any other proof._

_They left hours later with all her supplies for Hogwarts including her wand that she couldn't wait to use. Unfortunately, she'd have to wait until September when she started Hogwarts since she wasn't allowed to use magic outside of the school until she was of age. However, when reading a few extra books she begged her parents into buying her from a bookshop called 'Flourish and Blotts', she discovered underage magic was okay if it was accidental and the Ministry had no way of knowing what was accidental and what was intentional with a wand. So over the course of the next five months, Hermione secretly practised some of the simple spells in her book and it all became so much more real._

Suddenly, there's a hand on her shoulder and someone is calling her name. With a startled jump, she turns around to find Draco looking at her worried.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" He asks her. "You've been in here for twenty minutes now." He tells her.

She smiles as she wraps her arms around his back, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about Sophie and how angry she was today. It reminded me of myself before I found out I was a witch. I went through a few years of being in denial, scared, angry and sad before I came to realise what was happening to me and that was all thanks to Titan, the ministry official." She mumbles into his neck as he pulls her closer. "If I can stop her from feeling all that anger and confusion by explaining to her what's happening to her, then I need to do it soon. I hate seeing her this angry." She adds.

"We're still not a hundred percent sure it's her. You'll need to question her first. Find out what she knows about herself already." Draco points out.

Hermione nods. "A part of me is really looking forward to actually sharing this part of me to my family, properly. But then another part of me really wants to keep the wizarding world all to myself. It's been such a big part of me for the past eight years and I'm not ready to share it. Does that make me selfish?" She asks him.

"Not at all." He answers a little too quickly. "Maybe a little but just think about taking her on her first trip to Diagon Alley or to Hogsmeade. You could maybe invite her to stay with us for a few days over the summer so she can experience living in a magical household." He suggests.

"Yeah, because we use magic all the time." She chuckles.

"Well, we could to just show off in front of Sophie." He shrugs.

"You've always loved showing off haven't you." She teases him.

"Why shouldn't I show off if I'm good at it?" He asks rhetorically as he leads her by the hand into the living room.

They both flop onto the couch, Draco resting his feet on the coffee table and Hermione leaning against him, resting her feet across the rest of the couch.

"I do think we should wait until we've been to the Ministry to check on the Rowle's. It might be easier to explain to both Sophie and David if we find out you do descend from them." He suggests.

Hermione groans, shuffling further down the couch until her head is resting on Draco's lap and her feet are dangling over the edge of the couch arm.

"I haven't even thought about how to tell my uncle David yet. I've been preoccupied on how to tell Sophie." She sighs, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "It will be much easier if it turns Karina is my ancestor but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. I like being Hermione Granger, Muggleborn. If it's true, I don't want people to start saying my accomplishments are because of my bloodline when I've worked so hard to keep myself alive this long and then get the best grades I can in my NEWTS." She explains.

"It doesn't matter what we find out in the Ministry, Hermione. You will always be Hermione Granger, Muggleborn." He tells her. "But I think you missed a title." He adds, making her quirk an eyebrow. "Brightest witch of her age." He smiles at her. "And that has nothing to do with the Rowle's because they might have been one of the most powerful wizarding families back then but the only in dark magic. They wouldn't have a clue how to disarm an opponent without killing them and that's what sets you apart from them." He explains.

Hermione stares up at Draco from her position in his lap. He always knows what to say to make her feel not only better about herself but also feels special. She turns to face him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug as she buries her face in his belly. She notices, not for the first time, that he smells really nice.

Hermione doesn't say anything for a few minutes so, assuming she's thinking about Sophie and David, he carefully stretches over her to grab Dracula off the coffee table. He's just starting a new chapter when he hears a soft snore come from his lap. Glancing down, he finds Hermione still hugging his waist, fast asleep. With a smile, he brushes a few of her curls out of her eyes.

He remembers laughing with Pansy in the Slytherin common room many times about how bushy Hermione's hair was. It's tamer now than it used to be in their first couple of years at Hogwarts. He absentmindedly twirls a curl around his fingers as he goes back to Dracula.

They stay like that for about an hour before Hermione wakes up. Draco doesn't notice at first as he's still reading but after a few minutes, he can sense her staring at him and glances down to find her bright eyes looking back up at him.

"Sorry, I fell asleep on you." She mutters with a smile

"I don't mind." He tells her, still running a curl around his fingers. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realise I was doing that." He drops the curl, moving his hand away to brush his own hair back. "This fringe is really getting on my nerves." He frowns as it falls back in front of his eyes.

"Then get it cut." She tells him.

"Do you really think I have time to go get my haircut?" He glances down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure you can make time on Monday after we've been the St. Mungos. Although, I was going to suggest going to Diagon Alley on Monday since you want to exchange some galleons for pounds." She suggests, looking up at him from his lap.

"I'm sure I can find a spare fifteen minutes to go to the manor for a haircut." He rolls his eyes.

He feels Hermione freeze on his lap. He looks down to find her staring back, wide-eyed.

"Mitty is the only one who's ever cut my hair. I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it." He explains. "You don't need to come with me if you don't want to." He offers her the choice.

She nods, glancing down at her fingers, which she was twiddling around each other. He gently places his hand above hers, steadying them. He then brings her hands up to his lips where he presses a chaste kiss against the back of them.

"I'm sorry but as long as your mother is there, I don't want to step foot in the Manor." She says, staring at their clasped hands. "Unless I absolutely have to." She adds, sitting up and taking her hands back. "I'm going to head to bed." She stands up. "I still need to catch up on the sleep I missed on Wednesday night." She gives as an explanation as she heads towards the living room door.

"Okay, I won't be long. I'll just finish this chapter." He calls after her as she climbs the stairs.

Once he hears the bedroom door shut, he sighs deeply as she lowers himself down on the couch so he's lying down. He's going to have to speak to his mother again. Although, he doesn't know how that will fix anything. Any apology he forces out of her wouldn't be sincere and Hermione wouldn't believe. He hasn't seen her since his birthday, five days ago. Maybe she's thought about what he said and is willing to accept his plans for the future. The thought makes him scoff. Once his mother has an idea in her head, she doesn't let go until she's exhausted every possible way of achieving it. Draco just hopes she exhausts her options quickly in this situation.

He must have read the next paragraph about twelve times before he gives up, laying his book on the coffee table and just staring up at the ceiling. Athena must sense that he's lost in his thoughts as she flies over, landing on his chest where she snuggles down for a nap. He leaves her be, thinking he'll gently wake her up when he's ready to go to bed but whilst he's thinking through how to confront his mother, he drifts off to sleep on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 30 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione wakes with a start in the early hours of Saturday morning. She's not sure why at first until she turns over to check on Draco to find that he's not there. His side of the bed is still made so he obviously hasn't made it to bed yet. She checks the time which tells her it is a few minutes to four o'clock. With a sigh, she climbs out of bed and tiptoes downstairs hoping that she's not going to find him still reading Dracula. He said he was just going to finish the chapter, if he's still reading he'll be shattered the rest of the day, which is not a good idea when they're babysitting six-year-old twins all day.

She slowly pushes the living room door open, careful not to make a noise, she enters glancing around the room. For a moment, she doesn't see him but then she spots his feet dangling over the edge of the couch. She peers over the edge of the couch to find him lying contently, fast asleep, with a snoozing Athena on his chest. Hermione wishes she had a camera to document the moment, which is when she remembers that she's a witch and is rather advanced in the art of transfiguration.

She fetches her wand from her bedside table and her hairbrush before rushing quietly back downstairs, careful not to wake Draco or Athena before she can photograph the moment. In the hall, she transfigures her hairbrush into a camera, similar to the one Colin had in his first couple of years at Hogwarts. She tiptoes back into the living room, thankful that neither of them had moved in her absence. She leans over the back of the couch, angles the camera then presses the button to take a picture.

Unexpectedly, a bright flash goes off, lightening up the whole room. Draco jumps off the couch, glaring around the room for the sudden source of light as Athena flutters around angrily for being suddenly thrown from her slumber. Hermione quickly hides the camera behind her back but apparently not quickly enough as Draco narrows his eyes at her suspiciously.

"Is that a camera?" He asks, gesturing to her hands behind her back.

She plans on denying it but she can't stop a smile from spreading across her face so she brings her hands out to show him the device.

"Sorry for waking you, but you were both so adorable sleeping on the couch." She chuckles.

Draco sighs, running his hands through his hair. "What time's it?" He wonders, looking out the living room window.

"It'll be just after four o'clock now." She tells him, placing the camera on the coffee table next to Draco's Dracula book. "Come on, we might be able to get a few more hours sleep before we have to get up." She takes his hand, guiding him towards the stairs.

Athena follows them up into their bedroom. She perches on the headboard, where she settles back down to sleep. Hermione pulls Draco into bed with her. He falls almost instantly back to sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. She lies on her own pillow for a few minutes just watching him sleep before shuffling carefully forward to wrap her arms around his waist in the hopes that he won't mind. Apparently, he doesn't as he subconsciously wraps an arm around her back, pulling her closer. With a smile on her face, she drifts off to sleep.

Draco wakes up early in the morning, or early considering he went to bed at four o'clock. Quarter past eight is quite late for him usually. He has pins and needles shooting up his left arm as he stretches from where Hermione must have been lying on it all night. He doesn't remember them cuddling last night or this morning, but she easily could snuggle closer once he's passed out or subconsciously in her sleep. Or maybe it had been him to pull her closer. He wouldn't be surprised, especially with the thoughts he's been having recently about how close he and Hermione have become.

Next to him, Hermione's still fast asleep, curled up against his side. He nudges her in the side, trying to wake her up. He can't remember what time they're supposed to be meeting her Godmother Sharon at her parent's house.

"What?" Hermione groans, pulling the quilt closer around her.

"What time are we meeting Sharon?" He asks, still nudging her to stop her from falling back asleep.

"Not until nine o'clock." She yawns.

"Well, it's around quarter past eight now so we might want to get up." He suggests, rolling out of bed and walking over to their wardrobe where he takes out his new jeans. He toys with the idea of wearing his new red shirt but after Hermione initial reaction to him wearing that shirt, he decides against it since he doubts it would be appropriate for her to be kissing him whilst babysitting Mark and Mia. Instead, he grabs his new green shirt and heads into the bathroom to get changed, with Athena since she followed him in, leaving Hermione to get up and dressed in the bedroom.

However, when he returns, ten minutes later, fully dressed and washed, Hermione's still curled up under the quilt. He shakes his head with a smile as he puts his pyjamas away.

"It's nearly half past eight." He tells her as he casts his usual makeup charms on his forehead and forearm. "We don't want to be late." He adds but she just groans. "Get up." He says, walking over to the bed and whipping the quilt back, exposing her body to the chiller air.

"Draco!" She cries, trying ti grab the quilt back.

"Get up!" He repeats, pulling the quilt clean off the bed.

"Fine." She groans, climbing out of bed, flashing him a glare as she walks past him towards their wardrobe.

Draco leaves her to get dressed, heading downstairs into the living room with Athena following behind him. He picks up Dracula, taking note of the page number before closing it and placing it back down on the coffee table. He heads over to their bookshelf to find another book to read in case he finishes Dracula whilst out with the kids today. He's browsing along the shelves when he spots one of the books he took from the Manor's attic for his birthday. 'The Black's Family Tree'. Curiously, he takes the book off the shelf and opens it to the first page, which is a contents page. He doesn't dwell too long on it, turning the next page which is an introduction to 'The Nobel and Most Ancient House of Black'.

'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is one of the largest, oldest and wealthiest pure-blooded wizarding families in Britain, and one of the sacred. However, the House of Black has become extinct in the male line since the deaths of Regulus Black (1961 – 1979) and his blood traitor brother, Sirius Black (1959 – 1996), the sons of the late Orion Black (1929 – 1979) and Walburga Black (1925 – 1985). The majority of wizarding families in Britain are distantly, or closely, related to the House the Black including the Malfoy family, the Lestrange family and the Rosier family, to name a few. Within this book, a new page is created for every wizard or witch who is related to The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black through blood or marriage.'

Curiously, Draco flicks through until he finds his own page and sure enough, there was a picture of him stood staring back at him, raising an eyebrow. On the other side of the page was all his information.

'Draco Malfoy (1980 - ), only son of Lucius Malfoy (1954 - ) and Narcissa (Black) Malfoy (1955 - ), is a pure-blooded wizard sorted into Slytherin during his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1991 – 1999). In 1999, due to a marriage decree by Minister Shacklebolt, Draco Malfoy married Mudblood Hermione Granger.'

He reread the sentence angrily as he takes out his wand, tapping the page twice as he mutters a spell, then watches as the word 'Mudblood' disappears. He flicks back through the book until he finds Edward Tonks, another Muggleborn that married into the family.

'Edward Tonks (1950 – 1998), son of Lucas Tonks (1917 – 1990) and Lisa (Morris) Tonks (1920 – 1995) was a Muggleborn wizard sorted into Hufflepuff during his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1961 – 1968). He married Andromeda (Black) Tonks (1952 – ) in 1971, who gave birth to their only daughter, Nymphadora (Tonks) Lupin (1973 – 1998). Their grandson, Edward Remus Lupin was born in 1998.'

He smiles to himself to find the passage without any derogatory terms. Closing the book, he places it on top of Dracula on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen to make a few slices of toast for his and Hermione's breakfast and to feed Athena, who follows hungrily behind him. He checks the time as he puts the bread down in the toaster. It's twenty to nine. It's going to be a push for time. Thankfully it only takes five minutes to walk from their house to the gate and a split second to apparate to the alley behind the Granger's house. As long as they leave just before five to nine, they should be there in time. He pours a handful of owl pellets onto the countertop for Athena.

Hermione comes down the stairs just as the toast pops up out of the toaster. He spreads jam across them, handing her a slice as he bites into his own.

"Thanks." She mutters before taking a bite. "No tea?" She questions.

Draco turns around to face her, surprised to find her wearing a pair of black jeans, a white floaty shirt and a waistcoat with a pair of ankle boots. She looks very nice but they're only babysitting Mark and Mia.

"No. We don't have time. You can have one at your parents' house." He tells her, taking another bite of toast. "Why do you look so nice?" He asks curiously but he still feels the heat rise up his neck.

"Why shouldn't I look nice?" She raises an eyebrow.

"We're just babysitting Mark and Mia. It's not like we're the ones going to the wedding." He tells her, checking her out again as he eats his breakfast.

"Fine, I want to look older." She admits, dropping her shoulders. "Mark and Mia are used to me playing and messing around with them, not babysitting them. I don't want them to think they can get away with anything so I thought if I looked older, they might respect me more as an adult." She explains to him, nibbling at her toast.

"You definitely look older." He tells her. "And if they need telling off, I'm not afraid to shout at them. I feel like I haven't shouted at people nearly enough since we left Hogwarts and our prefect duties." He admits, half-joking.

"Hopefully we won't need to shout at them but if we do, I'll leave it up to you. You can be the bad cop." She chuckles, taking a large bite of her toast.

"What's that mean?" He asks, confused.

"Oh, it's something muggle Aurors always do in films. It's called good cop/bad cop. It's an act that's supposed to make the person they're interrogating confess to whatever crime they're being interrogated for." She explains, finishing off her toast.

"They call it 'The Galleons' in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." He comments, finishing his own slice of toast. By the look on Hermione's face, she's confused. "I'm sure you're aware that there are two types of Galleons." He starts.

"Yeah, the real and the Leprechaun, which disappears within a few hours of appearing." She says as though she's quoting a book, which she most likely is knowing her.

"Yes, well in the Auror's Office, they'll use the same system as your good/bad cop to try and get someone to confess. The 'real' Auror will follow the rules whilst the 'fake' Auror uses a few jinxes to get them talking." He explains to her.

"It's strange how similar the wizarding world and the muggle world are considering they rarely mix together." She comments as she washes her hands in the sink. "What time's it now?" She asks.

"Twelve minutes to nine." He tells her exactly.

"Should we take Athena with us?" She wonders aloud. "We probably won't be back until late so if we don't, I'll have to ask Ginny to come feed her." She adds.

"We can bring her with us. It might keep Mark and Mia occupied for a while." He suggests.

"Good point." She smiles, grabbing Athena's food and treat bag then heading back into the living room with Athena stood on her shoulder.

Draco follows behind them, picking his books up off the coffee table as Hermione entices Athena into her cage with a few treats. Once she's in her cage, they pull their shoes on, grab their coats and are out the door.

Since it's still quite early, they don't see many people on their walk to the gate, which does make the journey a little quicker. Once they're out of the gate, Draco squeezes her hand before disapparating them to the alley behind her parents' house. She checks the time as soon as they enter through the backdoor. It's only five minutes to nine. They still have a few minutes to get settled in so it doesn't look like they've only just arrived. They leave their shoes at the front door and hang their coats up on the peg. Whilst Draco goes to put the kettle on for a cup of tea, Hermione takes Athena, in her cage, into the living room where she places her on the coffee table. She doesn't let her out yet, wanting to wait until Mark and Mia arrive.

She's just heading into the kitchen when the doorbell rings. They're a few minutes early. She opens the door to find her Godfather, Scott, stood in a dark blue suit with Mark and Mia.

"Hi, guys." She greets them, opening the door to let them in.

"Be good." Their dad calls behind them as they run into the kitchen where Draco has just called a hello. "They've got some toys in their bags and a spare change of clothes in case they get dirty and also a pair of pyjamas in case they want a nap but I doubt it." He chuckles.

"Where's Sharon?" Hermione asks, looking behind him.

"She's still in the car down the street. Didn't want the wind to mess her hair up." He rolls his eyes.

"I didn't realise it was that windy." She says looking at the tree in the front garden of a house over the road but it was stood still.

"It isn't but she doesn't want to risk it." He laughs. "Anyway, we better get going. We've got an hour drive ahead of us. We'll pick them up around ten o'clock." He adds.

"That's great. Have fun." She calls after him as he walks down the street towards his car, giving her a little wave before getting into the car.

Hermione shuts the door behind her then takes a deep breath before following the noise of giggling children into the kitchen. She opens the door to find Mark and Mia perches on the counter, one either side of Draco, watching him stir milk into the cups of teas.

"So what do we do first?" Draco asks, looking down at one of the cups of teas.

"Turn it forward five times," Mia shouts at him then laughs.

"Clockwise." Draco corrects them.

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE." Both Mark and Mia shout.

"And then what do I do?" He asks next.

"You go backwards." Mark laughs.

"Anticlockwise." He corrects them again.

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE." They shout again.

"No what?" Draco asks.

"You have to squeeze the teabag," Mark tells him with an eye roll.

"But don't burn your fingers," Mia adds.

They both watch intently as Draco carefully lifts the teabag out of the cup with a teaspoon and uses his fingers to squeeze it.

"Ow, ow, it's hot." He complains making the children laugh hysterically.

Hermione feels tears prick at her eyes which she quickly blinks away. She wasn't sure how Draco was going to handle looking after kids since he's never been around any this young before but he's doing wonderfully.

"Throw it in the bin." Mia squeals as Draco passes the boiling hot teabag between his hands.

He does a quick little skip to the bin next to the back door and throws it in. Hermione walks over to Mark and Mia, not wanting them to be left alone up on the counter, especially not next to the hot cups of teas. Draco joins them at the counter.

"That one's yours." He tells her, pointing to one of the cups.

"Aren't they the same?" He asks, taking a sip of hers.

"I put a little more milk in yours since you don't like it too hot." He mentions as he lifts Mia down of the counter, placing her on the floor. Hermione just stares at him for a moment. "You always sip at it or leave your cups of teas until they've cooled down a bit." He clarifies.

"How observant you are?" She smirks at him as she lifts Mark down from the counter. "Now, there's someone I want to introduce you to." She says, bending down to talk to Mark and Mia. "She's a little shy around new people because she's blind, so that means she can't see you but she can hear you so you can talk to her." She explains.

Mark and Mia stare at her excitedly.

"Where is she?" Mia asks, glancing around the kitchen.

"She's in the living room." She tells them and they run off into the living room.

Hermione follows quickly behind, not wanting them to startle Athena too much. When she enters the living room, she finds them stood staring at the cage and Athena, who's chirping nervously. Draco follows behind her, carrying their cups of teas which he places on the coffee table.

"Her name's Athena." She says calmly as she opens the cage door, placing her hand inside for Athena to hop onto. "She's only a few months old and she's blind in both eyes so you have to talk nicely to her so she doesn't get scared." She explains.

"Can I hold her?" Mia whispers, taking a cautious step closer.

"Of course but let's try talking to her first so she now who you are." She suggests.

"Hello, Athena," Mia whispers sweetly. "My name is Mia Appleby and I am six years old." Then she turns around to beckon Mark closer. "This is my twin brother."

"Erm, Hi Athena. I'm Mark and I'm six too." He says, nervously edging closer.

"Would you like to feed her an owl treat?" She suggests, hoping it might help Mark feel more confident.

"Yes!" Mia shouts excitedly, making Athena chirp and fly around their heads just as excitedly.

Mark squeals, ducking down away from Athena.

"Hey Mark, she isn't going to hurt you," Draco tells him, kneeling next to him on the floor and wrapping an arm around him. "Watch this." He tells him, holding his hand up in the air. "Athena." He calls and she flies straight down onto his hand, making Mark jump and try to squirm away but Draco keeps a tight hold on him.

Slowly, Draco raises his hand, and Athena, to Mark's cheek. As though sensing his fear, Athena chirps calmly then hops onto Mark's shoulder, making him squeal again.

"It's okay, she just wants to give you a cuddle." He tells him as Athena hops along Mark's shoulder and snuggles into his cheek.

Mark seems to be in shock for a few seconds before giggling.

"It tickles." He laughs.

Hermione reaches out, taking Athena off his shoulder. "See, she isn't that scary, is she?" She tells him.

"No, she's alright." He shrugs with a small smile.

"Can I feed her now?" Mia asks, tapping Hermione on the shoulder.

"Of course, take a treat out of that bag on the table." She points off to the food bag they brought with them.

Mia takes two treats out of the bag, passing one to her brother, then looks up at Hermione expectantly.

"What do we do now?" She asks excitedly.

"Okay, hold your hand out with the treat and call her name." She says, guiding her hand out in front of her.

"Athena!" Mia calls in the way someone would call a dog.

Athena tilts her head curiously to the side.

"Call her again."

"Athena!"

This time, Athena hops of Hermione's hand and glides over to Mia's hand, landing gently on her wrist. She pecks at the treat in her hand until it's gone then turns around to face Mia.

"Hello, Athena." Mia smiles at her to which Athena chirps back thankfully.

"She's saying thank you for her treat." She explains.

"You're welcome." Mia laughs.

"It's my turn now?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, hold your hand out like Mia and call her over," Draco whispers to him.

"Okay," Mark says, holding his hand out just like his sister did except that his is shaking slightly. "Athena." He calls her name quietly.

"Try again but a little louder," Draco suggests when she doesn't fly over.

"Athena!" He calls again, louder this time. "I've got a treat for you." He adds, trying to entice her to him.

Athena hops to the end of Mia's hand then jumps off, flying towards Mark. She lands gently on his hand then continues to peck at his treat for her. Slowly, with a shaking hand, he reaches up and gently strokes the top of her head. Athena ruffles her feathers appreciatively.

"I want to stroke her," Mia announces jealously.

"Come over here then. You can take it in turns." Draco tells her so she rushes over to Draco's other side to wait for her turn.

Hermione picks up her cup of tea then takes a seat in her dad's armchair to watch her cousins stroke Athena with Draco. She wishes for the second time today that she had a camera to document the moment. Unlike earlier in the morning, she can't transfigure her hairbrush into one. Not in front of Mark and Mia anyway. She grabs the remote control of her dad's side table then leaves the living room, with her handbag, and heads into the kitchen. Taking her wand out of her handbag, she transfigures the remote control into a camera then puts her wand away.

She hides the camera in her handbag until she's sat back down in her dad's armchair. She carefully positions it so everyone's in frame them presses the button. Once again, she forgot about the flash, which made Draco, mark and Mia jump.

"Again with that camera." Draco frowns at her shaking his head.

"It's not every day they get to meet an owl." She shrugs. "I just thought I would document the moment." She adds with a smile.

"Why don't you two play with Athena for a while whilst Hermione and I go into the kitchen?" He widens his eyes at Hermione and nods towards the door.

"Okay, can we feed her some more treats?" Mia asks as they both stand up.

"Only three more each. We don't want to fill her up on treats." Hermione tells them as she picks up both her and Draco's cups of teas and follows him into the kitchen. "Here." She places his cup on the kitchen table.

"Did you just happen to have that camera with you then?" He smirks at her, making her roll her eyes.

"No, it's the remote for the TV." She places it on the table alongside her cup of tea. "Athena should keep them occupied for a while." She says. "But we've still got the rest of the day to keep them busy so, have you got any plans?" She asks.

"We could take Bobby for a walk around the park." He suggests. "It might tire them out."

"I doubt it." She laughs. "They're six years old. We could spend the rest of the day in the park and they still wouldn't be tired." She tells him.

"Well, we could take them for a walk around the park, let them play for a bit then take them into London for some lunch and a walk around." He says, picking up the camera and turning it around in his hands.

"Okay, so we've got the morning planned, then what. We've got them until ten o'clock tonight." She tells him, taking a sip of her cup of tea.

Suddenly, there's a bright flash, making her jump.

"Draco!" She glares at him, getting up to grab a cloth from the sink to mop up her spilt tea on the table.

"Sorry." He laughs, placing the camera back on the table. "Can't we just put them down for a nap at seven then wake them up at ten." He suggests.

"We could but if they're not tired, they won't sleep." She tells him, sitting back down to finish her tea.

"We'll just have to tire them out then." He shrugs.

"Okay, but let's leave them a bit since they're preoccupied." She says, casting a gaze at the living room door.

"I was thinking we should go to the Ministry tomorrow," Draco suggests. "And into the archives." He adds.

Hermione nods for a moment. "I suppose it'll be easier to get it over and done with." She shrugs. "I've been thinking." She says, looking him in the eye for a moment before looking away. "I want to check the Rowle files by myself. Maybe you could make a start on the books to see if you can find anything there. Especially volume one and two of 'Seventeenth Century Laws'." She tells him.

He nods in understanding. "Why are you so eager to find the first two volumes of that book? I doubt there's anything else in there if marriage laws were already mentioned in the third volume." He asks.

"I don't know." She sighs. "I just feel as though I'm missing something and I'm pretty sure it's in one of the other volumes." She mentions with a shrug, finishing her cup of tea.

"So it's decided. We're going to the Register Department's archives." He smiles at her, looking quite excited.

"Yes, but I'm a little worried that you're a little too excited about this." She raises an eyebrow at him.

Draco smiles at her. "We're finally making progress. We might actually find out why we were paired together and why the Minister felt the need to enforce this decree in the first place."

Hermione's face falls for a moment before she smiles quickly again but it doesn't quite meet her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asks, confused.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She tells him, getting up and collecting their empty tea cups. "I'll wash up before we go out anywhere." She states as she runs the hot tap into the sink.

He's confused. He though she wanted to find out everything they could about the marriage decree. She was the one to bring it up in the first place. He watches her as she washes up, placing the wet dishes on the drying rack. Maybe she's just nervous about finding out if she is a descendant of the Rowle family. Walking over to Hermione, he wraps his arms around her waist, making her freeze for a second before carrying on with the washing up.

"Remember that no matter what we find out tomorrow, it won't change anything." He whispers into her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder.

He feels her physically relax beneath him, making him feel calmer himself. Once she's finished washing up the few dishes that were in the sink, she turns around, wrapping her own arms around his neck, pulling him closer into their embrace.

"We should take the kids and Bobby for a walk now before the park gets too busy." She suggests, gently rubbing her cheek against his.

"Okay, do you want to get the kids ready and I'll grab some snacks in case they get hungry." He tells her.

"In case they get hungry or in case you get hungry?" She leans back, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"In case anyone gets hungry. I'll pack enough for all of us." He tells her, moving away from their hug but she keeps hold of his shoulders pulling him forward for a quick chaste kiss before letting him go and walking off towards the living room.

He never seems to be prepared for her kisses. He grabs a few apples and bananas from the Grangers fruit bowl than some crisps from the cupboard, hoping it's enough to keep them fed for a few hours. He hands the food to Hermione, who places them in her handbag, before pulling on his shoes and coat then helping Mark to tie his shoelaces whilst Hermione tries to convince Athena back into her cage. In the end, Mia manages to entice her onto her hand with a treat then carefully places her inside the cage.

"Are we all ready?" Hermione asks, giving Mark and Mia the once over to check that they look presentable and their shoes are on the correct feet, before opening the door and ushering them all out.

Draco takes both kids' hands as they walk out of the gate and onto the street where they wait for Hermione to lock the front door and then head next door to Mrs Johnson's house to collect Bobby. It takes a few minutes of Mrs Johnson asking who's going on the walk before she shuts the door in her face to go attach Bobby to his leash and bring him to the front door.

"Goodbye, dears." Mrs Johnson calls after them as they walk down the street towards the park.

Mark and Mia call back, bidding her goodbye, before pulling them both down the street.

"Can we play eye-spy?" Mark asks, tugging on his arm.

"No, I want to play the alphabet animal game," Mia announces, pulling on his other arm.

"I hate that game," Mark complains.

"Only because you always lose." Mia laughs.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

No, I-"

"Alright, we get it." Draco interrupts, arms already starting to hurt from all this tugging and pulling, and they're not even at the end of the street yet. "We can play both games." He says, giving in to them already.

"Eye-spy first, then this alphabet animal game," Hermione tells them, taking hold of Mark's had, so they're walking in a line. "Mark, why don't you go first?"

"Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with…" He pauses to glance around their surroundings. "B."

"Bird." Mia guesses.

"Nope." Mark smiles, already enjoying the game.

"Book," Draco suggests.

"Where's the book?" Mia asks him, looking quickly around the street.

"You have to be able to see it," Hermione explains the rules to him.

"Oh, well I happen to know you have at least two books in your handbag." He states.

"No, she hasn't, they can't fit." Mia laughs.

"And you have to see it." Mark reminds him.

"Okay, so it isn't a book?" He asks for clarification.

"No."

"Bobby." Hermione wonders.

"Yeah!" He jumps up and down excitedly.

"You can't have Bobby, that's a name," Mia tells Mark.

"Is it my turn now?" Hermione asks, trying to defuse an argument that's about to start.

Draco remembers something she told him just after they were married. Hermione had said that Mark and Mia were in their fighting stage and are constantly arguing with each other.

"Yeah, but it can't be a name," Mia tells her, frowning at her brother.

"Alright, eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with… c." She announces.

"Car," Draco asks.

"Not car."

"Cat," Mark suggests, pointing at a cat sat on top of a wall on the other side of the street.

"No."

"Keys," Mia asks.

"Good try but keys begin with a K, not a C but they do sound the same." Hermione corrects her.

"I'm bored," Mia complains.

"Cup," Mark asks.

"Where's the cup?" Draco asks, glancing down at him.

"I dunno. I'm bored too." He announces with a deep sigh.

"It was a cloud." Hermione tells them. "Do you want to play the alphabet animal game?"

"No." Mark says the same time Mia shouts, "Yes."

"Why don't we work in pairs to make it a little easier?" Hermione suggests.

"Girls against boys," Mia says, letting go of his hand and running around to take Hermione's hand from Mark so she can hold it.

"Okay, are you clever?" Mark asks, looking up at him.

"Very much so." He replies, not wanting to sound too full of himself but it's true.

"Good." Mark moves around to hold his other hand, away from Mia.

"We'll go first," Mia tells them then stands on her tiptoes to confer with Hermione who nods.

"Anteater," Mia announces proudly.

Draco frowns in confusion, not sure how to play this game.

"Ant," Mark says with a laugh.

"How do we play this game?" Draco bends down to ask him as Hermione and Mia discuss their next answer.

"I thought you said you were clever." Mark looks at him questioningly.

"I am but I've never played this game before."

"We take it in turns to say an animal that begins with a letter of the alphabet." He explains.

"What are we going to say for B?" He asks, only able to think of is a basilisk and he doubts Hermione would appreciate him making that suggestion.

"Bat," Mark whispers to him so not to let Hermione and Mia hear.

"Bull," Mia tells them.

"Bat," Mark says, happy that Mia didn't choose the same one.

The game takes them nearly an hour to complete, taking them around the entirety of the park. Coincidentally, they manage to finish just as they are coming up to the play park and both Mark and Mia pull at their arms until they agree to let them spend ten minutes, at the most, playing inside. Hermione ties Bobby to the fence since there's a large sign attached to the gate banning dogs in the play park. As soon as he's tied up, he circles around a few times before settling down and taking a nap in his paws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 31 for you all.
> 
> Sorry that it's shorter than usual but I've been ill for the last week so I've literally just finished writing this today. I'm going to try finishing the next chapter tonight ready to upload tomorrow but it will be another short one.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione and Draco take a seat on one of the bench as they watch Mark and Mia run around the play park, trying to catch each other.

"Troll, really Draco?" She mutters to him.

"I whispered it." He smiles, nodding towards Mark and Mia who are currently taking it in turns to try and run up the slide. "They didn't notice."

"And what of they had?" She asks, turning her head slightly to look at him.

"We could have just told them it's a mythical creature like the Rapha Homalopsinae, yeti, unicorn, merpeople," He begins to list.

"Alright, I get it but it still wasn't funny." She huffs.

"Sorry, Hermione." He tells her, reaching over to take her hand in his but before he can, she stands up.

"Come on, we're going on the swings." She tells him.

"Really!" He raises and eyebrow. "Are we the children now?"

"You're never too old to go on a swing." She tells him, taking his hand abruptly and pulling him over to the two vacant swings.

They sit down on adjacent swings then kick off. No words are shared between them for a few minutes as they swing and watch Mark and Mia, who are still trying to run up the slide. Mark almost makes it but then he slips at the last moment, sending him sliding back down and flying off the bottom of the slide. Much to the amusement of both himself and Mia. Hermione slows her swinging as she watches to see if Mark is hurt but he jumps straight back up, ready to take another shot at it.

"What are you thinking about?" He questions Hermione curiously.

She sighs deeply before turning to face him, letting her swing come to a steady stop. Draco follows suit, stopping his own swing.

"You already think that I'm descendent of the Rowle's." She states rather than asking him.

He takes a moment to try and gage her thoughts but renders it impossible, deciding to just tell her the truth.

"All the evidence suggests that you are." He admits.

"We don't really have much evidence though do we. Just what my uncle has told us. Maybe he's wrong and there is no Karina Rowle in our family." She suggests.

He quirks his eyebrow at her questioningly, making her sigh.

"He's a history teacher. He would have checked all the resources to verify her before placing her name on that family tree he's got in the spare bedroom." She kicks off and starts swinging again.

"I know you don't want to open the Rowle file tomorrow and discover that you are in fact a descendent of a squib who was left in muggle London by her pureblood parents, but I think you're focussing too much on the Rowle family instead of Karina," Draco suggests.

Hermione frowns at him in confusion. What's he talking about? She's spending too much time thinking about the Rowle family than Karina. She is part of the Rowle family.

"From what we know and can assume is that Karina's parents abandoned her in muggle London after they discovered she was a squib. She would have been between the ages of six and nine. Can you imagine how terrified she must have been to suddenly be thrown into this new world that she knew nothing about? All she would know about muggles is what her family would have told her, and as purebloods, I doubt any of it was good. Her family probably expected her to die before she reached her teenage years but as we know, she managed to fend for herself and survive into adulthood where she married and started her own family." He explains to her and she understands what he's saying. "Does Karina really sound like such a bad person to descend from?" He asks.

With a smile, she leans her forehead against the chain of the swings. She doesn't know how he does it but Draco Malfoy always seems to know what to say to make her feel better when she's feeling down.

"Thank you, Draco." She mutters, jumping off the swings as she heads over to Mark and Mia, leaving him staring after her on his own swing.

Draco's not entirely sure what he did to deserve Hermione's thanks but he accepts it either way. There's something about having Hermione Granger, the queen of Gryffindor, thank him that makes him feel like he's doing something right.

Continuing to swing, he watches as Hermione walks over to Mark and Mia who are still trying to run up the slide.

"It's about time we got going." She informs her cousins.

"Awww!" They both complain, sticking out their bottom lip.

"Please, can we have two more minutes?" Mark begs, pulling at her arm.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to have a go on the swings because you were sat on them." Mia tries to convince her.

He chuckles when she looks between them then sighs in defeat.

"Fine, but you're only getting two more minutes." She tells them as they run off excitedly towards him.

He jumps off his swing allowing Mia to hop on and start swinging herself. Mark jumps on the other swing and kicks off, quickly catching up to his sister in height and speed. They spend the next five minutes having a competition to see who can swing the highest. When Hermione tells them it's time to leave, Draco announces that the winner is Mark by a few centimetres. To celebrate his victory over his sister, Mark decides to jump off his swing at the highest point, making both Hermione's and his heart skip a beat as they watch him fly through the air. He lands unwaveringly on his feet, before taking a bow then running off for one more go on the slide as Hermione helps Mia to slow her swing down.

Draco heads out of the playpark's gate and over to Bobby, who lifts his head slightly from his slumber to check who's approaching him. Once recognising him, he lowers his head back onto his paws, watching as Draco nears closer then unties his leash from the fence. With an almost human-like sigh, Bobby stands up as Hermione, Mark and Mia joins them, then begins to trot ahead of them.

"Where are we going now?" Marks ask, hopping and jumping excitedly beside him.

"We're going to walk around the rest of the park and then take Bobby home." Hermione answers.

"We're not going back to Auntie Sarah's yet, are we?" Mia asks hopefully.

"We'll have to go back for a few minutes to grab some things and check on Athena but then we'll head back out into London." She explains. "We might even get the bus if you're good." She tries to excite them and it works wonders.

"Can we get a double decker bus?" Mark asks, jumping with even more excitement.

"Yeah, please and can we sit upstairs at the front?" Mia joins in with the excited hopping around in front of them.

"That all depends on whether a double decker is the first bus to come and whether anybody else is sat on the front seats upstairs." She mentions, which does nothing to dampen their mood as they sprint off ahead.

Draco's about to ask a question about double decker buses when Hermione takes his hand in hers and tugs him slightly closer to her. He stares down at her for a moment but she isn't facing him so he goes back to watching Mark and Mia chasing each other through the bushes and trees.

"I'm not sure how long we're going to be at the Ministry tomorrow," Hermione states, squeezing his hand gently so he glances back down at her. "But we can always go back if we need to." She added.

"Kingsley gave us unlimited access to the archives. We can go back as many times as we need but I'm confident Mr Vyner will report back to the Minister on when we visit and for how long so we should try to find out as much as we can as soon as possible." He mentions.

Hermione nods thoughtfully. "You're right. We should limit ourselves to two hours per visit and try not to make more than five visits." She tells him.

"Ten hours seems more than enough time." He smirks excitedly, glancing back up at the children only to find them nowhere in sight. "Hermione!" He squeezes her hand tightly as is stomach drops "Where have they gone?" He nods towards where he last saw the children near a massive boulder at the side of the path.

Hermione chuckles at him. "Don't worry, they're probably hiding behind the boulder." She smiles up at him as he lets out a worried breath.

"I was thinking we should head into Diagon Alley tomorrow after the Ministry. You can exchange some galleons for pounds and I need to exchange a few myself." She mentions as they come level with the boulder but Mark nor Mia are hiding behind it.

She drops his hand as she rushes around behind the boulder then reappears on the other side.

"They're not here!" She gasps, running towards him.

His heart skips a beat before beating erratically as he spins around on the spot, trying to spot them in the surroundings but there are too many bushes and trees for them to hide behind.

"MARK! MIA!" Hermione shouts as she runs towards the bushes where they had been playing in earlier. "WHERE ARE YOU?" She calls.

Draco runs after her, with Bobby galloping alongside him, into a rather dense part of the bushes. He slowly spins on his heel, trying to spot a glimpse of either of the twins but they must be well hidden. He glances at Hermione to make sure she's not looking in his direction before ducking down behind a thick bush. If Hermione knew what he was about to do, he's not sure if she would let him or not. Discretely, he takes his wand out of his pocket, muttering a quiet, "Homenum Revelio."

Slowly spinning around, he scans the surrounding area for any human presence. His wand vibrates in his hand when it's pointed towards where he can hear Hermione still calling their names. He continues spinning around in a complete circle until his wand vibrates again, but stronger this time, indicating more than one person. He stands up, making sure to hide his wand beneath the top of the bushes so Hermione and any Muggles that walk past can't see, then starts walking quickly in the direction his wand is pointing.

It leads him out of the bushes and towards a large tree. He glances around but can't find them anywhere and beyond the tree is a fence that he doubts they could have climbed over. He's just about to cast the spell again when he hear giggling above him. Slowly glancing up, he finds them both sitting halfway up in the branches of the tree. He quickly hides his wand arm behind his back.

Frowning up at them he asks, "WHAT are you doing up there?"

"We're hiding from yo-!" Mark starts to answer excitedly but Mia elbows him in the ribs, making him wobble and tighten his grip on the tree trunk.

"Do you know how worried we were about you?" He asks rhetorically. "We didn't know where you went. Anything could have happened to you both." He reprimands them. "Now, you need to come back down here before you fall." He tells them.

"We're stuck," Mia calls back down, starting to cry.

Draco sighs deeply, knowing that he's going to have to climb up there himself to rescue them, but first, he needs to inform Hermione

"Hold on tightly for a moment whilst I get Hermione." He tells them, backing away slowly so he can hide his wand in his pocket before turning around a quickly walking back over to where he last saw Hermione.

She's still running around in the bushes, calling their names.

"Hermione!" He calls, beckoning her over when she pops up from behind a rather large bush. "I've found them over here." He adds, noticing her release a sigh of breath before running towards him.

"Where are they?" She asks glancing behind and around him but obviously not finding them.

"They're stuck in a tree." He admits, gesturing behind to the tree where he left them.

Hermione frowns at him in confusion for a moment before realising he's being serious.

"And you left them there?" She asks rhetorically, slapping his arm as she rushes past him in the direction he gestured to.

She can hear him following closely behind her with a heavily breathing Bobby probably being dragged along.

"Mark! Mia!" She sighs in relief as she spots them in the tree. "What are you doing up there?" She asks.

"We-" Mark starts but then looks at his sister and stops.

"They were hiding from us," Draco explains, coming to a stop next to her.

"Do you know how worried I was?" She crosses her arms disappointedly.

"Yes." Mia hung her head, ashamed. "Draco told us." She mutters.

A quick glance at Draco shows him frowning up at them in the tree. Of course, he was worried. She doesn't know why she assumed he wasn't or at least not as worried as she was.

"Right, well, you somehow managed to climb up there, what makes you think that you're stuck?" She questions them.

"I can get down but Mark needed my help getting up and doesn't want to stay up here by himself," Mia explains, swinging her legs carelessly over the edge of the branch.

"Mia, please hold on tightly to that branch." She begs her cousin who does as she's told.

"Here," Draco places his hand on her lower back to gain her attention. "Hold these." He adds passing her Bobby's leash and his jacket, which she notices his wand is slightly sticking out of, before rolling his sleeves up past his elbows.

Swapping Bobby's leash from one hand to the other, she discretely pushes his wand deeper into his pocket, which she's glad to find has been extended. She then watches as he starts to climb the tree. Climbing higher and higher until he's sat on the same branch as Mark.

"You climb down now Mia and I'll stay with Mark." He tells her.

Mia's probably aware that both she and Draco aren't exactly happy with them both at the moment because she doesn't argue and follows his instruction straight away, clambering down as quickly as she can. As soon as her feet touch the floor, Hermione takes her into a tight hug.

"Is Mark going to be alright?" She asks, looking up at Draco and Mark, who were staring down at them.

"Mark will be fine. Draco's up there with him." She comforts her as they step away from the tree, making room for them to climb down.

"Alright, I'm going to stand up now," Draco tells Mark before edging off the branch and landing on the next one down. "Now I'm going to step onto the next branch down so you can stand on this one, okay?" He tells Mark who just nods at him.

Hermione watches as Draco does as he said he would then supports Mark into a stand position on the branch he had just vacated. They continue on like this until Draco is standing on solid ground and Mark jumps from the last branch onto the grass next to him.

Hermione brings him into a tight hug also before guiding him to stand next to his sister.

"I don't want you to ever run off like that again. Not with Draco and I, your parents or anyone. We were so worried that something had happened to you. Did you not hear me calling your names?" She asks and they both nod solemnly. "Then why didn't you call back." She asks rhetorically. "And you should never climb a tree without an adult there to help you or at least watch in case you fall, understand?" She pauses for an answer. They both nod again, looking ashamed. "Good, now, we're going to go straight back to my parents' house where you may play with Athena for a short while whilst Draco and I busy ourselves in the kitchen." She tells them before they set off,

Mark and Mia are ahead of them again as they walk home but this time they're silently staring down at their shoes as they walk. She had taken Draco's hand as soon as they set off again, squeezing it in thanks.

"Is there a particular reason your wand was sticking out of your jacket pocket?" She whispers, leaning closer than usual to him.

She smirks up at him as his free hand instantly goes straight to his pocket to hide it deeper.

"Ah, about that?" He looks down at her nervously. "I made sure no one saw me and I hid it from Mark and Mia once I found them." He tries to defend himself but she shakes her head at him.

"I'm not happy that you used magic, again, in front of my cousins but I'm glad that you managed to find them before they hurt themselves trying to get out of that tree." She tells him, standing on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

He smiles down at her before glancing ahead to make sure that they are still walking ahead. She follows his eye line but when she turns back, he's leaning closer towards her.

"Just what exactly will we be busying ourselves with in the kitchen when we get back?" He asks, whispering into her ear.

She rolls her eyes, shaking her head \as she leans away from him.

"The snacks you packed, which consisted of three bananas and two apples, whilst delicious was not exactly filling so we should first busy ourselves with some lunch when we first get in." She tells him, chuckling when his cheeks blush slightly.

"And second?" He quirks his eyebrow at her, earning a tight squeeze to his hand as she ignores the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 31 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco takes Mark and Mia into the Grangers' house whilst Hermione takes Bobby back to Mrs Johnson. He ushers them into the front room to play with Athena and watch the television.

"Hermione and I will make us all some lunch then we'll get the bus into London like we said earlier." He explains the plans for the rest of the day.

"We're still going on a-" Mark starts but Mia elbows him again to shut him up.

"Thank you, Draco." She smiles sweetly up at him from the couch. "We'll just watch some TV while we wait." She adds, walking over to the television and pressing some buttons to change to a different programme.

Draco leaves the front room, shutting the door behind so he and Hermione can talk in private in the kitchen without Mark and Mia sneaking up on them. At least this way, if they try to eavesdrop on them, he'll hear the front room door open first. He takes his jacket off, throwing on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, before filling the kettle up and putting it onto boil.

He's just placing two cups on the counter when Hermione enters through the backdoor.

"Mrs Johnson wanted to show me her new bird table in her back garden." She offers as an explanation to her backdoor entrance. "Are the kids in the front room?" She asks glancing around the kitchen.

"I've told them to stay in there whilst we make some lunch." He tells her, opening the fridge to grab the basics needed to make sandwiches. "I think they're watching television."

"It should keep them quiet for a while." She smiles as she shrugs out of her jacket, throwing it over the top of his own on the back of the kitchen chair. "I'll make the tea and you can get started on the sandwiches." She tells him taking the teaspoon out of his hand, ready to stir the boiling water in once the kettle's boiled.

Once Hermione's made the cups of teas, she places them on the kitchen table then busies herself with gathering some crisps and fruit for them to have alongside the sandwiches he was still making. When he's finished, he places the sandwiches onto four separate plates, which Hermione had gotten out ready, then moved them to the kitchen table. Draco filled two cups with some water whilst Hermione went to call Mark and Mia for lunch. They moodily traipsed into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"They're annoyed that I turned the TV off during one of their shows." Hermione smiles at him in explanation.

"We'll never get to know what happens at the end now." Mia huffs before taking a bite from her sandwich.

"There's more important things than TV," Hermione mentions, sitting down next to him and opposite Mia.

"It would be like throwing a book away before you finished reading it." Mia carries on complaining.

"Why would you ever throw a book away?" Draco asks, before wondering if maybe that's what muggles do after they've finished reading a book.

"What the point of keeping a book you've already read?" She asks him. "You already know what happens in the story?"

"I quite like to reread my books once I've finished reading them for the first time. Sometimes I miss certain details the first read through that I can understand better with multiple rereads." He tries to explain but she just stares at him blankly as she chews on her sandwich.

"Mark, are you alright?" Hermione asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence where everyone's eating their lunch. "You've been very quiet since we've gotten back."

"Yes, I'm okay." He answers before popping a grape into his mouth.

He can feel Hermione's gaze on the side of his face so casts a sideways glance at her. She looks worried. With a soft sigh, he places his sandwich back down on his plate.

"You both know that we're not angry or mad at you for running off and climbing that tree, don't you?" He asks them.

Mark looks shamefully down at his lunch whilst Mia slowly nods at them, unsure of her answer.

"We were just scared and worried that you were in danger or that you had hurt yourself," Hermione explains. "But now we know your safe and you know not to run off again, I think we just forget about it." She tells them.

Mark's head whips up at that point. "You won't tell our Mummy or Daddy?" He hopefully asks, wide eyes begging with Hermione's.

"I don't think I need to. Hopefully, you've both learned your lesson and we can have some fun this afternoon to forget about it." Hermione states, making both Mark and Mia smile broadly at her.

"Thank you, Hermione." Mark smiles happily before they all go back to their lunches.

Around an hour later, Hermione's ushering Mark and Mia out the front door after ensuring that they're both wearing their jackets and have their shoes fastened properly on the correct feet. Draco locks the door behind them as they set off down the street towards the main road where the nearest bus stop is. Mia skips ahead as she counts something along the way and Mark hops, alternating between feet, along the path making sure to avoid the cracks.

When Draco catches up with her after locking the front door, he takes her hand in his automatically, making her smile. It feels a little strange to walk next to Draco without holding his hand now. It feels like she's forgotten something important that she can't quite remember.

"Should we take them to that shopping centre first?" He suggests as they follow behind the twins at a steady pace.

"We could do. If we make a point of at least looking in every shop window, it'll waste a few hours and I'm pretty sure there's a toy shop on the top floor. If they're good, we can buy them something each." She smiles, gazing up at him.

He raises his eyebrow in faux surprise. "Playing in the park, riding a bus and now a toy. I think we're spoiling them." He jokingly chides her.

She rolls her eyes at him. "They're my cousins who I haven't been able to see very often due to school and the war. Why shouldn't I spoil them now that I can?" She defends herself.

"Well, we're going to have to take Lauren and Craig out or buy them something so they don't feel left out." He mentions.

"Well they're at David's this weekend but if they're still at my grandparents by Wednesday then we can go take them off their hands for a few hours after school," Hermione tells him as they turn onto the main road.

Mark and Mia are waiting for them at the corner of the street, obviously having learned their lesson about not going out of her and Draco's sight. They each take on of their hands as they ready themselves to cross the road. A red car slows down to let them across the first side of the road and as they slowly make their way to the second side, a small white van slows to allow them to run across before accelerating behind them.

"Hermione, a bus is coming!" Mia calls looking over her shoulder at the oncoming vehicle.

"Quickly, run to the bus stop and stop it." She tells them.

Both Mark and Mia run as fast as their short legs will carry them towards the bus stop. The make it just in time to stick their hand out and signal for the bus driver to stop. The driver doesn't indicate or slow down until he's gone past herself and Draco, so they have to run to catch up and make it onto the bus. Hermione pays the bus driver for the tickets then follows Draco, Mark and Mia to the back of the bus where the twins had positioned themselves on the backseat since it's a single decker bus.

The twins sit on their knees on the backseat of the bus, watching and waving at all the cars behind them out of the back window. Hermione sits next to them, making sure that they don't fall backwards if the bus were to suddenly break or when it stops at the next bus stop. Draco takes the vacant seat in front of them, sitting on his side in order to face Hermione. Whilst the twins are laughing and waving out the window, Hermione and Draco discuss quietly what else they could do in London to keep the children occupied but they haven't come up with anything else by the time the bus pulls into their bus stop. The best option they have so far is to just prolong the shopping centre experience as long as possible.

It takes a few minutes for them all to walk to the shopping centre. Both Hermione and Draco take one of the twin's hands each to ensure that they don't get mixed up in the crowds since London is much busier on a weekend.

"Can we go to the toy shop?" Mia asks as soon as they enter, trying to pull Draco towards the escalator but he stops her in her tracks.

"Not yet, we'll make our way up there in due time. First, Hermione and I would like to browse in some of the shopping on this floor." He explains to them.

Both Mark and Mia groan in boredom as they a dragged towards the first shop which sells jewellery. They happily spend fifteen minutes debating whether Draco needs a new watch before she manages to convince him that he doesn't. Three watches are more than enough already to which he tells her that he only brought his three favourites with him and he has at least twelve more are split between his bedroom at the Manor and his vault at the bank.

She simply shakes her head, muttering something about him being rich and eccentric as she guides them all towards the next shop, a clothes shop.

"Hermione," Draco leans closer to whisper into his ear. "I know we said we'd spend as much time as possible browsing in each shop but perhaps we could skip the clothes shops this time." He suggests sounding very hopeful.

With a chuckle, she shakes her head. "No, we're going into as many shops as we can." She tells him as they pull the two reluctant children into the shop with her.

Hermione actually has a real browse around the shop, looking at some of the summer dresses that were currently in fashion. A quick glance behind her tells her that Draco and the twins are still traipsing after her around the shop. They have been in there nearly fifteen minutes, maybe they should go. She's contemplating coming back on her own tomorrow after they've visited the Ministry and Diagon Alley when she spots a beautiful, pale, yellow dress in the corner.

She rushes over to check it and finds there's only a few left on the rack and only one in her size. The pale dress would be perfect to wear to any upcoming parties they might be having this summer, and she assumes they will be since they've already had two since the Ceremony and already have two more planned for next week.

"What do you think of this dress, Draco?" She turns around to ask him, catching him off guard.

"Hmm, oh, I think it'll look very nice on you." He comments, glancing back and forth between her and the dress.

She smiles her thanks, having made up her mind in buying it.

"Why don't you take the kids outside whilst I buy this?" She suggests to them and they all excitedly rush out of the shop.

Shaking her head fondly, she heads over to the checkout to pay for the dress.

Draco takes the children over to the car shop that intrigues him every time he and Hermione have come to this shopping centre.

"How'd they get the cars in there?" Mark asks, looking up expectantly at him.

"Probably through a larger back door." He suggests, remembering what Hermine had told him when he'd asked her the same question the other day. It annoyed him that he didn't know the actual answer and was just speculating.

"I don't see a backdoor." Mia points out. "Why don't we ask them?" She asks, pointing at a man staring at them through the window from inside the shop.

It seems as good an idea as any so they enter the car shop and walk up to the man who plasters a fake smile on his face.

"Hello sir, are you interested in one of our new cars on display?" He asks gesturing towards the two cars parked within the shop.

"Actually, the kids were wondering how exactly you get the cars into the shop," Draco asks the man who just stares back at them for a moment.

"Through the back door." The man motions to the wall of windows behind him.

Draco glances at it, not seeing how the windows can also be a backdoor. Noticing his confusion, the man sighs and gestures them over to the windows.

"These two windows here are actually doors. There's a lock here behind these blinds, see?" He points to a small keyhole. "When we need to change the display cars around, the manager unlocks the doors, presses a button behind the counter over there and the doors automatically slide open, wide enough for a van to fit through." He explains in boredem.

Draco tuts disapprovingly. "Why is everything automatic with you people?" He mutters to himself, earning a strange glare from the car salesman.

"Sorry sir, but are you interested in one of our cars?" He asks sounding very doubtful.

"Definitely not, I despise those death contraptions." He tells the man before ushering the children out of the shop and towards Hermione who's stood outside the clothes shop glancing around the shopping centre, presumably looking for them.

"Where have you been?" She asks when she spots them and they're close enough to hear.

"They were curious about how they managed to get cars into the shop." Draco pointed behind him towards the car shop they had just exited.

Hermione rolls her eyes knowingly at him. "Are you sure it was them who were the curious ones?" She asks him with a raised eyebrow.

"We were all a little curious." He mutters as they set off walking towards the next shop.

"The window is actually a door that automatically opens when they need to open it," Mia explains to Hermione.

"Bloody automatic!" Draco mutters under his breath making Hermione laugh and take his hand.

"Automatic just makes everything that's already easy and quick in our lives, easier and quicker in their lives," Hermione tells him giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

He shakes his head, still not convinced by Muggle people's needs to make everything easier in their life. How much time do they waste by pushing open a door or a window? Or by climbing a set of stairs rather than standing still whilst they carry them to the top? He would have thought the automatic stairs would be slower than a normal set of stairs.

By half past three, Hermione herself is bored out of her mind from wandering aimlessly into every shop they come across and they're only halfway around the second floor. In the end, she gives in and tells Mark, Mia and Draco that they can head towards the toy shop now before they leave.

The twins cheer excitedly, running off towards the escalators.

"Remember what I said about running off." She calls after them, making them stop at the bottom of the escalator and wait for her to ride up with them.

Draco, who will probably never ride an escalator again after such a terrible first experience, takes the stairs and manages to beat them to the top.

"What is the point of these stairs if they don't get you to the top any quicker then walking up a normal staircase?" He asks her as the twins run off once again towards the massive toy shop at the other end of the third floor.

"I suppose most people would rather choose to save energy by taking the escalator than save time by taking the stairs." She suggests.

"Muggles are just lazy." He mutters.

"Don't place that label on all muggles." She warns him.

"Of course not," He offers her a smirk. "Just the ones that use those escalators."

"It's much easier for people to be lazy than it is for them to be active." She points out. "Even for us. Tomorrow, would you rather apparate from the Ministry to Diagon Alley or walk from the muggle entrance of the Ministry to the muggle entrance to the Leaky Cauldron?" She asks rhetorically.

"Disapparation is not only easier but also quicker whereas those escalators are only easier. It took longer for you to ride to the top than it did for me to walk to the top." He reasons to which Hermione nods.

"Hermione! Hermione! Hermione!" Mark and Mia chant as they run over towards them.

"Please, can we go look at the new Barbie makeup head?" Mia begs, pulling on Hermione's sleeve. "Mary at school got one for her birthday and she said it's a really cool." She carries on pulling at her sleeve until she gives in.

"Fine! Fine!" Hermione disentangles Mia's hand from her jacket. "We'll meet you boy back here in twenty minutes." She tells Draco and Mark, who jumps up and down excitedly, holding Draco's hand.

"Let him choose something as a present but no more than £10, alright?" She whispers quietly to Draco who nods back in understanding before allowing himself to be dragged off towards the electronic game section of the shop by Mark.

Twenty minutes later, they meet back near the checkouts after being dragged around the entire shop multiple times by the twins. Mia had shown interest in a new convertible car for her Barbie so Hermione had offered to buy it as a present for being good whilst in the shopping centre. Mia had hugged her and excitedly thanked her many times before begging her to buy it now. Mark, on the other hand, hadn't shown any interest in wanting anything so, in the end, Draco had to ask him what he would like for a present for being good. He spent a few minutes wandering around the shop before deciding on the game Jenga.

Once Hermione's paid for the presents, they ask if they can go back to their Auntie Sarah's yet so they can play with their new toys. She checks her watch and it's only four o'clock. They have another six hours to waste before Sharon and Scott come to pick them up. She quickly calculates that it would only take forty-five minutes for them to walk home so with the hope that it might tire the twins out, they set off walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 31 for you all.
> 
> Happy Boxing Day!
> 
> This is kind of a filler chapter and it's a lot shorter than most of my chapters. Sorry. I'll be back to uploading normal lenght chapters on the 31st December and I actually have a pretty exciting surprise for you in the New Year so keep reading to be update. :d
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco keeps a tight hold of her hand once they've apparated back to the estate as standing in front of them, his face full of surprise at their sudden appearance is the Weasel. The anger rises up his chest and before he realises what he's doing, his wand his gripped tightly in his hand, pointing at the other man's face.

"Draco!" Hermione gasps at him, attempting to pull his wand hand away from its target. "Stop it!" She snaps at him.

He breaks his eye contact, glancing down at Hermione, her own gaze begging him not to do anything stupid. He pleads with her to let at least jinx him for what he did and said to her that night at St. Mungo's but she shakes her head so with a deep sigh, he slowly lowers his wand.

Ron scoffs at him. "That's right, Malfoy. Listen to your wife." He smirks.

He's about to raise his wand once more, not caring what Hermione will do to him, when she steps in front of him, her hand still grasping onto his wand wrist.

"You stop it too." She tells him.

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my wife." He glares down at Hermione as though it was her fault that they weren't paired together.

"That never stopped me before." She tells him. "Now be on your way and we'll be on our way." She sends him a warning stare before pulling Draco by the wrist away from him.

As they walk away, Draco casts a few worrying glances behind them, unsure of what that Weasel will do to him with his back turned but he simply watches them walk off for a few seconds before leaving the estate through the gate and then presumably disapparating away somewhere. Draco retrieves his hand from Hermione's grasp, placing his wand back in his pocket.

"I don't know what else can be done about Ron." She mutters, taking his other hand.

"He'll get over it eventually or someone will make him get over it." He growls angrily.

"You'll do no such thing." Hermione pulls his hand roughly around the corner and onto their street. "I won't be an Azkaban widow, even for a few months. I'm warning you now."

Draco chuckles, dropping her hand as they reach their front door so she can unlock it.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of following in Lucius' footsteps." He promises her.

"I'm glad to hear it." She tells him as they enter the house. "I'm shattered. I'm going to head to bed. Make sure you feed Athena before you come up." She says, stifling a yawn as she makes her way up the stairs.

"I won't be long." He tells her as he goes into the living room only to find the corner where Athena's cage usually is empty. "Of course, how could we forget?" He sighs, rubbing his forehead. They left Athena at the Granger's house. She'd been taking a nap in her cage when Mark and Mia went home.

"Hermione!" He calls up the stairs, waiting for her response.

"Yeah!" She calls back down, leaning over the bannister in her pyjamas.

"We left Athena at your parents' house." He tells her.

She frowns for a second before grinning. "You better go get her. If she wakes up in an unfamiliar place without us, she'll be scared and won't stop chirping." She tells him with a chuckle.

"Right, I'll be back later." He states, grabbing the keys for the house and locking the door on his way out.

He strolls down the street, back towards the gate, not particularly rushing since it's rather a nice night. He checks his watch. It's just after twenty-five to eleven. He hopes his parent-in-laws aren't asleep yet or else he'll have to quietly retrieve Athena without waking them up. Hermione would describe it as breaking into their house. He hopes her parents won't think of it in that way also.

As he exits the estate, he spots Weasley sat on the grass, leaning against the wall of the estate, drinking out of a flask. He pauses wondering whether he should ignore him and disapparate away or to say something to him. Even after everything he's done to her, Hermione's still worried about him and wants to help him move on. Maybe he needs a firm word in order to get over her. But then again, if things turn bitter and he might not be able to control what he does with his wand. Would Hermione forgive him? He doubts it. He's just about to disapparate when he's spotted.

"Ah, Malfoy. Sneaking away from your wife too." He spits, attempting to stand up but when he collapses back on the grass, he stays there. "And here I was thinking the Daily Prophet was right and you were both in paradise." He laughs at him.

Draco glares at him. He can still leave. Disapparate to the Grangers' house and get Athena. But he'll still be here when he returns. How many times will he have to be the bigger man and walk away from a fight? He thinks of Hermione as he takes a deep breath, sends the Weasel a smirk to annoy him, then disapparates away.

He apparates to the alleyway behind the Grangers' house. Unfortunately, there are no lights on in the house from the back and he knows that Chris and Sarah's bedroom is at the back of the house. As quietly as possible, he opens the back gate but it squeaks open, the silence of night magnifying the noise. He squeezes through the narrow gap he made and gently walks down the path to the back door.

Taking his wand out of his pocket, not for the first time that day, he taps the door handle, unlocking the door. Not wanting to risk waking the Grangers up, he casts a silencing charm on the door and opens it wide without making a noise. He enters, closing the back door and listening for both any human or bird noises. Luck isn't on his side tonight as he hears Athena chirp quite loudly from the front room. He hopes it's because she can sense his presence but as he tiptoes through the kitchen and into the hall towards the front room, he steps on a loose floorboard whose squeak echo through the quiet house.

There's an unnatural silence from the front room which he assumes is from Athena, now she knows he's here, until he reaches for the door handle to the room and it suddenly flies open, making Draco jump and point his wand at his attacker who's wielding the remote above his head as a weapon.

"Jesus Christ, Draco!" A voice he recognises as Chris sighs, turning on the front room light. "I assume you're breaking into my house for your damn bird." He asks rhetorically, pointing over to Athena, who's still in her cage next to the couch.

"Yeah, I had hoped you'd both be asleep," Draco admits, putting his wand away, standing tall. "Were you going to attack me with the remote?" He raises his eyebrow.

"It's not as though I had much choice of a weapon." Chris frowns at him. "I don't mean to be rude but can you get your bird and leave. Sarah and I need to be up early in the morning." He yawns.

"Of course, I'm sorry to intrude." Draco quickly picks up Athena's cage. "Hello there Athena. Let's go home." He tries to comfort the owl but she turns her head on him.

"She giving you the cold shoulder." Chris laughs at him.

"It's not the first time." He smiles as he heads towards the back door. "I'm sorry again."

"Don't worry about it, son. I'll see you later." He tells him as he leaves.

Draco nods goodbye then heads back down the garden path, into the alleyway where he disapparates back to the estate. He'd forgotten about Weasley but as he predicted, he's still sat against the wall drinking. He might not get another chance to be alone with him so he walks over to him and stares at him until he catches his attention. When he finally notices him, he looks up with a scowl on his face.

"Back so soon." He says then looks at the owl cage in his hand. "Where'd ya get an owl at this time of night?" He asks curiously.

"This is our owl. We just left her at Hermione's parents' house earlier." He explains, still staring down at the man. "I want to talk to you." He tells him.

Weasley glares up at him for a moment before scooting over. "Make yer-self at home." He grumbles, taking a swig from his flask.

He looks down at the grass next to Weasley. It looks dirty and uncomfortable but not wanting to seem like the pure-blooded elitist that he probably already thinks he is, he reluctantly sit down, leaving a few feet between them.

"Let me guess." Weasley laughs. "You want me to leave yer wife alone." He continues to laugh.

Is that what he wants? With the way he's been acting since the ceremony, he never wants to see the man himself never mind letting Hermione anywhere near him but he knows that's not what Hermione wants. They've been through so much together. Things he'll never understand and she needs to be able to talk to both Weasley and Harry about it, even if neither of them are well experienced in the art of conversation making.

"No, that's not what I want. What I want is for you to apologise to her and get over your childish crush on her so you can both move on with your lives. She still wants you in hers, but as her friend and with the way you've been acting recently, there's no way that can happen. You've got your own wife at home-" Ron scoffs. "I know she's hard work, I've been her friend since childhood and none of it was easy but trust me when I say her friendship is worth it. You've been holding our childish rivalry over her head and she's been doing the same thing. You both need to put that aside for both yours sakes and also the sake of your child whenever you have one." Draco finishes his rant and stands up. "Hermione will be wondering where I've gotten to. Think about what I've said and I hope to see you and Pansy at your parents' house on Wednesday for Harry and Ginny's party. Goodbye… Ron." He nods once then spins on his heel, taking his leave.

He hates the taste of the Weasel's name on his lips but if he's expecting the man to make up with Hermione and get closer to Pansy, he's going to have to stop calling him 'the Weasel'. Once he's back at their house, he unlocks the door then locks it again once he's entered. He places Athena down in her cage in her usual place in the living room, opening the cage door for her to stretch her wings.

"How about some food for you?" He asks her, heading into the kitchen.

Athena chirps excitedly, fluttering after him, her grudge all but forgotten as he gives her a handful of owl food. She rests on his wrist, eating them straight out of his hand. He checks his watch. It's just after quarter past eleven. He should probably head to bed soon, but he isn't tired yet. When Athena's finished, they go back into the living room and lounge on the couch together. Well, Draco lounges on the couch and Athena perches on his shoulder. He ends up accio-ing Dracula from his jacket pocket. He decides to finally finish the book. He's been nearly finished for the past couple of days and he still needs to start reading Alice in Wonderland for Sophie.

He finishes the book just after midnight with a yawn. He places the book back on the shelf with a sense of accomplishment. He's just finished his first muggle book. He places Alice in Wonderland on the coffee table, ready to start in the morning, then heads up to bed.

Hermione's spread out on her stomach so he has to push her arm and a leg out of the way so he can climb in once he's dressed in his pyjamas and washed. He's just settled down when she turns over in her sleep and shuffles right up to him, throwing an arm around his waist. He smiles to himself contently as he hugs her arms to his chest and falls into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 34 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione woke early on the morning of Sunday 12th June. Her stomach full of excitement and nerves as she laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling, trying to convince herself that no matter the outcome of today, nothing would change. She isn't naïve though. She knows that if she gets the wrong answer things will be different, maybe not physically but psychologically, her views of herself and the wizarding world will change.

"What time is it?" Draco mumbles from next to her, face still buried in his pillow.

She glances up at the clock. "It's just after half seven." She answers.

He groans as he turns over onto his side, facing her.

"Are you scared?" He asks.

Is she scared? No, she doesn't think she is. She turns onto her own side, shaking her head.

"Nervous?" He questions with a knowing smile.

She smiles back at him softly as she nods.

"But also excited, although I think that's more to do with actually getting access to archives." She admits.

Draco's smile widens. "I know how you feel. I can't wait to get my hands on those books." He chuckles slightly, making Hermione's stomach flip. "You know, if you don't get the answer you want, it won't change what people think about you. You've earned your reputation and nothing is going to take that away. Especially not a pureblood family from five-hundred years ago." He tells her, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm not sure I actually want to tell anyone if it turns out I do descend from the Rowle's. It's not something I'm going to be proud of." She admits, breaking their eye contact.

She feels his hand caress her cheek, bring her attention back to him. He's smiling softly at her.

"You don't need to tell anyone if you don't want to. You can keep the information all to yourself." He says, then narrows his eyes slightly. "Although, I would appreciate it if you told me." He adds.

"Don't worry." She smiles, bringing her own hand over his. "You're my husband. Shouldn't we be able to tell each other everything?" She asks rhetorically to which he smiles in agreement.

"I wonder how many banned books they are actually hiding in their archives." He thinks aloud.

"Well remember we're limiting ourselves to two hours per visit." She reminds him. "Maybe you should start organising the books then I'll help sort through them once I've finished in the filing cabinet." She suggests.

"Good idea." He mumbles, closing his eyes.

She brings their entwined hands down between them. "Are you going back to sleep?" She chuckles.

"I didn't come to bed until after midnight." He admits, stifling a yawn.

"And whose fault is that?" She questions, laughing when he rolls his eyes under close lids.

"I needed to finish Dracula. I was tired of being nearly finished with it and I want to start Sophie's Alice in Wonderland today." He explains.

"She'll be glad about that. Oh, I almost forget, how was Athena last night? I can't believe we left her at my parents'."

"Your father tried to attack me with the remote." He smiles, eyes still closed.

"What?" She chuckles.

"There were no lights on in the house so I thought I'd sneak in and take Athena but she must have woken your father up with her chirping. He was in the front room and must have heard me sneak in and thought he would face the attacker with the remote." Draco chuckles opening his eyes again.

With a sigh, he sits up. "We should probably get up." He yawns, letting go of her hand to stretch his limbs out.

"What time do you want to visit the Ministry?" She asks, climbing out of bed, pulling on her dressing gown.

"We should probably go around lunchtime when most of the Department of Registration officials are having their lunch. They'll be less chance of us being interrupted." Draco explains, walking over to their wardrobe. "Although Kingsley gave us unsupervised access, he would have asked Mr Vyner to keep an eye on us." He adds, pulling out some clothes with a deep sigh.

Hermione leaves him in the bedroom to get changed whilst she heads downstairs to put the kettle on. She opens Athena's cage on her way past, letting her flutter behind as they go into the kitchen.

"Would you like some breakfast, Athena?" She asks their owl who chirps excitedly around her head, making Hermione chuckle. "Here you go little birdie." She places a small bowl on the counter with Athena's owl food. She chirps her thanks before pecking at her breakfast.

Grabbing two cups from the cupboard, she places a teabag in each one, waiting for the kettle to boil. Feeling hungry, she pops a few slices of bread in the toaster then takes the butter and jam out of the fridge.

"DRACO!" She shouts through the house. "Would you like to sit in the garden for breakfast?" She asks quieter, hearing him coming down the stairs. "I've put some toast and the kettle on." She adds when she hears him enter the kitchen but he still doesn't answer.

She's about to turn around when he places both his hands on her hips, holding her in place. Her eyes widen in surprised confusion. She tries to turn around to face him but he leans forward, pressing his chest against her back, mouth close to her ear.

"I would like nothing more than to eat breakfast in the garden with you." He quietly purrs.

"Draco!" She tries to turn around again but his grip on her hips tighten. "What _are_ you doing?" She asks, frowning at the kitchen tiles in front of her.

"I'm simply enjoying your presence, Miss Granger." He mutters and she can feel the warmth of his breath on her neck. It sends a shiver down her back.

"Okay, _Mr Malfoy_ ," She says sarcastically. "I don't know what you're doing but you've never been this affectionate and you've never called me _Miss_ Granger, so what's going on?" She states.

Suddenly, he spins her around and pushes her back against the counter. She gasps at the intensity of his gaze. She tries to look away but eyes are drawn to his body. He wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he returned from his visit to Kingsley. He's charmed his hair back slickly, the scar on his forehead on full view and, if possible, he looks paler.

"The toast is going to burn." She tells him and with a flick of his wrist, the toast pops up.

"Better?" He asks rhetorically, leaning closer until their faces are only a few inches apart.

That's when it hits her and she finally understands what he's doing and she smirks at him.

"You finally understand then, Miss Granger. I'm disappointed by how long it took you." He returns her smirk.

Hermione places her hands on his shoulders, holding him in place. "It wouldn't have taken me so long if I could have seen you." She points out. "Although, maybe you knew as much." She adds upon seeing his smile. "Were you trying to intimidate me?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

Draco's face falls slightly into a frown.

"No, you were trying to seduce me." She states matter-of-factly. "I hope you weren't practising for our little visit to the Ministry." She squeezes his shoulder.

"Usually intimidation works fine but there are a few brave or overly confident people that need to be seduced for information rather than intimidated." He explains.

She brings her hand up to his hair, running her fingers through it, using the counter-charm to soften his hair.

"So you think I'm too brave or overly confident to be intimidated by you." She smiles up at him, bring her hand to the nape of his neck, letting his hair falls down, in front of his eyes, which stare confusingly down at her.

"You're definitely brave, but you don't need to be in my presence. I was simply playing on your affections for me." His mouth turns up at the corner in a smirk.

"My affections for you?" She questions him.

"Don't play stupid, Miss Granger." He purrs again. "We both know that we both hold affections for each other. I don't think either of us would be here right now if we didn't." He smiles softly.

"It's not as though we have much choice in being here right now." She rolls her eyes.

"No, but if we didn't hold at least some affection for each other I'm quite sure that one of us would be dead and the other would either be on the run or in Azkaban." He points out.

"I don't think many people would blame me for killing you." She admits. "I'm sure I would have a good excuse for it anyway." She shrugs, making him chuckle.

"Should I be keeping an eye on you?" He jokes.

She shakes her head. "As you said, we both hold affections for each other. I would only kill you as a last resort." She states seriously.

He stares at her suspiciously for a second before smiling. Hermione's stomach flips.

"Our toast is getting cold." She mentions, swiftly spinning around to fetch the toast from the toaster. "I'll have to boil the kettle again." She mutters to herself as she presses down the lever.

She makes to move to the fridge for the jam but Draco's hands are still on her hips. She turns her head back to look up at him but he's much closer than she expected. He leans forwards, giving her a quick peck on the cheeks before letting go of her, grabbing an apple and heading outside without a word. Hermione's eyes follow him outside before she snaps back into action, grabbing the jam and milk for a cup of tea.

Draco takes his cloak off, laying it across one of the spare garden chairs, so he can comfortably relax whilst eating his apple. Closing his eyes, he leans back in the chair to feel the warmth of the morning sun on his face as he takes a bite of his apple. He hears a back door a few houses away open.

"Oh, hi, Draco." A voice greets him from his left.

He sighs to himself as he sits up, opening his eyes to find Neville Longbottom leaning against his fence two houses away.

"Hello," He returns the greeting. "How are you and…" He can't remember who he got paired with. He's sure it was someone in their year at Hogwarts.

"Hannah." Neville reminds him with a laugh.

"We're great thanks. She's at work right now. She helps her great-uncle out at the Leaky Cauldron. He's getting on a bit now and he wants Hannah to take over once he retires. We'll probably live there once… well, you know… once we've had a child. Anyway, how are you and Hermione? I haven't seen her since the reception party, or you for that matter." Neville rambles on.

He was never this talkative at Hogwarts. At least not as far as Draco was concerned. Although he wasn't exactly the brightest of the bunch. Probably didn't want to speak up for fear of making a fool of himself. Well, he's definitely making up for it now.

"We've been very busy actually. She's introduced me to her family, we've been to a few parties and trying to settle into this house." He nods towards the house.

"It's nice, isn't it? Very simple but it has a homey feel to it. I'm just glad to be out of my grandmother's house." He laughs as though he's joking but he can sense the serious undertones.

"Hi, Neville, how have you been?" Hermione asks, coming through the back door carrying a plate of jam toast and two cups of teas.

"We've been great. Draco's been telling me that you two have been very busy." He mentions. "Oh, are you having breakfast? I'll leave you both to eat then. Are you both going to Harry and Ginny's party on Wednesday?" He asks them.

"Yeah, we are. Will we see you there?" Hermione asks in return.

"Of course, Hannah and I will both be there. It'll give us chance to catch up with a few people. Have you heard much from Ron? I haven't seen him since the ceremony and harry said that he hasn't seen him since last Friday." Neville asks worriedly.

He senses Hermione tense next to him.

"Yeah, we've seen him around. I don't think he's doing too well but hopefully, that will change soon." She answers through gritted teeth.

Neville nods sadly. "I assume he's going to be at the Burrow on Wednesday. Anyway, I better get going. I'm meeting Dean and Seamus for breakfast in ten minutes." He announces, giving them a quick wave before heading back into his own house.

Draco waits for his backdoor to close before turning to face Hermione, who's sat in the chair opposite him. "Has he always been this talkative?" He wonders aloud, taking another bite from his apple.

"Not usually, I'm surprised he was even talking to you, to be honest. Although he has grown in confidence since the war and it looks like Hannah's bringing out a new social side to him." Hermione comments as she takes a slice of toast from the plate.

"How many people do you think Harry and Ginny have invited to this party of theirs on Wednesday?" He asks curiously, finishing his apple and placing the core next to the toast as he picks a slice up.

"I would expect all the Weasley's to be there and some close friends like Luna, Dean and Seamus and Neville." She answers.

"The whole Weasley clan?" He questions.

Hermione chuckles. "There isn't that many of them." She states. "Charlie's back in Romania now so he won't be there but Bill, Percy, George and I assume Ron will be there along with Molly and Arthur." She explains with a knowing smile.

"What are you smiling at?" He asks her curiously.

"Nothing," She glances down at her cup of tea, still smiling. "You'll find out on Wednesday." She finally announces.

Draco stares at her whilst he eats his toast and drinks his cup of tea wondering what it is she knows that she isn't telling him.

"I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything." He smirks at her front the corner of his mouth.

"This isn't my secret to tell." She shakes her head.

He narrows his eyes at her. It's not her secret to tell. So it must be Ginny's or Harry's. Or maybe Ginny and Harry's. The realisation hits him and he smiles.

"They didn't wait long, did they?" He states, sipping at his cup of tea.

Hermione stares at him for a moment, probably wondering if he actually knows or if he's bluffing, but then she must not care either way. "You can't tell anyone. They want it to be a surprise for the party." She tells him seriously.

"Who would I tell?" He asks. "I'm not exactly one for gossiping anyway." He adds, downing the rest of his tea and checking his watch. "It's nine o'clock, what should we do for the next three hours?"

They end up spending an hour browsing around the small selection of shops in the centre of the estate. Most of that time is spent in the bookshop, a local branch of Flourish and Blotts which Percy's been transferred to since he lives on the estate. Draco wandered around whilst Hermione chatted to Percy at the till about the upcoming party. Apparently, most of the Weasley's had already guessed correctly what the celebration was really about. When asked if Ginny had hinted at anything to her, she denied it quickly before excusing herself to browse with Draco, not wanting Percy to catch her out.

Afterwards they went to the sweet shop where Hermione bought some butterbeer fudge and Draco bought a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, which was a surprise to her since they were quite a childish sweet choice. Draco then continued to offer her one as they walked around the rest of the shop. She refused each time. She never wanted to taste another one of those wretched beans. Not after the fermented fish one she had during her sixth year at Hogwarts, She had to run to the toilet before throwing up. It didn't taste any better on the way back up.

When they get back to their house, Hermione decides to get changed out of her jeans and shirt into something more professional. If she wants to walk around the Ministry without making people suspicious, then she's going to have to try and blend in. Although with Draco wearing what could be a Lucius Malfoy costume, she doubts that's going to happen. Instead, she pulls on a smart dress that will hopefully make her look like she belongs to be walking around the Ministry.

Draco decides to make a start on Alice in Wonderland whilst Hermione's getting dressed for the Ministry. It takes a bit of motivation on his part to get through the first couple of chapter but once he's actually down the rabbit hole and in this wonderland with Alice, he finds the book a lot more difficult to put down.

Hermione announces at quarter to twelve that they should probably get going and he reluctantly places the book on the coffee table, ready to read when he returns in a few hours. The excitement of what they're about to do grabs hold of him as he almost skips out of the house. He waits for Hermione to lock the door then takes hold of her hand, hoping to calm any nerves she may have. They're halfway down Beta Street when he realises he's left the letter he's supposed to give Mr Vyner in his bedside table drawer. Cursing himself, he runs back to the house, leaving Hermione rolling her eyes and dawdling after him.

He throws their front door open, racing up the stairs into their bedroom. Grabbing the letter, he places it securely in his undetectable extended pocket, then runs back down the stairs and out the door, remembering to lock it behind him. Hermione's stood waiting for him at the corner of Beta and Gamma Street so he runs to catch up.

"Are you sure you've got everything?" She asks him as he comes within earshot.

He rolls his eyes at her as they set off walking again. When they reach the gate, she takes his hand in her own slightly sweaty one, but he doesn't mind. She must be understandably nervous right now. She then disapparates them to the apparation area of the Ministry.

Draco squeezes her hand gently in an attempt to calm her nerves, which she then returns in what he assumes is an attempt to calm his excitement. He feels likes he's been hit by a jinx that is constantly reverberating around his body. They both take a deep breath, then set off towards the lifts and the Department of Registrations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 35 for you all.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Even though there's no one else in the lift with them on the way down to the Department of Registrations, Draco and Hermione stand close together. The lift comes to a stop at sub-level 12, a couple of floor before the one they need. Two witches enter, who are so engrossed in their conversation that they don't even notice them stood at the back until the lift stops at sub-level 19.

"Excuse us." Draco snaps when they don't move, announcing their presence as he pushes past the two witches, pulling Hermione gently by the hand, out of the lift.

The two women gasp, jumping aside to let them both past.

"Thank you." Hermione smiles at them.

He can hear them muttering to each other as the doors close, taking them up to their floor. They stop to look down the long corridor in front of them.

"Do you know which door is for registrations?" Hermione asks him but he shakes his head.

"There should be signs on the doors." He mentions as they set off walking past the Department of Transport, the Department of Noise Pollution and the Department of Charities.

The next door the come to reads 'The Department of Registrations'.

Draco's about to open the door when Hermione pulls on his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"This is it." She states, taking a deep breath.

"This is it." He confirms with a nod. "Are you ready?" He asks, starting to feel nervous for her.

She closes her eyes, takes one last deep breath to compose herself, and then opens her eyes again, looking determined.

"Let's go." She walks past him, opening the door wide before entering, leaving Draco to quickly follow behind her.

The room is a lot different than what he expected. At the far end of the room is a large desk with what must be hundreds of pieces of parchment and files scattered across the top. He assumes the desk belongs to Mr Vyner, the Head of the department. Facing his desk are four smaller desks with even more scattered piece of parchment and four people sat working at them, trying to organise the parchment.

A man sat at the desk closest to the door glances up, over the edge of his glasses, at them. Upon recognising them, he jumps up, chair scraping against the wooden floors, bringing everybody else in the room's attention to them.

"Mr and Mrs Malfoy!" The man gasps in shock before scampering around the edge of his desk to greet them. "The name's James Stuart. What can I help you with?" He asks, seemingly pleased to be the first person to help them.

"Ms Granger." She quickly corrects. "We wish to speak with Mr Vyner." Hermione answers with a polite smile as Draco continues to glance around the room.

A woman sat at the desk next to James' is staring at him nervously clutching at a handful of parchment. He offers her a comforting smile but her eyes just widen in shock as she flinches.

"You all look very busy." He states, trying to make conversation but the woman just nods.

"Yeah, since the partner ceremony we've been busy sorting out all the marriage certificates and then updating the archives. That's actually where Mr Vyner is right now. As Head of the department, he deals with some of the more… high profile families in the wizarding world. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for his return. Would you like something to drink?" James offers but they both decline.

"No thank you, Mr Stuart. We'll come back in an hour and hopefully, he'll be back." Draco tells him.

"Oh, okay. I'll let Alexander know you were here." He tells them as they leave.

"Thank you, James," Hermione says before closing the door behind them. "What are you planning" She whispers, following him towards the lift.

"Did you say the archives are on sub-level 45?" He asks, trying to remember what Hermione had read in that book.

"No, 47. They've been there since 1588." She corrects him.

"Why don't we go pay Mr Vyner a visit down in the archives then?" He smirks at her as he presses the down button on the lift.

The doors to the lift open up onto a small foyer on sub-level 47 with a single door on the wall opposite. A ministry official is sat at a desk next to the door reading a book. She glances up as the doors open, then slams her books shut when they step out.

She jumps out of her seat to greet them in the foyer.

"Mr Malfoy and Ms Granger! What are you doing down here?" She asks, frowning at them curiously.

"We wish to speak with Mr Vyner," Draco states, straight to the point.

"We've been told he's down here in the archives," Hermione adds.

The woman's eyes narrow suspiciously. "How exactly did you find out where the archives are? Only the Minister, the Department of Registrations and a few ministry officials now the exact location." She interrogates them.

"If you don't want anyone to know the 'exact location' you shouldn't publish a book with that information in it," Hermione smirks, raising an eyebrow. "A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic. It actually has a lot of information in it about every department. You should have someone look into it to make sure none of your other secrets are being divulged to the public." She suggests. "Now, if you don't mind, could you please call Mr Vyner for us?"

The woman stares between both herself and Draco, mouth agape for a moment, before nodding and quickly scribbling a note down on a spare piece of parchment and sending it through a small opening in the door. She then sits back down at her desk, completely ignoring both Hermione and Draco, to quickly scribble down more notes.

A few minutes after the ministry official had sent the note, there's a knock from the other side of the door. She glances up at them both before going to open the door. Through the door comes a very tall man with thick black hair, shaven at the sides, and bright blue eyes that stared them down. He's dressed head to toe in black, making his eyes stand out menacingly.

"I assume you have the letter." Mr Vyner says, holding his hand out.

"Of course." Draco glares at the man, taking the letter out of his pocket and gently placing it in his open palm.

Mr Vyner makes a show of opening the letter and reading it word for word, even though he would have recognised it from his own copy he received from the Minister.

"Everything seems to be in order." He returns the letter to Draco, who places it back in his pocket. "Follow me." He orders, opening the door behind him and holding it open for them both to enter in front of him.

Hermione takes Draco's hand as they enter. Mr Vyner notices and scoffs.

"There's a bet going around the Ministry about the fate of yours and a few others relationship. I see a lot of people are going to lose a lot of money." He comments, nodding down at their entwined fingers.

"They have only themselves to blame," Draco smirks. "We're just making the best out of the situation." He adds.

"I couldn't care less about your relationship or anyone else's for that matter. This whole marriage decree has been nothing but trouble for my department. Our workload has quadrupled in the past two weeks." Mr Vyner snaps at them.

"No offence, Mr Vyner, but at least you weren't one of those being forced into marriage which, I'll have you know is illegal in the UK. It's been nothing but trouble for most of us." Hermione glares at the back of his head.

"This way." He announces, taking a sharp left turn.

They follow, turning off the main corridor onto a smaller corridor. They're halfway down the corridor when there's a sudden beeping noise. Mr Vyner stops suddenly, taking a mobile phone out of his pocket. Hermione watches in amazement as he answers his phone, speaking quietly into the receiver.

"I'll take an early lunch." He mutters. "Yes… yes… I'll be there." He growls down the phone before hanging up and turning to face them both. "This is where I leave you. Turn right at the end of this corridor and you'll come to a door with a muggle combination lock. The code is C1588A. Make sure the door is closed properly behind you both upon entering and leaving the archives. You may not take any documents from the archives or make any copies, Mrs Lane will check you on your departure. Now I don't know why you are so adamant to have access to my archives but if you tamper with anything behind that door, I won't hesitate to speak to the Minister myself and have your access revoked. Do you understand?" He glares down his nose at them.

Draco's eye twitches slightly. "Understood." He answers.

Mr Vyner pushes past them quickly, then breaks into a run back down the corridor.

"I thought you said those muggle phones didn't work in the wizarding world," Draco mentions.

"They don't. He must have charmed it." She answers. "I want to know where's he's urgently running off to." She wonders aloud.

"Come on, we only have two hours remember. I'm sure that Mrs Lane will report back to Mr Vyner when he returns." Draco pulls her hand towards the end of the corridor.

They turn right at the end of the corridor then carry on for about twenty feet before coming face to face with the door Mr Vyner mentioned. Hermione keys in the combination, turns the handle and pushes the door open to reveal a pitch black room. They both take their wands out, silently lighting the tip but the room was still encased in darkness.

"Lumos Maxima." Hermione utters and a ball of light erupts from her wand, flying into the darkness.

They watch in awe as the ball of light carries on flying into the distance, coming to a stop at least a hundred metres away.

"I never expected the archives to be this large." She gasps breathlessly.

"We need more light in here," Draco states, moving his wand around in front of him.

Hermione grabs hold of his wrist, moving his wand hand over the wall next to the door. After a few seconds of searching, she finds a switch. Chuckling to herself, she flicks it. Suddenly, the whole room bursts into light as around fifty lanterns flicker to life.

"A light switch?" Draco wonders aloud, inspecting the wall device. "What is a light switch doing in the Ministry of Magic?"

"I think Mr Vyner is Muggleborn." Hermione answers. "Or at least has some experience of the muggle world. I don't know how else you would explain the phone, the combination lock door and that light switch." She suggests, finally looking around the room and taking it all in. "Oh my goodness." She mutters to herself. "I don't know where to start."

There are rows upon rows of filing cabinets, creating a kind of maze within the large room. At the other end of the room, there's a door they didn't recognise earlier.

"We should check out that other door," Hermione suggests.

"If we can figure out how to get to the door." Draco mentions, glancing around at the filing cabinets. "There must be a specific layout to these cabinets, they can't just be randomly placed. How would Mr Vyner know if we tampered with something if they were organised." He points out.

Hermione walks over to the closest cabinet, which is against the same wall as the door. The label reads 'AA – AR'. She moves to the next one which is labelled 'AR – BL'.

"I think you're right. They seem to be alphabetically organised. I would assume by surname." She tells him.

Turning around, she heads in the opposite direction to what she assumes is the last filing cabinet which she expects be labelled 'YO – ZZ' or something similar but instead is labelled '1999: Young' which confuses her for a moment.

"This one is labelled 1999: Young." She states in confusion. "Wait a second." She mutters mainly to herself.

She heads back over to the first cabinets and makes her way to the seventh in the row. It's labelled 'EA – EL'. She carries on, following the line of filing cabinets around the corner, scanning the labels of each one until she reaches 'YO – ZY'. She opens the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet and flicks through the dividers until the last one which reads 'ZYKAN'. Taking the file out, she opens it to reveal a single piece of parchment.

'The Zykan family originated from an English Muggleborn family in 1682 with the birth of Samuel Zykan II to Mary and Samuel Zykan I. He was the oldest of four siblings and the only with magical blood. He married muggle Alice Blackburn in 1711 with whom he had one son, Samuel Zykan III, who died of dragon pox aged seven. The Zykan family name, within the wizarding world, died with him. FC: L-R-R-R-L-L-8L'

"What do you think this means?" She points to the code at the bottom of the piece of parchment for Draco to see.

"It must be a reference code for their filing cabinet. Didn't that book say each family has about six filing cabinets now?" He asks for clarification to which she nods.

"Maybe they're directions." She suggests. "Left, right, right, right, left, left and… I'm not sure about this 8L. We should follow it."

"The start point must be the door. It's the only constant point in the room." She suggests so they head back to the door.

They follow the code around the maze like a map until they reach the last left turn where they stop and stare between the map and the filing cabinets.

"8L."Draco mutters to himself "Eighth cabinet on the left?" He suggests.

"Of course!" Hermione exclaims in excitement, giving Draco a congratulatory kiss on the cheek before counting eight filing cabinets.

The label reads '1682: Zykan'. She opens the top drawer to find two files. She takes them both out. She opens the first one to find a few pieces of parchment about Samuel Zykan II. The second file has a single piece of parchment inside with a few pieces of information about Samuel Zykan III.

"We're right. The code's like the coordinates on a map." She says, placing the files back into the filing cabinet.

"It's should be very difficult to find the Rowle's cabinet then," Draco mentions.

Hermione's stomach drops, remembering one of the reasons why they're in the archives, to begin with.

"Are you sure you want to do this on your own?" He asks her, taking her hand in his, rubbing calming circles on the back of his hand with his thumb.

"Yes, I need to do this by myself." She tells him, looking down at their hands.

"I'm going to try to get through the other door then. Any idea on the combination?" He asks her.

"Try the same combination C1588A. If that doesn't work, try C1750B. And if that didn't don't work try C1443R. If none of them works then I don't have a clue." She tells him.

"You know where to find me when you're done." He tells her, giving her hand one last comforting squeeze before heading off through the maze of filing cabinets towards the door.

Hermione takes a deep breath before following the code for the Zykan's filing cabinet backwards to the door. She places the file back inside the correct filing cabinet, then walks back to the cabinets, scanning the labels once more until she finds 'RO – SK'. Opening the top drawer, she flicks through all the dividers but the last one is Roche. Sliding it shut, she opens the next draw and flicks through the next set of dividers. Halfway through, she finds the one she's looking for. The Rowle's file is rather thick which she was expecting since, they're such an old family and are still alive today, albeit in Azkaban but still alive.

She opens the file to the first piece of parchment, her eyes scanning to the bottom of the page to the code. FC: L-R-R-4L. She follows the code, counting to the fourth filing cabinet. She glances along and finds that the Rowles have three other filing cabinets. She slowly slides open the top draw and takes out the first file.

"Eurus Rowle." She whispers to herself as she opens the file.

She jumps when staring up at her from the file, is the face of Eurus Rowle. She scowls at her before turning and walking away. According to Draco, the Rowle's have always been a very rich family so it shouldn't have come as such a surprise that Eurus would have had a portrait of himself. She moves the picture out the way so she can read the first piece of parchment.

'Eurus Rowle (1421 – 1481) was the eldest living Rowle when the Department of Registrations was founded in 1443. Eurus was married to pureblood Iantha Fawley (1424 – 1492) with whom they had six children (see following notes).'

She turns the page over to find a list of their children. With an exasperated sigh, she sits on the floor, crossed-legged, ready to for a long read through the apparently large Rowle family tree.

Draco manages to make it to the door after ten minutes of taking the wrong turn after wrong turn. At one point, he spotted McGonagall's filing cabinet and it took almost every piece of restraint in his body not to peek inside. There had been a rumour at Hogwarts that Professor McGonagall was married with three children who had all been schooled at Ilvermorny in America. They apparent now had their own families and held important jobs within MACUSA. He always dismissed the rumours as being very unlikely.

He first tries the same code as the one they used to enter the archives but, as he expected, it didn't work. He doubted a man as particular about his document as Mr Vyner appears to be would use the same code for both doors. He tries the second code next but that one doesn't work either. Hoping the last one works, he presses the buttons and hears a soft click. He tries the door handle and, to his relief, the door opens.

Feeling around the wall for another light switch, he finds one and flicks it one. The new room he's in is a lot smaller, in comparison to the filing cabinet room, but a lot more impressive. He almost cries upon seeing rows upon rows of bookshelves, all full of books. He walks over to the first shelf, running his fingers across the spines of the many books. He spends a few minutes walking along the rows, stroking the spines of the books and glancing at their titles. They don't seem to be ordered in any specific way since he notices 'Are you in Love?' is placed next to 'So you think you've been poisoned: Love Potions' and 'Unrequited Love in Marriages'. Nothing of importance stands out to him but he'll still need to look at each book to ensure it doesn't hold any information key to their research.

Deciding the best place to start is the first bookshelf, he heads back to the beginning, taking the first book off the shelf. 'Four Steps to a Happy Marriage'. He curiously opens the book to the contents page but slams it shut when step one is apparently 'Sex Positions'. He places it back in its place on the shelf and takes the next one. 'Is It Time For Marriage? How to know if you ready.' A quick glance at the contents page shows the book to be both unimportant to their research and utter rubbish.

By the times he's finished with the thirty or so books on the top shelf of the first bookshelf, he's bored out of his mind but he carries on none the less, wanting to finish at least the first bookshelf before they leave. Glancing at his watch tells him they've only been here half an hour which seems impossible since it feels like they've been there for hours already.

Hermione originally though reading all the files of their children, their grandchildren and then their great-grandchildren would take her hours but thankfully, only two of their six children were boys and would pass on the Rowle family name to their children. She flicks past Thalia, Ariadne and Larissa and takes out the file of their fourth child and first son, Rigel Rowle.

'Rigel Rowle (1455 – 1481) was the fourth child of Eurus and Iantha Rowle. He died in a duel with his younger brother, Thule Rowle (1457 – 1481), after arguing over who was the rightful owner of their father's pocket watch, who had died a few day earlier. Rigel was never married.'

Hermione reread the paragraph again. She wondered if Thule also died during the duel with his brother. If he did, she feels sorry for Iantha who lost her husband and two sons within a few days of each other. She places Rigel's file back in its place then flicks past Elara, their fifth child and fourth daughter, taking out the file for Thule Rowle

She places the file back in the cabinet and takes out the last file for Thule Rowle, their youngest child.

"Thule Rowle (1457 – 1481) was the sixth child of Eurus and Iantha Rowle. He took his own life the day after he killed his brother during a duel. He was married to pureblood Leda MacMillan (1458 – 1537) with whom they had two children (see following notes.)'

She turns over the page to find that both of their children were boys, Lares and Icarus Rowle.

She takes out Lares' file first.

'Lares Rowle (1478 – 1568) was the eldest son of Thule and Leda Rowle. He was married to pureblood Celeste Malfoy (1501 – 1568) with whom they had one child (see following notes).'

Since Lares only had one child, Hermione decides to look into his file before looking into Icarus Rowle. The following notes name their only child as Eros Rowle. She put Lares' file away and takes out his sons.

'Eros Rowle (1531 – 1612) was the only child of Lares and Celeste Rowle. He was married to pureblood Vesta Abbott (1538 – 1562) with whom they had two children (see following notes) and Freya Burke (1545 – 1574) with whom they had three children (see following notes). Eros also father five illegitimate children throughout his life (see following notes).'

"That's a lot of children," Hermione mumbles to herself as she turns over the page to look at the names of these ten children he fathered.

'Amaryllis Rowle (1557 – 1623) with Vesta, first wife.'

'Sterling Rowle (1562 – 1640)' with Vesta, first wife.'

'Charles Rowle (1565 – 1599) with Joan Mills, a muggle.'

'Felicity Rowle (1568 – 1633) with Freya, second wife.''

'Petrus Rowle (1570 – 1621) with Freya, second wife.'

'Charlotte Rowle (1570 – 1612) with Mary Baker, a muggle.'

'Vortimer Rowle (1573 – 1648) with Freya, second wife.'

'Anne Rowle (1574 – 1609) with Mary Baker, a muggle.'

'Phoenix Rowle (1577 – 1654) with Viviane Black, a widowed pureblood.'

"Karina Rowle (1581 – 1612) with Florence Smith, a muggle.'

Hermione had to reread the last name multiple times beHfore it sank in. Karina Rowle. She wasn't a squib born into a pureblood family like she had suspected. She was most likely a squib born to an unmarried muggle and a pureblood wizard, who probably wanted nothing to do with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 36 for you all.
> 
> I wanted to try something different and write from somebody else's point of view. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

"Lisa, I want to be informed as soon as they leave." Alexander Vyner, orders the ministry official at the desk as he exits the archives.

She jumps up from her chair. "Yes, Mr Vyner. Are you leaving them alone in there?" She asks in disbelief.

Alexander narrows his eyes angrily. "Minister's orders." He scoffs before heading towards the lift. "Don't forget to check them before they leave." He barks at her as he enters the lift, pressing the button for sub-level 19.

He taps his toe against the floor of the lift as he impatiently waits for it to reach his floor. As soon as the door opens, he races down the corridor towards his office. He bursts into the room making James and Lyra jump. He vaguely wonders where Elyssa and Daniel had gone but he's too preoccupied to question their absences.

"Mr Vyner, did I do it right?" He asks, rushing over to his desk.

Alexander sits down in his large, leather seat then rummages around his desk, looking for the map.

"You redeemed yourself, James, with that phone call." He muttered, hearing the other man breathe a sigh of relief. "Where the hell is the bloody map?" He shouts.

James and Lyra both jump into action, helping to sort through the parchments scattered across his desk. After a few seconds, Alexander takes his wand out of his pocket and Accios the map. They watch as it flutters from underneath a pile of parchments on Elyssa's desk.

"Where is she?" He asks, unfolding the map on top of the now messier desk.

"Lunchbreak." James answers.

Alexander glances down at the map of the archives. It's a very simple map, showing the filing cabinets as squares and the doors as a gap in the wall but it worked. The gap in the wall is filled in with a red flashing light when someone is in the archives like it is now. With a smile on his face, he leans back in his chair to watch.

"Lyra, you are excused." He states, not taking his eyes off the map.

"Thank you, Mr Vyner." She squeaks as she nods at him then scurries away to her own desk.

"Sir?" James asks nervously, shuffling from one foot to the other.

"I'm just curious, James, as to how they knew where to find me," Alexander asks, wandering his eyes over the map, wondering where they are.

"I- I don't know, sir. I- I never told them where the archives were." James stutters.

"I already know how they found the archives but what I want to know is how they knew I was in the archives. Did I not specifically tell you on Thursday when I received the Minister's orders to call me if I was down there when they arrived?" He asks rhetorically.

"Y-yes, sir. S-sorry, sir, but Mr Malfoy said they'd be back in an hour. How was I to know he would make his own way down to the archives? I didn't know he knew where they were." He tries to explain himself.

Alexander shifts his gaze quickly from the map to James and then back again.

"As I said, you redeemed yourself with that phone call. It's a shame I had to be the one to call you and tell you they were here." He snipes. "You're excused." He adds and James all but runs back to his desk.

He smirks to himself as he stares intently at the map. Nothing happens for a few minutes as he assumes they are taking in the vastness of the archives. Then suddenly a square filing cabinet flashes red. Black writing within the square reading 'YO – ZZ'. Alexander sits up straighter, watching as the cabinet stays open for a couple of seconds before closing. He watches sharply for a minute but nothing else happens. With a sigh, he leans back in his chair, entwining his fingers behind his head.

"This map urgently needs updating." He states angrily. He hears the scratching of James and Lyra's quill stop as they presumably glance over at him but his eyes stay focused.

His eyes flitters across the map, looking for flashing red lights as he wonders what their guests are currently doing within his archives. He silently curses the Minister with every swear he can think of until a filing cabinet on the map flashes red and the name 'ZYKAN' writes itself within the square in black.

"James!" He calls urgently.

The wizards chair scraps across the wooden floor as he jumps out of his chair and runs over to Alexander's desk.

"Yes, Sir?" He questions.

"Who are the Zykan's?" He asks.

"Er…"

"Well…" Alexander raises a questioning eyebrow, still not taking his eyes off the map. "You better find out. Send a note to Darius in the Department of Magical Transportation. Ask if they have any records of anyone from the Zykan family taking the Apparition Exam. Send it on the red parchment. We need an answer as soon as possible." He orders.

James bows deeply with a "Yes, Sir," before running back to his desk to write the note to Darius.

Alexander takes his wand out and flicks it at a piece of parchment that writes the name 'Zykan' at the top. Then he waits impatiently to see what they'll do next. He didn't have to wait long as a few moments later, the Zykan's filing cabinet is closed and Alexander is left staring at the map in annoyance.

"Lyra!" He calls.

He hears her gasp slightly as she drops her quill on her desk then hurry over to him.

"Y-yes, Sir." She stutters nervously.

Alexander takes pride in how nervous most of his department are around him but Lyra seems terrified of him.

"I'd like you to stop whatever it is you're doing and focus solely on a new assignment for the next week." He tells her, trying to use a comforting voice to put her at ease.

"A-a new assignment, sir?" She asks him.

"Yes, this map is crap. I need a new one that tracks the movements of whoever is in the archives." He explains, glancing up at her for a split second.

He spots a sparkle of what he thinks is excitement in her eyes and he smirks to himself.

"Are you up to the assignment? I could always ask Elyssa when she gets back from her lunch break." He suggests.

"No, sir. I'll do it." She tells him, sounding more determined than she ever has before.

"You're dismissed. Split whatever you were doing between James, Elyssa and Daniel." He tells her. She nods then runs back to her desk.

He smirks to himself proudly. He really should have been a Slytherin with his cunningness but, alas, Ravenclaw was good enough.

* * *

Darius is napping at his desk when his deputy, Lewis, knocks on the wood.

"Hey, Darius." He knocks again.

With a yawn, he sits up, stretching his back as he refocuses on his surroundings.

"What is it?" He asks.

"You've got a red note." Lewis throws the red piece of parchment on his desk.

"Who's it from?" He questions, picking the note up.

"I don't know, it's addressed to you." He rolls his eyes before going back to his own desk.

Darius makes a mental note to sort Lewis' attitude out as he unfolds the note.

_Hi Darius,_

_Alexander Vyner wants to know if you have any records of the Zykan family taking their Apparition Exam. He needs a reply as soon as possible because it's very important in our department._

_Thanks,_

_James Stuart_

Darius rereads the note a few times before glaring over at Lewis. He crumples the parchment up into a ball and throws it at his deputy's head.

"Oi, what you doing?" Lewis shouts, picking the parchment up, ready to throw it back.

"Am I finally losing my mind or did Alex ask some child to write me an urgent note about some family's Apparition Exam?" He sighs, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands tiredly.

He hears Lewis try to flatten the parchment out again before reading the note.

"James!" He mutters in disbelief. "We were friends at Hogwarts. He's very enthusiastic, not very academic but loyal to a fault. Nearly got himself killed during the war because of it. Such a Hufflepuff, he is." Lewis shakes his head with a fond smile.

"Once you stop blushing, you can go check the records for the Zylan's or whoever," Darius tells him, laying his head back down on his desk to finish his nap.

"Yeah, and you just take another nap, old man," Lewis says as he walks towards the side door leading down into their records.

Darius tries to jinx him but by the time he's got his wand out, the other man has already disappeared down the stairs.

* * *

Thanks to Mr Vyner assigning Lyra the map-making assignment, James will have to stay back late every night this week to finish his weekly workload. Elyssa won't be happy when she gets back off her lunch break. He's just finishing his third file when Mr Vyner swears loudly, making both himself and Lyra jump.

"They've gone into the bloody book vault." He announces.

"I thought only the Minister and we knew the code combination to the door," James mentions.

"Well obviously not, James." He snaps. "Lyra, add the book vault onto the new map. I want to know which books are being pulled off the shelf." He adds, a lot more calmly.

"Yes. Sir." She answers back quietly.

James is just opening another file when Mr Vyner jumps out of his chair.

"They've split up. One of them has opened the Rowle's filing cabinet." He states.

"But they're one of our high profilers." James points out.

"That fact hasn't escaped me." Mr Vyner snaps at him again. "The Minister should never have allowed this. Taking bribes from the likes of Draco Malfoy." He scoffs. "I just hope he got something worth it out of the deal."

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door, and even Mr Vyner's head glances up at the door for a split second before going back to his map.

James, wondering who bothered to make the trip down to sub-level 47 when they could have sent a note, shuffles towards the door and opens it a crack.

"Lewis!" James stares confusedly at the man on the other side of the door. "What are you doing down here." He hisses.

He hasn't seen Lewis since the party the Ministry threw last June to celebrate the end of the war, which had been an awkward exchange, to say the least.

"Nice to see you too." He smiles, glancing over his head to Lyra who's gone back to her new assignment.

When Lewis' eyes meet his again, the smile fades.

"I know I could have sent a note back," He starts, holding up a folded piece of parchment. "But… I haven't seen you since the party. It's weird, isn't it?" Lewis tries to smile again but it doesn't quite meet his eyes.

"Wait, you work in the Department of Magical Transportation?"

"Yes, since Christmas." Lewis answers, his eyes softening. "Anyway, I thought I would deliver Darius' reply in person." He says, finally getting to the point of his visit.

"Lewis, come here. Read it to me." Mr Vyner orders.

* * *

Lewis glances down at him for a seconds before shrugging and brushing past him on his way towards Mr Vyner's desk.

James takes a deep breath as he closes the door and returns back to his desk.

Lewis glances over his shoulder at James, whose head is bent over a mountain of files on his desk, before clearing his throat and reading Darius' reply to Alexander.

"Alex, why do you ask an uneducated child to write your red notes?" Lewis casts his eyes over to James who doesn't seem to be listening. "I'm not going to bother asking why the Department of REGISTRATIONS needs to ask us for records. Anyway, we only have one of the Zykan's. A Samuel Zykan II, Muggleborn who passed his Apparition Exam in 1699. I hope whatever is so important to your department is resolved by this useless piece of information. Darius Markesan." He finishes.

"Did you get that, James?" Alexander calls out, still not taking his eyes off the large piece of parchment on his desk.

Lewis tries to get a closer look at whatever is written on their but with a flick of his wand, Alexander sends the parchment flying into the air, creating a wall between himself and Lewis. Shocked, he takes a step back, bumping into James who had silently snuck up on him.

"Sorry." He apologises then chuckles. "Just like school, eh?"

James stares at him for a split second before brushing past him to Alexander's side.

"Samuel Zykan II, born around 1680, Muggleborn and probably no children." James reads from his notes.

"I want to know why he's so important by the end of the day. Split today's workload between Elyssa and Daniel. They should be back by now." He orders.

Lewis watches as James bows deeply before brushing past him on his way back to his desk.

"Are you still here, Lewis?" Alexander asks.

"Er, yes." He answers.

"Why?" He asks, obviously rhetorically.

"Sorry, I'll get going." Lewis finds himself nodding briefly to the other man.

He's heard Alexander Vyner has this effect on people but has never had the opportunity to experience it first-hand. On his way out, he stops at James' desk and knocks on the wood. He looks up curiously with a small frown.

"We should go out for drinks after work. We haven't spoken properly in over a year." He suggests hopefully.

James stares at him intensely weighing his options.

"Come on, James. What have you got to lose?"

"Fine. I finish at six o'clock. I suppose I can go out for one drink." He tells him with a deep sigh.

Lewis smiles down at his former friend. "I'll meet you on ground level, near the fountain." He tells him, then turns on his heel and walks out of the department with a smile on his face.

* * *

Alexander huffs as he leans back in his chair. There's been no change to the map in the nearly five minutes since the Rowle's family filing cabinet opened. As soon as he had received the Minister's orders on Thursday, he had gone directly to his office, storming past his secretary. He'd demanded to know why he was allowing a Malfoy into his archives.

Apparently, the pureblood wasn't satisfied that his blood was pure enough and wants to check the legality of a few relatives. Alexander knows all about the Rowle's. As one of their high profilers, Alexander had made sure to read every file in their family's filing cabinet in order to understand them better. Unfortunately for him, the last Rowle was recently sentenced to Azkaban for fifty years, so his research into the family was useless, or so he thought.

He assumes it's Malfoy in the filing cabinet but what he doesn't understand is why he didn't start with his own family's filing cabinet. He might find something interesting in there. Alexander smirks to himself as he remembers a few family members the Malfoys have tried to hide in the past. They might be able to hide them from the public but you can't hide them from the archives.

The red flashing square filing cabinet labelled 'ROWLE' on the map suddenly goes black as a draw is shut but then a few seconds later, it's flashing again. Alexander keeps his eyes on the square as it continuously flashes for a minute or so before stopping again. This repeats a few times until he realises that the book vault has stopped flashing as well. He stares at the main door to the vault, waiting for it to signal their departure. It takes them two minutes to leave.

Alexander stands ups, stretching his back and sighing when his shoulder creaks. He casts his eyes around the office. He finds Lyra staring at him but when their eye meets, she quickly goes back to her work. James is frowning down at his notes and furiously scribbling something with his quill. He wonders where the hell Elyssa and Daniel are when they both burst through the door.

He raises a questioning eyebrow at them. Daniel has the decency to duck his head and mutter an apology as he scurries to his desk. Elyssa, on the other hand, smiles innocently with a small nod as she walks towards her desk. It takes them both a few seconds of staring at their desks before they realise their workload has increased.

"Sir?

"Mr Vyner?"

They both call at the same time.

Alexander smiles as he walks around his desk to stand between both their desks.

"You are not paid two galleons an hour to take a fifty-minute-long lunch break. Lyra has been set a new week-long assignment and James has been set a new daily assignment. You've both been given their workloads and you're both going to be staying back until seven tonight." He explains with a stern stare, daring them to complain but it looks like Elyssa's braver than Daniel.

"But we were only twenty minutes late. You're making us stay back an hour and us ha- I have plans tonight." She whines, eyes wide and begging.

They've probably worked a thousand times before but not this time.

"Not anymore you don't. Get working." He orders them both.

Daniel jumps straight into organising the even larger stack of files on his desk into four different piles. Elyssa, however, sighs deeply every couple of minutes as she uninterestedly shuffles through her files.

Alexander's just wondering why he even bothers to keep her employed in his department when a note flies through the gap in the door, landing on his desk. He snatches it up, skim reading the letter.

"James, they've left." He states, walking over to the young man's desk. "I want you to bring me a copy of the Zykan files and check that everything in the book vault is how I left it. I'll check the Rowle files later." He says.

"Of course, Sir." James jumps to his feet, grabs his notes and wand, and then heads quickly out of the door.

"S-sir?" Lyra calls his attention so he walks over to her desk to find it still scattered with pieces of parchment.

Thinking she wants to run something past him, he leans over her shoulder, placing a hand on the back of her chair to steady himself. "What are these?" He questions, motioning to the parchments with his free hand, having told her to split her work between the other three.

"Oh, they're just… ideas." She mutters, trying to brush them all into a neat pile. "Sir, can I see your map?" She asks, looking down at her busy hands. "I wish to study the spells behind it." She adds as an explanation.

With a flick of his wand, the map flies off his desk, folding up mid-air, then lands neatly on Lyra's desk, next to her pile of ideas.

"Just remember to put it back." He says loud enough for Elyssa to hear also.

Lyra nods, offering him a nervous smile as he walks back to his own desk. Once James has figured out what they wanted with the Zykan file, he'll be able to inform the Minister and if he adds the fact that they entered the book vault, Kingsley may revoke their access.

* * *

After a quick chat with Lisa about the latest flavours of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean to be made, James is strolling along the corridor, eager to figure out the importance of the Zykan's. He's never been all that good a finding the answer to riddles or puzzles. Feeling determined, he types in the combination code for the archives, both curious about what he's going to discover and terrified in case he doesn't find anything and he ends up disappointing Alexander.

With a flick of the light switch, the archives burst into light and James is already making his way towards the filing cabinet that will tell him how to get to the Zykan's file. He opens the bottom drawer and starts flicking towards the back where he finds the Zykan file. He notices as he takes out the file that it's the last. The Zykan's were, alphabetically, the last family in the wizarding world. He opens the file, takes note of the code then replaces it in the filing cabinet. He making his way through the maze when the realisation hits him, stopping him dead in his tracks.

The Zykan family were, alphabetically, the last family in the wizarding world. If he'd been given access to the archives with no information on how to navigate them, he'd probably look in the first filing cabinet at the Aaronovitch file then try and figure out what the code at the bottom meant. Obviously, Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger are considerably smarter than he is, both of them receiving straight O's in their NEWTS whereas James scraped through with straight A's and one E in History of Magic. He wouldn't be surprised if they figure out the code as soon as they read it. Of course, they'd want to test out their theory which would explain why they opened the Zykan's family filing cabinet.

James makes a note of his thoughts before continuing on his way since Alexander did ask for copies of the files. Once he's made them, he carries on, further into the maze until he comes to the book vault. He doesn't know how they figured out the code since he sometimes forgot it. This times, he has to flick to the front of his notebook to where he wrote the combination code down. The book vault all looks to be in order. He enters, walking up and down each row, examining the bookshelves. He doesn't spend a lot of time in here so he can't be sure if anything's changed but it doesn't appear to have so he quickly leaves, wanting to explain his theory to Alexander.

* * *

Alexander listens intently to James' theory as he flicks through the few pages of the Zykan's family files. There's not much information about the family since there was only two of them, and he can't immediately see any connection between them and the Malfoy's, so it seems like James is correct.

"It seems as though your theory is correct." Alexander closes the files, placing it in the top drawer of his desk and tapping the handle with his wand to lock it. "I'll be back in half an hour. I'm leaving Lyra in charge." He announces to his department as he hurries out the door and towards the lift.

* * *

As soon as Alexander's gone, Elyssa lets out a sigh of relief, relaxing back into her chair and kicking her feet up onto her desk.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can put up with him." She groans aloud, stretching her arms behind her back.

"Well if you did your work and stopped pushing him, maybe he'd go easier on you," James suggests, sitting back at his own desk.

"Does he go easy on you?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but I annoy him. I think he finds me too enthusiastic." He looks sadly down at a file.

"You annoy everyone." Elyssa rolls her eyes.

"He goes easy on Lyra," Daniel states, attempting to divert the obvious childish argument that was about to happen.

"He feels sorry for Lyra." She announces, matter-of-factly. "He knows she's terrified of him and I don't think he likes that. That's why we're stuck with your weekly workload whilst he gives her a new assignment. It's favouritism. We should complain."

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not here." Lyra's small voice stops her from carrying on. "Mr Vyner only gave me this assignment because you and Daniel weren't here." She adds, trying to focus on the map.

"Fair point." Elyssa nods in agreement. "He wouldn't exactly have given it to James." She laughs.

"Have more faith in yourself, Lyra. You're talented and Mr Vyner can see that in you." James tries to compliment her.

"I'm not terrified of him either," Lyra explains, feeling awkward from the compliment. "He just… makes me nervous." She admits.

"Oooh." Elyssa slides her feet off her desk and sitting straighter. "Does Lyra have a little crush on Mr Vyner?" She teases.

"He's my boss!" She frowns at her quickly. "That would be would be inappropriate." She blushes slightly. "And he's twelve years older than me." She adds.

"I'm hearing a lot of excuses and not a lot of denying." She chuckles, leaning back in her chair again.

"Leave her alone, Elyssa." James jumps in to defend her. "Get on with your work." He adds, making her groan again. "Maybe if you spent less time complaining about your work and more time doing it, you'd be finished in time to make those plans of yours." James narrowed his eyes at her.

"I distinctly remember Alexander leaving Lyra in charge." She smirks at him.

"Just do your work, Elyssa," Lyra tells her, cheeks still flushed red in embarrassment.

* * *

Once Alexander has copies of every file in the Rowle's family filing cabinets, he takes the lift straight up to the top floor. The Minister had ordered him to inform him when they made their first visit to the archives and he assumes he'll want to know any information he has on what they were actually doing.

When the lift doors open on the top floor, he rushes down the corridor, bursting through the doors into the office of the secretary to the Minister. She jumps slightly upon his entrance then stares nervously at him upon realising who he is. He smirks to himself. His reputation must precede him. He walks up to her desk, changing his smirk for a smile.

"Miss Ivory, I wish to see the Minister. It's regarding a previously discussed issue with the archives." He explains.

"I'm afraid he's busy all afternoon, Mr Vyner." She apologises, as she looks down at his diary.

"It'll only take a few minutes for a briefing." He tries to convince her.

"Let me ask the Minister if he has a minute to spare." She tells him before knocking on the Minister's office door and entering.

Alexander is left standing at the secretary's desk for a few minutes whilst Miss Ivory informs Kingsley that he's here. He finds it increasingly annoying that they're wasting his time when he could have been in and out of their by the time it takes them to make a decision.

In the end, feeling frustrated and annoyed, he walks over to the door, knocks a few times before letting himself in.

"Please excuse us, Miss Ivory." He says, walking over to the Minister's desk and taking a seat in the visitor's chair opposite.

He watches as Miss Ivory and the Minister have a silent conversation with their eyes before Kingsley nods and Miss Ivory leaves, closing the door behind her.

"You ask me to inform you of their visit and then leave me waiting when I'm doing as ordered to." He frowns at the Minister.

"So they've been," Kingsley says, choosing to ignore his quip.

"Yes, and I assure you'll be interested to know their actual reason for gaining access to my archives." He smirks, emphasising 'my archives', which doesn't go unnoticed by the minister. "They firstly looked inside the Zykan's family filing cabinet."

"Who are they?" Kingsley asks with a frown, probably trying to remember.

"A Muggleborn man and his son from the seventeenth century. They are also the last family in the alphabetical filing cabinets. We believe Malfoy and Granger were using the Zykan's family to figure out how to navigate the filing cabinets." Alexander explains.

"Interesting theory but I still want you to investigate the Zykan family." The Minister instructs him.

"Already done, sir. The theory proves to be correct. What I think will interest you is what they did next." He pauses for effect. "They split up. One of them, we are assuming Miss Granger, went into the book vault whilst Mr Malfoy found his way to the Rowle's family filing cabinets." He tells him.

"What's so interesting about that? I informed you that Mr Malfoy was here to investigate the legality of a few family members. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the Malfoy's and the Rowle's have crossed bloodlines in the past. Most pureblood families have." The Minister snidely replies.

"That's true but why didn't he start with the Malfoy family filing cabinets or the Blacks like you said he was interested in. He didn't mention the Rowle's to you, did he?" He asks, knowing fair well that he hadn't.

The Minister stays quite for a while, leaning back in his chair to think. Alexander watches as his expressions change until Kingsley sits back up suddenly.

"I assume you are looking into the Rowle family to find the connection between them and Mr Malfoy." He states.

"Of course, Minister." Alexander has to resist rolling his eyes. Who does he think he is? He knows how to do his job.

"Good. Keep me informed of any other visits they make, of any other filing cabinets they open and of what you find out during your research." He orders. "I expect something by the end of the week." He adds, standing up.

Alexander stands up, nods, and then takes his leave. He doesn't know what Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are doing in his archives but he'll get to the bottom of it soon enough and have the Minister revoke their access.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 37 for you all.
> 
> Anyway, we're back to Hermione and Draco's point of view but I had a few comments and messages asking what happened between James and Lewis so I thought I'd clear that up whilst also moving the plot along.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco meets Hermione at the door to the archives after receiving a note from her to do so. He offers her a reassuring smile as he approaches but she doesn't seem to be paying attention, lost in her own thoughts. He opens the door, guiding her through and making sure it closes properly behind them. On their silent walk through the corridor towards the main door, Hermione starts dawdling behind so he gently takes her hand and guides her along, leaving her to her thoughts.

The ministry official at the desk outside the door stops them as they exit, telling them that she's been ordered to check them. Draco rolls his eyes as they wait for her to cast the necessary spells on them. Once she's deemed them checked, she waves her arm towards the lift.

"Enjoy the rest of your day." She forcefully smiles which he returns.

They only have to wait a minute for the lift. A quick glance at Hermione tells him that she's not in the right mental state to disapparate right now so he presses the button for the foyer and the muggle exit.

He spends the whole lift ride wondering what it is that she found out in the Rowle's filing cabinet. By her reaction, he would assume that she got the answer she didn't want and she does descend from them but she had half been expecting that. Or at least Draco had. He doesn't believe in coincidences and there's too much evidence supporting his theory on her heritage.

The lift pings as they make it to the foyer. With their hands still entwined, he pulls her out of the lift and towards the exit. The sun's shining brightly in the sky when they step out into muggle London making Hermione cover her eyes. She glances up at him for a second before throwing herself at him in a tight hug. Unprepared, Draco stumbles backwards slightly but managed to steady his footing and return the hug just as tightly, rubbing her back comfortingly. He kissed the top of her head as she sighed deeply into his shoulder.

"Hermione-" He mumbles into her hair but she shakes her head, interrupting him.

"Not here." She mutters. "Let's go home." She adds, leaning away, taking his hand again.

This time, she guides him away from the Ministry and down a nearby alleyway where she tugs him behind a large bin and apparates them back to the estate.

It's the first time they've ever been walking around the estate in the early afternoon so they were both surprised to find the street rather crowded. It usually takes around ten minutes to walk from the gates to their house but today it took them nearly half an hour, having to stop for a quick chat with a few people they hadn't seen since the ceremony. He can tell that Hermione's starting to get restless so he tries to end the conversations quickly, stating that they were busy and needed to get going.

He unlocks the front door, letting Hermione enter first, allowing him to close the door behind him. When he turns around, he finds her slumped on the third step of the stairs. He stares at her for a moment before removing his cloak and joining her.

"I'm assuming the worst." He tells her, taking her hand in his own.

"Shush." She presses her fingers to his lips. "I can't do this here. Not in our home." She leans towards him, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

Draco brings his other hand up to the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair.

"Let's go out for lunch then." He suggests. "We could try the Pentagon. I've heard it's nice."

Hermione's still for a moment before she nods against his shoulder, stands up and heads towards the door, pulling him by their entwined hands. With a wave of his fleeting hand, he locks the door behind them. He should have probably used the key since literally anyone on the estate can unlock a magically locked door but he doubts anyone would risk it.

They enter the Pentagon and are immediately greeted by a waitress with a very cheerful grin and a tight ponytail.

"Hi, do you have a booking?" She asks, glancing down at a book on her small desk.

Hermione glances past the waitress into the restaurant. She recognises a few people eating lunch with their partners or their friends and wonders if they're happy with the way things have turned out since the ceremony. She spots a dimly lit table in the back corner of the restaurant, in the opposite corner to the kitchens and restrooms.

"No, we don't but we'd-" Draco's beginning to explain.

"We'd like that table at the back, please." She interrupts, pointing at the table.

The waitress glances in the direction of her finger.

"Are you sure you want to sit there?" She asks. "Nobody really likes sitting in that part of the restaurant so we don't tend to seat people over there." She explains.

"It's perfect." Hermione smiles, squeezing Draco's hand.

"Is there a problem with seating us there?" Draco asks, raising his eyebrow at the waitress.

Hermione remembers that he's wearing the robes similar to his fathers. The ones he uses to either intimidate or seduce. The thought makes her stomach drop. Which technique is he using now?

"No, there's no problem." She announces, picking up two menus from her desk. "Er, follow me please." She adds then sets off towards the table they requested at a fast pace. She's definitely feeling intimidating.

Once they're sat at the table and have their menus in their hands, the waitress announces that she'll be back in a few minutes to take their drinks order before rushing off. Hermione glances around their surroundings, taking in the interior design of the restaurant for the first time. How did she not realise that everything is purple? The thick, lush carpet is a dark royal purple with gold vines stretching across the floor from wall to wall. The walls have a similar wallpaper on the top half then a mahogany wood panelling on the bottom half. On the table everything from their napkins to the table cloth to the candle is purple. She looks down at her chair to find that it too is purple.

"I think they've gone a little overboard on the colour purple." She mentions and it's as if she's seeing a switch flip in Draco's mind as he glances around in sudden realisation.

"You're right." He hums, turning to face her again.

She can tell that his thoughts are still in the archives. He wants to know what she found out but she knows he doesn't want to push her too much for answers. He opens his mouth to say something when their waitress appears with a notebook and quill.

"Can I get you something to drink?" She asks, quill poised over the notebook.

"Can we have a bottle of wine and two butterbeers, please?" Hermione orders.

The waitress nods as she writes their order down then tells them she'll be back in a moment with their order.

"Wine? Are we celebrating or drowning our sorrows?" Draco jokes.

"Neither, actually." She tells him, making him frown in confusion.

"What do you me-" He's about to ask when their waitress appears again with their order, placing them on the table.

"Would you like to order your food now?" She questions, quill poised again.

Hermione's about to send her away but that would only bring her back in a few minutes so she quickly glances at the menu.

"I'll have the salmon tikka curry, please." She closes the menu, handing it back to her.

"Yeah, I'll have the same," Draco states, passing his own menu up. "Can you do us a favour? Don't come back over here until our food is ready." He tells her. Her eyes widen as she nods then almost runs away. "Now she's gone for a while," He smiles at her. "Tell me?" He almost begs, taking both her hands in his own.

She nods, thinking back to the archives and what she found in the Rowle's filing cabinet.

"Karina Rowle-" She starts, staring down at their hands. "She is related to the Rowle's." She admits. "Which means, assuming that the Karina Rowle my uncle David found is the same one that's in the Rowle's filing cabinet, I'm also related to the Rowle. Distantly." She adds.

Draco squeezes her hand to gain her attention. "How do you feel?" He asks once their eyes are locked.

"Better than expected." She smiles softly. "I expected to find out that Karina grew up in the wizarding world until she was seven or eight and her parents realised she was a squib and left her in the country to fend for herself." She explains.

"That's what usually happened back then." Draco nods.

"I haven't read her file yet, I couldn't, but I'm assuming that Karina didn't even know her father or anything about the wizarding world." She mentions, smiling at Draco's confused smile. "Eros Rowle, her father, was in some sort of a relationship with her mother, a muggle."

"Really?" He asks raising a surprised eyebrow.

"He actually had ten children. Two with his first wife, three with his second wife, three with two different muggles and one with Viviane Black, who was widowed."

"He got around." Draco jokes but stops smiling when Hermione flashes him a serious stare.

"Anyway, I'm fairly certain that they're the same Karina Rowle since the year of death is the same which would be a rather large coincidence." She mentions, picking up her wine glass and taking a sip.

"I'm guessing you want to read her file to check." He states.

"Of course," She smiles fondly at him then sighs. "We should wait a few days. We don't wand Mr Vyner to get suspicious." She mentions.

"There's something strange about him. I don't trust him at all." He admits.

"I doubt we'll be seeing much of him since he's told us the code." She says.

"Speaking of codes, how did you know the one for the other door?" He asks her with a smirk.

"The same way I knew how to find the archives. By reading and then putting one and one together. Which one was it anyway?" She asks curiously.

"C1443R."

"The year the department was formed and I just guessed 'R' for registration." She explains.

Once again, their waitress appears seemingly from nowhere with their food. They thank her, waiting for her to leave before starting. A calming silence fell over their table as they ate, with only a few words being exchanged to ensure the other was enjoying their meal. When they'd finished, the waitress came to collect their empty bowl and placed the receipt in front of them. Hermione offered to pay but Draco insisted since she had paid for mostly everything in Muggle London for him.

Outside, a cool breeze blows through their hair as they walk hand in hand around the other shops, pausing for a few moments to look in the windows but nothing catches their eyes.

"You haven't told me what you found in the other room," Hermione mentions, squeezing his hand. "Were the banned books in there?"

"Yes, and there must be at least a few thousand books on hundreds of bookshelves" He complains. "I haven't found anything of interest yet but I've only gone through the first forty or so books on the first bookshelf." He admits.

"Well when I'm done with the filing cabinet, I'll come help you in the book room." She tells him as they head towards their back garden.

Hermione suddenly stops as they're about to enter through their gate, stopping Draco in his tracks.

"I don't want to go home yet, why don't we go to Diagon Alley for a wander and maybe a few drinks in the Leaky Cauldron." She suggests.

She can see the worried look in Draco's eyes but he still nods in agreement and leads the way towards the estate's gate. She lets him take charge of their disapparation which was possibly a mistake as they appear in a darkened corner of Knockturn Alley.

Draco disapparates them to Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley since he knows a few dark corners and alleyways out of view from the public, not that anyone down Knockturn Alley would care. It's an unwritten rule that you go about your own business and mind your own business whilst shopping in Knockturn Alley.

"Why are we here?" Hermione asks him, squeezing his hand tightly and taking a step closer to his side.

He smirks down at her. "Is Hermione Granger, the brightest and bravest witch of our age, scared of being in Knockturn Alley?" He teases her, pulling her towards Diagon Alley, a few alleyways away.

She rolls her eyes at him. "I've seen the sort of people who shop down here and I don't want a run-in with any of them today." She mutters, casting a suspicious look at an old women in a hooded cloak and a walking stick who's hobbling past them.

"I use to shop down here." He tells her, feigning offence.

"I know and I don't approve." She frowns up at him.

"You know?" He repeats. "I'm offended that you think so lowly of me." He jokes.

"I saw you summer before our sixth year in Borgin and Burkes." She mentions as they cross over the threshold from Knockturn Alley into Diagon Alley.

Draco stops dead in his tracks, causing Hermione to come to a sudden stop.

"What do you mean 'you saw me'?" He asks, feeling the blood draining out of his face and his body suddenly feel cold.

"Harry saw you and thought you were up to something so he followed you and I wasn't exactly going to leave him to get caught so Ron and I followed him. That's when he started kind of stalking you with his map at school. He grew suspicious of you and wouldn't let it go." She explains, tightly holding onto his hand with both of hers.

"With good reason." He mutters, setting off walking.

"I suppose." Hermione follows, still holding his hand. "Although, did think it was quite farfetched and told him to stop obsessing over you." She adds.

"Harry Potter figured out I was evil before Hermione Granger?" Draco asks with a small, joking smile.

"He figured out you were a Death Eater before me as well." She admits, making his smile fall. "I suppose he didn't actually figure it out, he just assumed you were because of your suspicious activities in the room of requirement." She adds.

Draco hums in reply, stopping outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlour.

"Would you like an ice cream?" He asks, looking down at her with a soft smile, remembering the last time they were both in the parlour.

"Sure, it's quite a warm day." She answers. "What topping are you going to get?" She asks him as they enter.

"Probably chocolate frog. They're rather entertaining." He admits with a chuckle.

"I didn't know they did chocolate frog."

"They're tiny chocolate frogs that hop around your ice cream." He explains, pointing at the picture on the wall of a chocolate frog ice cream cone. The tiny frogs were doing exactly what Draco had described.

"That's adorable but I think I'm going to stick to a plain vanilla cone." She says as they step up to the counter.

"How boring?" Draco rolls his eyes.

"Hey!" Hermione playfully punches his shoulder. "For that comment, you can pay for them." She tells him before ordering her plain vanilla cone.

"I was already going to." He admits, taking a galleon out of his pocket.

He orders his own cone then hands the coin over to the man behind the counter who then hands him a few sickles back as change. On the way out of the parlour, Draco takes Hermione hand, gaining her attention.

"Try not to throw your ice cream all over me this time." He quips, earning himself a displeased glare in return before she tugs him through the door.

They spend the next hour going between shops, browsing at the different things they didn't need. When they reached Gringotts, Draco suggests going in so he can exchange some of his wizarding money for muggle money. For some reason, there's a lot of people inside Gringotts and Hermione thinks they're going to have to wait before they're seen to but Draco marches straight to the desk at the back of the foyer where the Head Goblin of Gringotts simply holds his hands open for his key.

Hermione watches in awe as Draco hands over his key for the Goblin to inspect before he hands it back and order a nearby Goblin to take them to the Malfoy vault. That was a lot quicker than it usually takes her. They manage to get a cart straight away which leads Hermine to believe that certain wizarding families have certain privileges within the bank. She stays in the cart as Draco steps out with the Goblin to collect some coins. He returns a minute or so later with his coin bag considerably heavier.

"I wasn't sure how much I would need." He admits jingling the bag. "So I just got a few hundred galleons." He adds.

"A few hundred?" Hermione stares at him. "Draco, one galleon is equal to around five British muggle pounds." She explains the exchange rate to him.

"So I have around two thousand pounds. Is that a lot?" He asks unsure.

"Yes, Draco, it's quite a lot. We could live off that for nearly five months in the muggle world." She explains.

"Really?"

"Yes, the cost of living is quite a lot with electricity, heating, water, rent or mortgage, food, clothes travel expenses." She goes into further detail. "We'll have to open you a muggle savings account. You can't keep that much money in the house." She tells him.

"It can wait for a few days." He tells her as they set out of the cart and head out of Gringotts.

They continue to look in a few shops, Draco buying a new quill, before Hermione suggests they head to the Leaky Cauldron. He complies, stating that it'll give him chance to read more of Alice in Wonderland with a butterbeer.

When they enter the pub, Draco heads over to a table near the bar, hidden behind the Eucalyptus tree Blaise had been enamoured with before the ceremony.

"I'll go get us some drinks," Hermione tells him as she takes her jacket off, hanging it on the back of the chair.

"You don't need to, I'll go." He tries to stand up but she places her hands on his shoulders, pushing him back down into his chair.

"I'm going to get us some drinks and talk to Hannah whilst you get reading Alice in Wonderland." She tells him a little sternly.

He reluctantly leans back into his chair earning a smile from Hermione. She leans down, kissing his forehead gently, before walking around the potted plant towards the bar.

There's a small queue since it's after five o'clock and she assumes most people have finished work and have come to the pub for a quick drink with their friends before heading home. When it's her turn, Hannah smiles broadly at her, leaning across the bar and pulling her into an awkward and uncomfortable hug.

"Hermione!" She squeals excitedly, letting her go. "What can I get you?"

She stares at the other girl in confusion for a moment. They'd barely even spoke at Hogwarts and here Hannah was hugging her and squealing excitedly at her.

"I'll have two butterbeers for now." She orders, starting off on something light.

"Of course, so how have you and Draco been?" She asks, casting her curious gazes as she fills up the glasses. "Neville said he saw you this morning. He said you seemed pretty cosy." She winked at her.

Hermione smiles to herself. Of course! Hannah just wants gossip about her and Draco's relationship. It explains why she's being overfriendly all of a sudden.

"We're doing well. Will we be seeing you both at the Burrow on Wednesday?" Hermione asks, taking the glasses from her and handing over a few coins.

"Of course, Mrs Weasley is so kind to invite us all into her house." She states.

"Molly is the kindest person I know." She agrees as Hannah hands her change over. "I'll see you later then." Hermione nods, walking back over to Draco, setting their glasses on top of the table.

She takes her own book out to read but can't concentrate on the words. Her head is still swimming with thoughts of Karina and the Rowle's. Since Eurus Rowle, there have been so many descendants that she wouldn't be surprised if almost every wizard descended from them. Maybe even Draco was and they were very distant cousins. The thought weirds her out for a moment before she remembers that one of Eurus' grandchildren married a Malfoy. Technically, they were very distant cousins. She shivers at the thought.

"What's wrong?" Draco asks, glancing over the top of his book.

"I just remembered that Karina's paternal grandmother was called Celeste Malfoy." She admitted.

He raises his eyebrow. "Really? So we're…" He waved his finger between them. "…related. Somehow." He adds.

"Very distantly." She reiterates. "We're okay, although it's still a little weird." She smiles slightly.

"It's not that weird. Especially not in wizarding families. I'm sure you've heard that most pureblood families are only pureblood because they've married within each other. There's only so many times that can happen before you start marrying someone closer than distant cousins." Draco explains.

"I've seen the Black family's tapestry. Orion and Walburga were second cousins." She says.

Draco's about to say something when Hermione suddenly silences him with her hand. She shushes him as she crouches closer to the table. He stares at her confused until she flicks her eyes behind him. Slowly, he turns around and spots James Stuart from the Department of Registrations stood at the bar with another man. Turning back to Hermione, he ducks down closer to the table.

"Why are we hiding from James Stuart?" He questions her, placing Alice in Wonderland on the table as a blockade.

"I don't want him to see us." She whispers, peering over the top of the book towards the bar.

"Don't you think this looks a little suspicious if he does see us?" He asks.

She turns to face him. "You're right. Sit up and act normal." She orders him, sitting up herself.

Draco shakes his head. "I'm not sure what normal is right now." He mutters, going back to his book but he can't concentrate on the words as Hermione takes her wand out, muttering something as she waves it under the table. He can hear a scrapping noise coming from behind him and turns to find the tree slowly creeping closer towards them. It stops next to him, blocking his view of James.

"Are you done?" He asks her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, for now." She answers, looking down at the book in his hands. "Where are you up to?" She asks.

"She's just met the caterpillar and recited a poem about an old man. I'm finding it a rather confusing book." He admits.

"I did too the first time I read it as a child. You might have to reread it in a few years." She suggests.

"Perhaps." He nods, going back to the book.

He can feel Hermione's eyes on him for a few minutes before picking up her own book. She doesn't look that interested in it as she keeps glancing around the tree towards the bar.

"Are they still there?" He asks and she nods without looking at him.

"They seem to be arguing about something." She mutters.

Draco places his book on the table and leans back in his chair to glance at James and his friend. They did seem to be in a heated discussion. James was waving his arms around and frowning at the other man who was nodding back at him. Suddenly, James stormed past his friend, towards them.

Quickly, Draco ducked back behind the tree so he wouldn't be seen when James walks past them but he doesn't. Peeking through the branches of the tree, he finds James stood closer to them but with his back towards them and the other man is gripping tightly onto his wrist.

"What's ha-" He starts to ask but Hermione shushes him.

"I'm listening." She mutters.

He frowns her for a moment, considering telling her off for eavesdropping on somebody else's private conversations. Especially since their first argument was about him doing the same to her and her friends but his curiosity gets the better of him and he focuses his hearing on James' conversation.

"Lewis, why am I here?" James asks sounding very disheartened.

Lewis frowns at him. "What?"

"Why did you ask me out?" James reiterates.

Draco scoffs quietly. Their date isn't going very well then.

"I- I didn't ask you out." Lewis stutters. "I asked you if you wanted to get some drinks." He clarifies.

He can imagine James rolling his eyes at him. "I didn't mean out like a date, I meant why you asked me out for drinks." He shakes his head. "You haven't changed at all, have you?" He scoffs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lewis asks sounding offended as he lets go of James' wrist.

"When I came out and everybody assumed we were together, you started acting awkwardly around me. You didn't want people to think you were gay as well." James asks quietly. "I mean, I kept telling everyone that we were just friends and… that I didn't think of you that way but I don't think anyone believed me." He adds.

"No, James!" Lewis sighs. "I didn't care if people thought I was gay." He explains, shaking his head. "Anyway, that doesn't matter now. I thought it would be good to catch up. We haven't spoken properly since the party." He answers the previously unanswered question.

"Lewis, we stopped talking after Hogwarts. We hadn't spoken to each other for three years when the war started. It was just coincidence that we ended up being held captive in the same place." James whispers loudly, his annoyance showing through in his voice.

Lewis is shaking his head. "No, it wasn't a coincidence and you know it." He snaps. "James, I don't blame you. I mean, they used veritaserum on you. You couldn't help it." Lewis laughs awkwardly. "If anything, I'm honoured that I was still someone important to you after three years, even it is a little sad. No offence." He adds. "But come on James, I'm glad I was there. No offence, but you needed me there. You couldn't have defended yourself against him, even if you had a wand."

"Thanks," James sarcastically says. "But if you recall, I was the one who saved your life." He adds so quietly that Draco barely caught it.

"Nearly getting yourself killed in the process." Lewis frowns at his friend.

"Don't be so dramatic," James tells him.

"You were in a coma for almost two months." Lewis reminds him, staring at his friend sadly. "I came to visit you every day." He admits, looking down at his shoes.

"I never knew that," James admits.

"Well, you wouldn't let anyone in to see you once you woke up and when you were discharged, you wouldn't answer the door. Then there was the battle of Hogwarts and I needed to recuperate, then there was the party at the Ministry last June and you ignored me completely. I thought you blamed me for what happened. I apologised and you said it was fine but it was still awkward. I thought if I gave you some time, you'd forgive me and get in touch but you never did. Then we got that red note from Mr Vyner and I knew I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see you again." Lewis says, blushing slightly from his long speech.

Draco turns to look at Hermione, who's already staring at him.

"Do you know Lewis?" She mouths to him and he shakes his head.

"We need to find out." She mouths again and he nods, going back to the conversation.

"I don't blame you, Lewis. I blame myself for…" He stops himself suddenly. "I blame myself. I've been nothing but trouble for you since our sixth year." He mutters. "To be honest, I thought you would have forgotten about me. It'll be six years in July since we left." He points out.

"What in Merlin's name are you on about, 'causing me trouble since sixth year'?" Lewis frowns in confusion.

"I know people started throwing curses and jinxes at you when I came out, it can't have been easy for you," James explains.

"I told you I didn't care about that. I can't believe you thought I'd forget about you. We were best friends for seven years and I know I said it was a little sad that I was still someone important to you but even after all these years, you're still the best friend I've ever had. My friends now don't know my like you did, probably still do." Lewis explains.

"The closest thing I have to a friend at the moment is Mr Vyner and Lyra," James admits.

"Wow, okay, I saw today the way Alexander treats you. The way he ordered you to find out everything you could about the Zykan's before the end of the day." He scoffs.

Hermione turns to face him, her eyes wide.

"How do they know we-" Draco starts to whisper but she shushes him turning back to the two men.

"We need to change that straight away. I don't care how long it takes but I'm making it my mission to become your best friend again." Lewis states. "If… if you want me as a best friend, that is?" He adds, nervously. "We've been through so much, it would be stupid to throw that all away." He smiles softly at James.

James doesn't say anything for a while and Draco wonders if he's going to reject his old best friend. It's been a strange conversation to overhear but if it had been him and Blaise, he's confident that Blaise would forgive him straight away. James reminds him a little of Blaise. They're both very friendly, happy people.

"I should probably tell you something, it's better for both of us if you find out now so you can change your mind before we become friends again." James sighs, looking down at his feet.

Lewis looks nervous as he stares at his friend. "It can't be that bad. Wait, you haven't killed someone, have you?" He tries to joke.

"Please, don't use humour to diffuse the awkwardness. I don't think I could bare it if you passed this off as a joke." He mutters.

"Okay, I won't joke. Promise." He says, with an encouraging smile.

Draco can see James' shoulders rise as he takes a deep breath.

"When the snatchers got me, they didn't think I was important so they locked me in a dungeon somewhere until they exhausted their more important prisoners. When they found out I worked in the Department of Registrations, they began torturing me for the names of Muggleborns but I refused."

"You idiot." Lewis interrupts. "Always thinking of other people rather than yourself."

"I didn't know any names. How am I supposed to remember every Muggleborn in the UK?" He rhetorically asks." I thought that if the snatchers thought I knew something but wasn't saying, they'd keep me alive longer than if they thought I knew nothing." He admits.

Draco nods in agreement. That was a very smart move on his part. Once a prisoner became useless, they were disposed of.

"Then they used veritaserum and of course I told them everything I knew, which was nothing, but I did have access to the archives under authorisation of Alexander Vyner. Then I told them I would never help them and I knew they weren't powerful enough to use the imperius on me."

"James!" Lewis sighs, shaking his head. "Just because you're under veritaserum, doesn't mean you speak every honest thought you have."

"I couldn't control what I was saying." He tries to defend himself. "Anyway, they asked if there was anyone they could torture for my cooperation, anyone I loved." He says, avoiding Lewis' face. "I tried to fight it but they found out in the end." He stops, not feeling the need to carry on.

"Me?" Lewis asks for confirmation, seemingly shocked that James had still loved him after three years of no communication.

"Of course you, why do you think you were kidnapped. It was all my fault. If I wasn't in love with you, they would never have come after you." James snaps.

"In love with me?" Lewis repeats.

"Are you not listening? I already said that." He shakes his head in annoyance.

"No, you said you loved me." Lewis states.

James pauses for a second. "What's the difference?"

"I love my friends but I'm not in love with them. I wouldn't kiss any of them." He tries to explain.

Draco casts his eyes to Hermione for a split second. Using that logic, they were in love since they'd already kissed a few time but he knew he wasn't in love with her yet and she isn't in love with him yet.

"I never said I wanted to kiss you." James states.

"But you do, don't you?" Lewis smiles as James stays silent. "How long have you been in love with me?" He asks.

"Don't tease me." James snaps at him.

"I'm not teasing, I'm curious."

James mutters something that Draco doesn't catch.

"Fifth year?" Lewis repeats louder than necessary and James shushes him. "Sorry." He apologises. "But you weren't gay until sixth year." He points out and Draco has to stop himself from laughing out loud.

"Are you an idiot?" James asks him. "I came out in sixth year because I was finally comfortable with who I am. I first thought I was gay in fourth year when I found myself checking guys out more than girls but I knew for definite in fifth year when I fell in love with you," He explains.

"Why did you fall in love with me?" Lewis asks after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know." James throws his arms in the air in disbelief at having this conversation. "You're an adorable idiot." He admits.

Lewis blushes at that, chuckling as he awkwardly rubs his neck before his eyes suddenly widen.

"Wait, I'm an adorable idiot?"

"That's what I said."

"I am an adorable idiot." He repeats.

"What are you getting at?" James asks.

"You said 'I am'. Present tense." Lewis smirks. "You still think I'm adorable." He smiles.

"You're definitely still an idiot," James tells him, making him laugh.

"I here no denial there." Lewis teases.

"Fine." James sighs. "I still find you attractive. You've aged well." James admits, checking him out and making Lewis blush.

"I could say the same about you. I love those glasses. You look like a cute nerd." Lewis laughs for a second before realising what he said and staring in shock at his friend.

Draco hears Hermione chuckle from next to him so he turns to face her.

"They're adorable." She mutters with a smile, keeping her eyes on them.

"You think I'm cute?" James asks.

"Maybe," Lewis mutters.

"Well, this is unexpected," James mutters back, looking awkwardly down at his shoes.

"It shouldn't be, I left you enough hints during Hogwarts. I sent you that valentines chocolate in our last year, which you rejected, so I let you go." Lewis admits.

"Did you ever listen to Snape, never eat valentines chocolate in case they've been poised with a love potion." He tells him. "How was I supposed to know they were from you? You never left a note."

Lewis shrugs looking around at the bar. "I thought you knew I liked you." He tells him.

"Do you?" James asks, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, I do," Lewis answers, looking back at his friend.

"Well, I'm not sure where we go from here," James admits.

"I could take you to dinner," Lewis suggests hopefully.

James doesn't answer for a moment and Draco can see the hopefulness draining from Lewis' face.

"Okay, but I want to go to a muggle restaurant. I'm fancying Chinese." James tells him.

"I know a great place." Lewis smiles, taking hold of James' hand and pulling him towards the muggle exit of the Leaky Cauldron.

As soon as the door shuts behind them, Hermione turns to stare in confusion at Draco.

"How the hell do they know which filing cabinets we were in?" She leans across the table.

"I don't know. They must have wards on each cabinet that tells them which one is being opened." He suggests with a shrug. "Is there any muggle devices that could track that sort of thing?" He asks.

"Not that I know of but I'm not exactly up to date with muggle technology." She admits, trying to think of anything she might have heard or seen in the muggle world.

"They'll know I was in the Rowle filing cabinet as well." She states, letting her head fall in her hands.

"Not necessarily. I told Kingsley that I wanted to check the legality of one of my ancestors. They would assume it's me checking the filing cabinets. Especially since the Rowle's are purebloods." He tries to comfort her.

"We shouldn't be talking about this here." She mentions, standing up. "Let's go home."

Draco nods, putting his book away and following her into Diagon Alley where her takes her hand and disapparates them back to the estate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 38 for you all.
> 
> Happy 1 Year Anniversary!
> 
> I can't believe it's been a whole year since the first chapter. (I'm not including FORCED TOGETHER. If I did it would be our 4th Anniversary this month.) Anyway, I just want to thank everyone who's read THE MARRIAGE DECREE and give double thanks to everyone who's ever commented. My heart soars at each one. I love refreshing the page to see someone has left a new comment, whether it be a frequent commenter or a new commenter, I appreciate each and every one.
> 
> I'm a little curious, though. How many of you have been here since chapter 1? If you don't mind, could you leave me a comment just telling me?
> 
> Now I'll leave you to read the chapter but make sure you check the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter for your surprise/present/making up for those two late chapters.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione wakes up the following morning with a splitting headache, which she finds strange since she doesn't remember drinking that much yesterday. Although, thinking back, she did have a few drinks at the Pentagon, a few more at the Leaky Cauldron and then a few more with Blaise and Luna. She rolls over to face Draco, wondering if he'll make her headache potion if she begged him, to find him still fast asleep, snoring gently next to her. Instead of getting up, which would require effort, she snuggles back down under the quilt, throwing an arm over Draco and dragging herself closer to his warmth.

When Draco wakes up on Monday morning, it's to find Hermione cuddles up to him and under the quilt. Wondering what she's doing under there, he shuffles down to join her to find her still asleep. He peeks back out over the quilt to check the clock which tells him it's twenty past eleven. With a groan, he hides his head back under the quilt.

After they'd disapparated back to the estate yesterday afternoon, they'd just set off towards their house when Blaise shouted them over and beckoned them into his house. They then proceeded to celebrate into the early hours of the morning the fact that Blaise had gotten a job in the Ministry as an interpreter. Apparently, the Italian minister and a few of his dignitaries were coming for a visit next week and only the minister spoke English so they needed an interpreter. By the time they got home, they'd fallen straight into bed and into a deep, alcohol induced sleep.

He wonders if Hermione has a thumping headache like he's currently experiencing. With a reluctant sigh, Draco dethatches himself from Hermione and rolls out of bed to check his potion supplies. Thankfully, he has a few headache potions, but he'll have to brew some more soon. He downs his own then takes another upstairs, in case Hermione needs one and sets it on her bedside table before climbing back under the quilt where Hermione wraps herself around him again.

"Where'd you go?" Hermione mumbles sleepily against his chest.

"To get a headache potion, I had a thumping headache." He explains, wrapping his own arms around her to pull her closer.

"You don't happen to have another, do you?" She asks hopefully.

"On your bedside table." He answers.

She unwraps herself from their embrace to reach out for her potion where she promptly downs it then shuffles back down under the quilt.

"Thanks." She sighs contently as the potion takes effect.

She reaches up to kiss his cheek but Draco moves his head to look down at her and she ends up kissing the corner of his lips. She pauses, wondering what Draco will do and is pleasantly surprised when he positions his head to kiss her back properly. As they kiss, she thinks back to what Lewis had said to James last night.

'I love my friends but I'm not in love with them. I wouldn't kiss any of them.'

Hermione's already told Draco that they're friends now but she's also told him that she doesn't love him. Maybe when they get to know each other better and they become best friends will she love him? She loves Harry and Ginny and they're her best friends but she wouldn't kiss either of them. Yet here she is making out with Draco in their bed. Maybe there are two types of friends, those you would kiss and those you wouldn't. After all, she was friends with Ron and they kissed. She frowns slightly, not wanting to compare Draco and Ron together.

"What are you thinking about?" Draco asks against her lips.

"What Lewis was saying last night, about not wanting to kiss a friend. Maybe there's friends that you do want to kiss and friends that you don't." She suggests.

She can feel his lips turn into a smirk against her own.

"Has this sudden realisation come from my great kissing?" He asks and she rolls her eyes, pushing him away jokingly.

"You're my friend, we've already established that, but I also rather enjoy kissing you, which is not something most people like doing with their friends. Have you ever kissed a friend before?" She asks him, trying to prove a point but when he doesn't answer for a few seconds she laughs. "Which friend have you kissed? Pansy, Blaise, Theo, Gregory…" She starts listing.

"Shut up!" He complains, running his hands over his face. "I didn't need to picture myself kissing any of them." He sighs before removing his hand. "If you tell anyone this, I will kill you." He threatens.

"No, you won't."

"No, I won't but I would still appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone." He reiterates.

"I'm not going to tell anyone Draco, you can trust me." She reminds him.

"Fine, I just want to state now that it wasn't by choice. We were stuck under one of those mistletoes the Weasley twins invented. Stupid invention if you ask me." He grumbles.

"Ah, yes. We had about twelve all around our common room." Hermione says, remembering their fifth year.

"Well anyway, I was attempting to enter the Slytherin common room as someone else was leaving and we both got stuck under it." He vaguely explains.

"Just tell me, Draco." She begs him.

"It was Millicent." He mutters.

Hermione physically shudders at the name. Millicent Bulstrode. Since their second year, when the other girl had her in a headlock during their duelling club and Hermione made the mistake of using her cat's hair in a polyjuice potion, she hasn't been able to think about the other girl without shuddering.

"What was that for?" Draco asks her. "It wasn't as bad as it sounds and as first kisses go, I think it went alright. I still scared her into never telling anyone, ever." He admits.

"No, it's just, I had a bad experience with her in our second year." She explains. "Wait, she was your first kiss?" Hermione smiles at him.

"Yes, don't laugh at me." He says, sounding offended.

"I'm not." She says but she can't stop smiling. "Sorry, but there were rumours that you were Slytherin's ladies', man. I just find it hard to believe that you didn't have your first until our fifth year." She explains.

"Well, when did you have your first kiss?" Draco asks, annoyed.

"The night of the yule ball with Viktor Krum." She tells him.

He groans, covering his face with his hands. "I have to compete with an international Quidditch player."

Hermione chuckles as she reaches up to uncover his face.

"Draco, there's no competition. To be honest, it was quite bad." She tells him truthfully. "Terrible compared to you." She admits, leaning down to claim his lips once more.

They continue to make out for a while before Draco suddenly remembers that it's Monday. Gently pushing Hermione away, he sits up, looking at the clock. Ten minutes to twelve.

"What's wrong?" She asks, sitting up next to him.

"I have a check-up at St. Mungo's." He reminds her.

"I forgot about that. " She frowns to herself, seemingly annoyed that she had forgotten something so important.

Draco starts to climb out of bed when she grabs hold of his wrist, pulling his attention to her. He stares at her in confusion as she lifts her free hand up to his forehead, brushing his hair aside.

"It's looking much better," She tells him. "I've barely noticed it." She admits.

"It still looks bad, though." He frowns.

"Of course it still looks bad. You split your head open crashing head first into a Quidditch goal post. What do you expect?" She shakes her head at him before climbing out of bed herself and heading over to their wardrobe to grab some clothes.

Whilst Hermione went into the bathroom to change, Draco got changed himself into a pair of jeans and a black shirt then headed downstairs to place some bread into the toaster and put the kettle on. He opens Athena's cage to let her stretch her wings whilst he refills her water and food bowl.

She chirps happily as she flutters after Draco, following him from the living room into the kitchen before landing on his shoulder and nuzzling into his cheek.

He fills two cups with a teabag and some boiling water then leaves it to stew as he spreads jam across the toast that had just popped up out of the toaster. When Hermione enters the kitchen, she softly pets Athena's head, kisses Draco's cheek, then takes a bite out of a slice of toast as she grabs the milk out of their fridge and passes it back to Draco, who pours some into their cups of teas.

"Should we sit at the dining table?" Draco asks, carrying the cups of teas over. "We've only used it once." He adds, taking a seat at the head of the table.

Hermione, carrying the plate of toast over, sits next to him. "We probably should use it more often." She agrees.

Athena perches on the edge of the plate and chirps a few times until Draco gives in and rips off a piece from his slice of toast and holds it out for her. She takes the piece from his hand then flies off to on top of the fridge.

Once they've finished, Hermione clears the table, placing the pots into the sink whilst Draco finishes getting changed, pulling his cloak and shoes on.

They end up leaving the house around half past twelve, then rushing towards the gate to disapparate to the apparition floor at St. Mungo's. They make their way to the seventh floor to the ward where Draco had stayed. There's a couple of healers, patients and visitors walking up and down the corridor. They carry on towards the end of the ward to the healer's room and knock on the door.

A young man opens the door after a few seconds, looking very tired.

"Hey, are you looking for someone?" He asks.

"We're here to see Healer Matthew." Draco answers.

"He's just finished his rounds so he'll be in his office." He points over the corridor to the opposite door.

"Thank you." Hermione nods as they turn around and knock on Healer Matthew's office door.

There's no answer for a while before there's a sudden announcement to enter his office. Draco turns the handle and enters to find Healer Matthew sat at his desk with a few messy piles of files.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy, has it really been a week already?" He asks, standing up to shake his hand. "And Mrs Malfoy, I hope you've been taking good care of him." He smiles as he shakes her hand then gestures to the chairs in front of his desk. "How have you been?" He asks.

"Fine." Draco answers.

"Draco," Hermione says warningly.

"It was rather painful the first couple of days but the pain has subsided and I'm no longer taking any potions." He sighs truthfully.

"Great." Healer Matthew chuckles as he stands up and moves around to their side of the table. "I'll just take a look at your scar and make a few notes in your file and then you'll be free to go." He mentions as he perches on the edge of his desk, in front of Draco.

Healer Matthew brushes Draco's hair away from his forehead to reveal the scar which he looks at intently for a while before taking out a magnifying glass and taking another look. He then puts it away and takes out a medical ruler which he proceeds to take a few measurements with, which he jots down in a notebook on his desk. He does all this whilst humming positively. Once he's finished, he goes back around to his own side of the desk where he quickly scribbles a few words in Draco's file before shutting it and placing it atop one of the piles.

"The scar's healing in line with expectations. It'll take a few more weeks before the scar fades to near invisible." He explains. "Looking at it now, you wouldn't think the cut had been as bad as it was." He admits with a soft chuckle. "I'd count myself lucky Mr Malfoy, I've seen worse scars from lesser injuries." He states.

"Will we need to come back for any more check-ups?" Hermione asks.

"Not unless you experience any more pain or memory loss." He tells them, standing up and walking towards his office door. "I hope I never see you again." He laughs to himself as he opens the door.

Both Hermione and Draco shake his hand and give him thanks as they leave his office and head back down the corridor towards the lifts.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," Hermione admits as they wait for the lift to reach their floor.

"What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" He asks her as the lift pings its arrival and the doors open up.

"Do you mind if we visit my grandma and grandad?" She asks. "I want to make sure they're coping alright with Lauren and Craig." She adds as an explanation.

"Of course, we haven't seen them for a while anyway." He smiles at her as they ride the lift the disapparation floor.

"Thanks, maybe we could offer to pick up Lauren from school and take Craig with us. It'll give them a little break." She suggests.

"Do they go to the same school as Sophie?"

"Yeah," Hermione answers quietly. "I really need to talk to Sophie, don't I?" She sighs.

"I think the sooner you tell her the better it'll be. We can't have her growing up confused." Draco mentions.

"You're right. I think I should do it today." She announces suddenly.

"Today? Are you sure you're ready?" Draco asks her.

"It's not about me being ready to tell her, it's about Sophie needing to know." She states. "I'll call David from my grandparents' house and offer to pick Sophie up from school. Do you mind taking Lauren and Craig back to my grandparents' house whilst I tell her?" She asks.

"Not at all, I'll take them through the park and let them play for a while. Give Betty and Tom a little longer to rest." He mentions and Hermione takes his hand in hers, giving it a small, grateful squeeze before disapparating them to an alleyway a few streets from her grandparents' house.

By the time they've walked to her grandparents' house, it's just gone past one o'clock. Hermione knocks on the door and her grandma opens the door a few moments late.

"Hermione! Draco! Hello, I wasn't expecting to see you today." She greets them, pulling them both in for a hug one at a time. "We've just put Craig down for a quick nap, it was sports morning at his nursery. Your grandad and I were just about to make some lunch, would you like some?" She asks as she ushers them into the kitchen where her grandad is sat at the table with the newspaper.

"Hello love." Her grandad greets her, kissing her forehead when she goes over to hug him.

"What sandwiches would you like, we've got quite a bit of chicken from last night left over and some stuffing." Her grandma suggests, taking a cling filmed plate of chicken out of the fridge along with a bowl of stuffing.

"Why don't you both go and relax in the living room whilst Draco and I make the sandwiches?" Hermione suggests instead, taking the plate out of her grandma's hand.

"Oh, no, you're our guests. I can't let you make your own lunch." She tries to protest but Hermione ushers her out of the kitchen.

"I'm ordering you out of the kitchen," Hermione tells them, taking the newspaper out of her grandad's hand and passing it to her grandma. "You've been busy all week with Craig and Lauren, go have a rest." She adds.

Finally, her grandparents' leave the kitchen defeated. Hermione closes the door behind them.

"I've never noticed how tired they look. This can't go on." Hermione states as she grabs the bread from the bread bin.

"Didn't your uncle say he was going to call someone if your aunt didn't come back?" Draco asks.

"Shhh." She shushes him in case her grandparents hear. "Yes. He said if Louise hadn't returned by Friday then he'd call social services. My grandparents are very much against it so I don't think he'll tell them. I'm not sure how it works but he seems confident that either he or my parents will get custody of them." She whispers as she starts making the sandwiches. "Can you get some plates out of the far cupboard?" She asks him.

"I'm finding it difficult to understand why your aunt doesn't seem to care about her children," Draco mentions as he sets four plates on the countertop.

"Well, both Lauren and Craig were accidents. She was still in secondary school when she found out she was pregnant by a boy she met once at a party. She had Lauren in August and the father found out and wanted to see his child. He stuck around for two months, long enough to get Louise pregnant again with Craig. I don't think any of us have seen him since." She explains. "Craig was born a few weeks early in June. Louise seemed to get her act together and enrolled at the local college the following September but she dropped out after she failed her first year. She got a retail job which is where she met Darren. They've been going out on and off for the past three years. She moved in with him after five months and every time they break up, he goes to live with his parents but he always comes back and she always takes him back." She continues, plating up the sandwiches.

Draco leans against the countertop, watching her. "That can't be very good for Lauren and Craig." He states sadly.

"You've probably noticed that Craig is very shy around people he doesn't see very often, especially so when he's not around Lauren. She feels very protective of him, even though she's only eleven months older than him." Hermione sighs. "They need consistency in their life and at the moment, they're not getting that." She says as she walks over to the cupboard to grab a few bags of crisps to share between them.

Draco grabs two plates, then follows Hermione down the corridor into the living room where Betty and Tom are sat on the couch. Tom's still reading his newspaper as Betty watches the news on the television.

"Thanks, Dears." Betty thanks them as they hand over their lunch before taking their own seat on the other couch. "Have you heard about this?" She asks, motioning to the television. "Alex Ferguson is being given a knighthood." She scoffs. "God only knows what for."

"I've told you, Betty. It's for his public service to football." Tom tells her.

"What a load of rubbish? Give someone who's actually done some good in the world a knighthood, not some poncey football manager." She continues to complain. "You play football, don't you?" She turns her attention on him.

He's heard the word 'football' being said a few times but he still hasn't got a clue what it is.

"No, not really. I'm not even sure how to play." He admits which is probably the wrong thing to say when he hears Hermione takes a sharp intake of breath.

"I thought you hurt your head last week playing football," Betty mentions.

Remembering the excuse Hermione told the rest of her family beside her parents, he tries to backtrack. "Oh, yeah, a few friends wanted to play so I joined in. It's probably why I got injured, not really knowing how to play." He makes an attempt and thankfully Betty laughs.

"It's not that difficult, son." Tom shakes his head at him. "You just run, kick a ball and try to score a goal. I don't know how you managed to run into the goalpost."

"Draco's never really been a sporty person. It's not really something his father thought was necessary for his future. I think he got a little too excited running after the ball that he just didn't realise he was so close to the goalpost." Hermione chuckles, squeezing his hand gently.

"So your father's a pompous git then," Tom mutters.

"Thomas, don't insult the boy's father." Betty slaps her husband's shoulder.

"It's fine. He is a pompous git." Draco smirks. "I suppose I was too before Hermione and I got together." He admits.

"Well, our Hermione does bring out the best in most people." Betty smiles at them before checking her watch. "Oh goodness, I better get Craig up or else he won't sleep tonight." She explains, making to stand up.

"I'll go wake him up." Hermione jumps to her feet, heading towards the living room door. "Also, Draco and I were thinking that we could pick Lauren up today. We'll take Craig and pick Sophie up as well, then take them to the park for a bit." Hermione announces just as she's about to open the living room door.

"David has actually asked us to pick Sophie up today. He's got parents evening tonight so asked if we'd have her over for dinner and then drop her off for half five." Betty explains.

"That's perfect. We'll pick them up and have them home for half four, ready for dinner then we can also drop Sophie off for you. I need to ask David something anyway." Hermione organises.

"That sounds like a plan." Betty smiles. "Thanks, Dear, I know you're only doing it to give us a rest but I appreciate it."

"It's not just that, I like spending time with them. I haven't been able to with school but now that I've graduated, I want to spend as much time as I can with them." Hermione explains.

"When do you both start university?" Tom asks, looking at them from over the top of his newspaper.

Draco looks nervously at Hermione. She hadn't prepared him for what to say if he was ever asked that. However, Hermione doesn't seem fazed by the questions as she perches on the arm of the couch, so he relaxes.

"We need to be up in Edinburgh by Sunday 12th September to fully enrol." She lies without hesitation.

"Will you be coming home for your twentieth birthday?" Her grandma asks. "We haven't seen you on your birthday since you were eleven." She adds sadly.

"Yes, we'll be coming back. Lessons don't actually start until Monday 4th October. We have a week at the university from the 13th September to get to know our way around the buildings and to socialise then we're coming home for a couple of weeks to properly pack our things. Then we'll be heading back up on Saturday 2nd October." Hermione continues to go into detail.

Draco hopes he doesn't have to remember all this because he's already forgotten which dates they're supposed to be doing what. He finds himself wishing they had come up with an easier lie. Something simple. Maybe they could have gotten jobs instead.

"Then I suppose we won't see you until Christmas." Betty states.

"We'll have to wait until we get our timetables but we might be able to come back some weekends," Hermione explains. "Anyway, I better got get Craig up." She announces, dodging any other questions.

Not wanting to be left in the firing line, Draco collects the plates, taking them into the kitchen to wash up. Shutting the door behind him before heading over to the sink where he places them in the washing bowl and casts a quick cleaning spell. What Hermione doesn't know, she can't shout at him for. He puts the plates back in the cupboard when the kitchen door opens and he nearly jumps, thinking he's been caught in the act but he looks up to find Craig stood on the threshold, staring wide-eyed at him.

"Hello Craig, did you have a nice nap?" He asks for lack of anything else to say.

The boy nods shyly at him, still staring. Draco continues to put the plates away and shuts the cupboard door.

"Where's Hermione?" He asks, looking behind the boy but not seeing her anywhere.

"Bathroom." He whispers.

"Did she tell you that we're going to pick Lauren and Sophie up and then go to the park?" He asks.

Craig smiles as he shakes his head.

"Do you want to play a game before we go?" He asks, wanting Craig to feel more comfortable around him.

The boy stares at him for a moment, so Draco offers him what is hopefully his kindest smile which seems to work since Craig nods, then runs off, presumably to choose a game to play.

Draco heads into the living room where he sits back on the couch beside Hermione to wait for Craig. He returns a few minutes later with a blue box. The title reads 'Connect 4'.

"I hope you know how to play because I have no idea." He mentions to Craig he stares at him, as though gauging whether he's telling the truth or not, before handing him a slip of paper which appears to be the instructions.

He gives them a quick read whilst Craig sets up the game, giving him all the red coins.

"Can I be yellow instead?" He asks, preferring to have the Hufflepuff colour as opposed to the Gryffindor's colour.

"No, I'm yellow," Craig tells him which is the most he's ever said to him so Draco doesn't push the issue.

"Embrace your inner Gryffindor," Hermione whispers, earning herself a glare from.

"A Griffin- what?" Betty asks, catching what she had said.

"Gryffindor," Hermione repeats. "It was the house I was in at school. Our colour was red. Draco was a green Slytherin. There was also blue Ravenclaws and yellow Hufflepuffs." She explains.

"That's funny," Craig says chuckling quietly to himself.

"Do you want to go first?" Draco asks him, moving onto the carpet to be closer to the game.

"Red goes first." He tells him so Draco picks up a red coin, slotting it into the middle column.

They end up playing seven games before they have to get ready to pick Lauren and Sophie up from school. Draco lost the first three games, but he blames that on him still trying to understand how the game works. He won the fourth one, which was an accident because neither of them even realise until Hermione pointed it out after they'd already taken two more goes each. Then he lost the last three. Hermione seemed to think he did it on purpose to let Craig win and if that's what she wants to think then he wasn't going to correct her.

Hermione took Craig into the hallway to put his shoes and jacket on whilst Draco put the game back in the box.

"Did you not play games as a child?" Tom asks him as he places the box on top of the coffee table.

"I played games but they were more made up games with my friends rather than board games." He explains before heading into the hallway himself to pull his own jacket and shoes on.

"Are we ready to go?" Hermione asks once everyone has their jacket and shoes on.

"Yes!" Craig replies excitedly.

"Come on then." She opens the front door and they all step out onto the street. "Make sure you stop at the roads and alleyways." She shouts after Craig as he runs down the street in the direction of his sister's school.

Draco shuts the front door behind them then grabs her hand as they quickly follow after her youngest cousin.

"I really think he's warming to you." She mentions, squeezing his hand.

"I want him to be comfortable around me." He states.

"He'll get there. You just need to give him time to get used to you. It's like I said, they need consistency. Once they both know you're going to be a constant in their life, they'll both become more confident around you." She explains.

When they come to a road, Craig stops to wait for them then automatically takes Hermione hand so they can safely cross, before letting go and running off again. Once they're within the school grounds, Craig runs straight over to the slide on the far side of the playground, so Hermine and Draco follow him over there. A few parents give them strange looks since they've never seen them in the playground before but they ignore the stares, especially those coming from Adam Rochester's mum who then proceeds to whisper something into one of the other mum's ears, most likely about them.

"Sophie will come out of that door over there." Hermione gestures to the door closest to the gates. "I'll stand over there so she knows who's picking her up. If you take Craig and stand near that door where Lauren comes out then meet us at the gate." Hermione tells him pointing to the door closest to them.

"Alright." Draco agrees just as the bell rings, signalling the end of the school day.

"That's the bell, just wait for her at the door." She tells him before making her way over to the first door to collect Sophie.

"Craig, the bell's gone," Draco calls over to Craig, who's stood at the stop of the slide about to slide down. He quickly sits down and pushes himself off then runs over to the door where he knows his sister will exit from.

Draco quickly follows after him then waits with the other parents and younger siblings for the children to come out. A few minutes later, a tall, young man exits the building, followed by a long line of children who all line up against the school building. The man, who Draco assumes is the teacher, glances at some of the parents then begins listing names of children. One at a time, children run over to their parents when their name is called.

He spots Lauren stood near the end of the line. When she spots him, her face beams into a smile as she waves excitedly at both him and her brother. They have to wait until all the other children have been called before the teacher comes over to him.

"I'm assuming you're here for Lauren?" He asks, beckoning her over from the wall.

Lauren runs over to them excitedly, giving her brother a tight hug.

"This is my brother and this is my cousin's fiancé. I'm going to be a bridesmaid in their wedding and throw flowers." She explains quickly.

The teacher nods as he listens. "That sounds wonderful." He tells her before looking back at Draco. "You must be Draco then. We've heard lots about you this past week." He chuckles, glancing back down at Lauren. "She very excited about this wedding." He adds.

"She has a while to wait since it's not happening until we graduate university in three years," Draco comments, remembering something Hermione had said last week.

"Can't you get married tomorrow?" Lauren asks, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"You wouldn't be able to go if they got married tomorrow. You have school." Her teacher reminds her.

"Oh, yeah. I'll wait then." She sighs, then proceeds to grab hold of Craig's hand and run towards the gate.

"You better chase after them." The teacher laughs. "It was nice meeting you." He says before heading back into the school building.

Draco quickly follows after the two children but they stop at the gate and wait for them.

"We need to wait for Hermione and Sophie." He tells them and Lauren jumps up and down excitedly glancing around for her two cousins.

"Are we all having dinner together at grandma and grandad's house?" She asks him.

"Yes, but I'm going to take you and Craig to the park for a bit before we take you home." He says and they both cheer happily.

"There they are," Lauren announces, pointing over to where Hermione and Sophie are walking towards them. Sophie doesn't look too happy to see either him or Hermione.

She walks straight past him out of the gate. Lauren and Craig run after her and try to hold her hand but she pulls her hands-free, folding them across her chest.

"I see she still doesn't want to talk to us," Draco says, taking Hermione's hand in his and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"She's just scared. Hopefully, she'll feel better once I explain. I was thinking of taking her to a café in the supermarket down the road whilst you take Lauren and Craig to the park." She suggests. "If we're not at the park by quarter past four then you should head back to my grandparents." She adds.

"That's fine. I'll try and tire them out a bit before their dinner." He mentions.

The children stop at the road in front of the park, waiting to cross with her and Draco but Hermione places her hand on Sophie's shoulder, to gain her attention.

"Why don't we go to the supermarket and get some snack for the park?" She suggests, motioning towards the supermarket at the end of the road.

Sophie stares at her with wide, nervous eyes before looking down at her hand on her shoulder. Hermione removes her hand but gestures for Sophie to set off walking down the street.

"We'll meet you in the park," Hermione calls over to Draco who crossed the road with the Lauren and Craig.

He mouths 'good luck' back to her and she nods in understanding. She's going to need all the luck she can get since she doesn't know how she's going to explain the wizarding world and magic to her cousin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 39 for you all.
> 
> Happy 1 Year Anniversary Week!
> 
> So I had this chapter all ready to upload once I got back from Uni at 9 pm but when I was giving it a quick reread, I decided I hated what I had originally written as the reveal of the wizarding world so I decided to rewrite it, which has taken me until 2 am. I'm so tired but I'm much prouder of this chapter than the original.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Lauren and Craig run straight into the park after they've crossed the road together but Draco pauses to watch Hermione and Sophie as they walk towards the supermarket. He hopes Sophie takes the reveal of the wizarding world well. Not wanting to leave the kids by themselves too long, he turns and follows them into the park. He watches as they enter the play park, Lauren throwing her bag onto a nearby bench before running off with her brother to play on the slide.

Draco takes a seat on the bench where Lauren disposed of her bag. He watches them intently for the first five minutes but then he becomes increasingly bored with the repetition of watching them running around the park. Taking Alice in Wonderland out of his pocket, he begins where he left off yesterday.

It's as though Lauren and Craig planned to keep themselves preoccupied until he got into his book then decided that they couldn't play without him. He'd only been reading for five minutes when they both run up to him and Lauren pulls on his wrist as she begs him to push them both on the swings.

With an exaggerated sigh, he puts the book away and follows them over to the swings. He helps Craig climb on to the one next to Lauren, then tells them both to hang on tight as he alternates between pushing them both. He makes sure he doesn't push them too high, not wanting a repeat of what happened with Sophie.

When they ask to be let off, Draco stops the swings then watches as they jump off and run towards the roundabout where Lauren, along with another little girl and a little boy beg him to spin them around. He starts off slowly but when they complain it's too slow, he speeds up a little until they squeal for him to stop.

They all run dizzily away from the roundabout when it's come to a stop, which makes him chuckles since they look drunk. Lauren and her new friends have a race to the top of the climbing frame whilst Craig slides down the slide a few times. Draco goes back to the bench to read his book again and this time, he manages to read for around eight minutes before Craig runs up to him, hopping from one foot to the other.

"I need the toilet." He tells him.

"Oh, is there a toilet in the park?" He asks Craig who shrugs his shoulders. "We better head back to your grandparents' house then." He states, picking up Lauren's bag. "Lauren!" He calls over to where she's hiding in a tunnel with her new friends. "We're going to have to go." He tells her.

Lauren sighs and complains as they leave the play park and all the way back to Betty and Tom's house until he suggests they play another game when they get in. As soon as they enter the house, Craig runs upstairs to the bathroom whilst Lauren follows into their bedroom to choose a game for them all to play.

Draco heads into the kitchen where Betty is stood at the sink, peeling some potatoes. Tom's sat at the kitchen table again, still reading the newspaper he had been reading hours ago.

"We weren't expecting you back so soon," Tom says as he sits opposite him at the table.

"Craig needed the toilet so we had to leave the park," Draco explains.

"Where's Hermione and Lauren?" Betty asks curiously.

"They went to the supermarket to get some snacks." He explains.

"You were going to feed the kids snacks when their dinner is around half four?" Betty tuts, shaking her head disapprovingly.

Thankfully, Draco is saved by any further questions by Lauren and Craig running into the kitchen, clutching the colourful box of a board game.

"It's hungry hippos," Lauren announces excitedly. "It's my favourite game because I'm the best at it." She adds proudly.

Draco hums as he inspects the box. "We'll see about that." He tells her as they head into the living room.

Lauren sets up the board game whilst he gives the instructions a quick read. It seems easy enough. He just needs to continuously press the lever to make his hippo eat the balls.

"You can be the green hippo," Lauren tells him, turning the game around so the green hippo is closest to him.

"Thank you." He smiles.

"I'm going to be red and Craig is always yellow." She explains as she pours the balls from a bag into the centre of the game. "You say '3, 2, 1' and then we all go until there are no balls left. The person who has the most balls wins." She explains.

"Okay, are you both ready?" He asks and they both nod, hand already poised over their lever. "3, 2, 1." He counts down.

The concept behind the game may have seemed easy, to begin with but for some reason, Draco's green hippo keeps pushing the balls away whenever his mouth comes down to collect them. He tries timing his hippo for when the balls are rolling towards him and he manages to collect a few balls but by the time he's got the timing right, the game's over.

It doesn't take him long to count his three balls, so he patiently waits as Lauren counts her twelve balls, one at a time, then moves on to help Craig, who seems to think he had seventy balls, even though the game only comes with thirty. In the end, Craig wins with fifteen balls but Draco insists they play again since he's more prepared this time.

They play for the next half an hour, until the front door opens, signalling the return of Hermione and Sophie. Draco's proud to say he won seven games but Craig is far superior to both he and Lauren put together since he won at least twelve games and Lauren won only five.

They end up walking in silence to the supermarket. Not that Hermione doesn't try to start a conversation with her by asking about her school day or about what she did at the weekend but all Sophie gives as an answer is a shrug and a frown at the pavement.

As they enter the supermarket, Sophie heads for the turnstile that'll take them into the shopping area but Hermione places a hand on her back, guiding her towards the café.

"Where are we going?" Sophie asks defensively, shrugging Hermione's hand off.

"Would you like a hot chocolate?" Hermione asks as they join the queue.

"No." She huffs.

"Just because you're angry at me, doesn't mean you forget your manners." She reprimands her cousin.

"No, thank you," Sophie repeats.

"Would you like a lemonade instead?" She offers.

"No, thank you." She says, staring straight ahead of her.

"Is there anything you want to drink?" She questions, already knowing the answer.

"I'm not thirsty," Sophie responds. "Thank you." She adds as an afterthought.

"Okay, well I'm going to get a hot chocolate. It's been a while since I've had one." She admits.

Once Hermione's paid for her drink and a chocolate muffin, which she doubts Sophie will want to share with her, she leads the way over to a secluded table at the far, back corner of the café. Away from the other people in the café and the people shopping. Hermione sits with her back against the wall so she can see if anyone comes near them.

For safe measures, she discretely takes her wand out under the table and mutters a privacy charm so anyone who does walk past won't be able to hear them since this isn't a conversation that she wants to be overheard. She returns her wand to her bag before taking a sip from her hot chocolate and looking at her cousin.

Sophie avoids her eye contact by staring down at the table. She looks so nervous.

"Sophie," Hermione calls her name softly, trying to gain her attention.

Her eyes flick up to acknowledge her before quickly returning to the table.

"I'm sorry about what happened on Friday. Draco shouldn't have continued to push you after you asked him to stop. He's very sorry for that as well." Hermione apologises. "In fact, he's been trying to quickly finish Alice in Wonderland so he can apologise when he returns it to you." She adds.

Hermione's surprised to hear a sniffle come from Sophie.

"I'm not angry at you." Her cousin mutters, still staring at the table. "Or Draco." She adds.

"I'm happy to hear that," Hermione tells her, trying to figure a way to approach the subject of why they're actually sat in the café. "Would you like to tell me why you shouted at us?" She asks, hoping Sophie will admit to everything but her cousin shakes her head, sniffling again

"It's nothing." She mutters as a tear drips from the end of her nose onto the table.

Reaching into her bag, Hermione pulls out a packet of tissues which she offers to Sophie.

"Thank you." Her cousin whispers as she blows her nose and wipes her eyes.

"It can't be nothing if it's making you this upset." Hermione points out.

"You won't understand." She says this time. "It's stupid." She adds.

"Sophie, you don't know if I'll understand or not unless you tell me." She tries to convince her. "And it certainly isn't stupid."

But Sophie shakes her head. Giving her a few minutes to calm herself down, Hermione takes another couple of sips of her hot chocolate and cuts the chocolate muffin in half. She offers Sophie one of the halves, but as expected, she refuses. Finishing her half of the muffin, she leaves the other half in case Sophie changes her mind later.

"Is it a secret?" Hermione asks, making her jump after a few minutes of silence.

Sophie's eyes widen as she looks up at Hermione and nods.

"I thought so. That's why I didn't tell your dad what happened when you were on the swing." Hermione says, pushing her a little further to admit but her cousin just continues to stare at her nervously. "You can trust me, Sophie. I won't tell anyone." She smiles softly and she can see Sophie's eyes soften as she begins to consider telling her.

Suddenly, though, her eyes harden as she shakes her head. "I can't." She mutters looking back down at the table.

Hermine feels as though they've just taken five steps back. "Why can't you?" She asks.

"I just can't."

"That's not a good enough answer," Hermione says sharply, regretting her tone and choice of words instantly.

Sophie finally snaps, head whipping up to glare at her. "I don't want to be taken away." She shouts. "Is that answer good enough?" She adds and makes to get up but something seems to stop her as she looks around the café. "Why aren't they looking?" She whispers and Hermione understands.

"Who would take you away?" Hermione asks to move Sophie's focus away from the lack of other people's attention.

Sophie seems to realise she's said too much as she sighs in defeat, slumping back down into her chair where she actually looks Hermione in the face.

"Social services." She mutters.

"Social services?" Hermione repeats confused. "Why would they take you away?"

"I heard dad on the phone with Aunt Sarah. He said it wasn't grandma and grandad's fault that Aunt Louise didn't want her kids anymore and they should call social services so their family could get custody of them." Sophie explains and Hermione nods, not understanding how that has anything to do with Sophie's situation.

"It might seem scary but it's what's best for Lauren and Craig." She explains.

Sophie frowns at her for a moment before carrying on. "I didn't know what custody means so I looked in the dictionary and it said 'imprisonment'. I had to look that up too and it said 'kept in prison'." Sophie says. "If my dad found out my secret, he won't want me anymore and call social services and they'll keep me in prison." She adds in a whisper, looking back down at the table.

"Sophie!" Hermione calls her. "Your dad loves you more than anything in the world. He wouldn't stop loving you because of your secret." She tries to explain.

"You don't know my secret. You don't know." She shakes her head and Hermione decides it's time to grab the hippogriff by the feathers.

"I know, Sophie." She admits, trying to make eye contact with her cousin. "I know your secret."

Hermione was expecting her to look confused or surprised but she didn't expect her cousin to freeze in terror. She let the information sink in for a moment before calling her attention.

"Sophie, it's alright. I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm not going to call the social services." She tries to reassure her.

"No, you don't know. You're trying to trick me into telling you." Sophie says desperately.

"That thing you did on the swing wasn't the first time you made something happen by accident, was it?" Hermione questions and Sophie's lips begin to tremble. "That ball Draco dropped. It didn't start flying around until you touched it, did it?" She asks and nods slowly. "What else has happened? You can tell me, Sophie. I know."

"I- I- I-" She stutters, glancing around the café nervously.

"Don't worry, no one will hear us," Hermione tells her, earning her a confused stare.

"I- I was jumping- on my bed- and-" She starts and Hermione can feel the new foundation of trust starting to build between them. "And I fell- and kicked the wall. There was a hole. I tried to cover it- with a poster. I was going to tell my dad but I didn't want him to be angry." She starts to recall quickly. "When I woke up the next morning, I wanted to see how big it was but it had gone. Like it never happened. I thought I dreamed it but the poster was where I put it and my foot still hurt." Sophie finishes, eyes wide. "I don't know how I did it but it must have been me. Mt dad didn't know anything about it when I asked and said it was just a dream." She adds.

"As if by magic." Hermione smiles.

"Do you think it's magic too?" Sophie whispers, leaning across the table. "I've read lots of books about magic and it sounds like magic but magic doesn't really exist. I looked in the library at my dad's school. People used to think magic was real hundreds of years ago and they used to kill people because they thought they were doing the devil's work." She explains with wide, nervous eyes. "Dad said one of our great-great-great-great-grandma was killed for being a witch. Do you think witches really exists? I looked that up too and some people think they're witches and do spells and potions but people just think they're crazy. Am I crazy?"

Hermione stares at her cousin, dumbfounded by the amount of question she's asking about magic and witches, and doesn't know how to stat answering her questions.

"Do you think you're a witch?" Hermione asks her and Sophie stares back at her for a moment.

"I don't think I'm crazy." She answers.

Hermione shakes her head. "That's not what I asked."

"Witches don't exist." She says unsurely.

"That's not what I asked either," Hermione repeats.

"I don't want to be a witch," Sophie says quietly, breaking their eye contact.

"Do you think you're a witch?" Hermione questions again.

This time Sophie nods as she mumbles, "Yes."

Hermione hides her smile behind her mug of hot chocolate as she drinks the rest of it then wraps the other half of the muffin in its wrapper and places it in her bag.

"Let's go for a walk around the park," Hermione announces as she stands up.

"What?" Sophie frowns but follows after her anyway.

"We should finish this conversation in the park." She states, leading them out of the supermarket and back down the street towards the park.

"But people might hear," Sophie whispers, glancing around nervously.

"Nobody will hear anything." She assures her, dipping her hand into her bag to cast another privacy charm around them.

They walk in silence until they enter the park and Sophie tugs on the sleeve of her jacket to gain her attention.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Sophie asks her when Hermione looks down at her.

"Not at all," Hermione says, crouching down to her height. "I think you're very brave to admit what you did even though a lot of people wouldn't believe you." She tells her.

"You believe me?" She questions in shock. "Do you believe in witches and magic?" Her cousin asks her.

Hermione wonders whether now would be the right time to tell her cousin that not only does she believe in witches and magic but they she is a witch and knows rather a lot of magic but she decides it would be better to show her rather than tell her.

"Yes, I do." She nods.

"Maybe you're crazy too," Sophie suggests, making her laugh.

"Neither of us are crazy, just different." She explains, standing up again and guiding Sophie onto a large field where dog walkers like to let their dogs off the lead for a runaround.

Sophie lets out a large sigh from next to her and Hermione can almost see the huge weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"Does Draco know?" She asks suddenly.

"Does Draco know what?"

"My secret." She clarifies.

Not wanting to lie to her after gaining her trust, she nods. "Yes, he does."

"You told him?" She asks sounding hurt.

"No, he just knew, like how I just knew." She explains.

"Does he believe in witches and magic too?"

"Yes, he does." Hermione smiles down at her cousin. "And no. He's not crazy either." She adds.

"Where are we going?" Sophie asks, glancing around their surroundings. "I thought we were going to the play park."

"No, I would like to show you something," Hermione tells her as they come up to a large tree whose branches hang very low to the ground creating a large cover around them, hiding them from everyone else in the park.

Reaching into her bag for her wand once more, she quietly casts Repello Muggletum and a few other privacy spells to keep them hidden.

"What did you want to show me?" Sophie wonders, glancing around the tree.

Now that she's here and has the perfect opportunity to explain everything to Sophie, Hermione doesn't know how to do it. Should she take her wand out and transfigure a leaf into feather? Should she use wandless and non-verbal magic to levitate a twig above their heads and make it dance? Hermione decides it might make it easier for Sophie if it's something similar to the accidental magic she's used to, so she picks up a twig and hands it to Sophie.

"You want to show me a twig?" Sophie asks sceptically.

"No, I want to tell you something then I'll show you something with the twig," Hermione explains.

Sophie nods, unsure of what's happening but curious enough to listen to her.

"I want you to hold onto that twig whilst I tell you my own secret." She tells her.

"You have a secret?" Sophie frowns at her, as though annoyed that her eldest cousin would keep something from her.

"I have many secrets and if you listen carefully, I'll tell you them now." Hermione answers.

Sophie nods, eager to find out whatever it is Hermione's been keeping a secret.

"You asked if I believed in witches and magic." Hermione starts and Sophie nods looking confused. "You asked how Draco knew about your secret." Sophie continues to nod. "I told you he just knew, like how I just knew." She stops nodding to frown at her.

"Did you lie?" She asks.

"No, but there's another reason why we just knew." Hermione takes a deep breath before admitting the biggest secret she's ever kept and ever will keep from her family. "I'm a witch." She states, surprised her voice didn't break.

Sophie continues to stare at her for a moment before narrowing her eyes at her.

"Are you making fun of me?" She asks, her eyes starting tear up.

"No, Sophie, I would never make fun of you." Hermione pulls her cousin into a comforting hug.

"So you can do magic then?" Sophie asks, still not convinced.

"Yes, would you like em to show you some with that twig?" She asks, gesturing to the twig still clutched in Sophie's hand.

She nods holding her hand out for her to take the twig but instead, Hermione makes the swish and flick movement with her hand as she silently says 'Wingardium Leviosa' in her head.

The twig gently levitates out of Sophie's hand, making her stumble backwards, into the tree trunk, in shock at actually witnessing someone other than herself do magic. Hermione makes the twig twirl and dance and spins around the air, smiling as Sophie watches on in awe.

After a few minutes, she lets the twig fall back to the ground. Sophie's still stood with her back flush against the tree trunk, mouth open in amazement.

"Are you alright, Sophie?" Hermione asks, hoping she hasn't overwhelmed her.

Her cousin nods, not taking her eyes off the twig, that's not lying motionless on the ground.

"W- What else- can you do?" Sophie turns to face her.

"I think that's enough for today. I can tell you're still in shock and we need to go meet Draco, Lauren and Craig at the play park." Hermione tells her. "Come one, Sophie. We'll be late for dinner." She urges her when she makes no movement.

They set off for the play park and Hermione begins to regret telling her since she won't stop asking her questions.

"Can you turn people into frogs?" "No." "Can you make rabbits appear out of hats?" "That's a magician but I suppose I could if I wanted to." "Can you fly?" "Not without a broomstick but even then I prefer to keep my feet on the ground." "Do you have a broomstick?" "No, I don't like them. They're dangerous." "Do you have a magical wand?" "Yes, I have a wand." "Can I see it?" "Not in public." "Can I use it?" "No, you're not allowed a wand yet." "Am I definitely a witch?"

Her last question's barely louder than a whisper and makes Hermione pause. She crouches down to her cousin's height again to look her in her eye.

"I am positive you are definitely a witch?" She tells her but Sophie doesn't look convinced. "If you want, I can check for you?" Hermione suggests.

"How can you check?" She asks, confused.

"I know where there's a register that I can check your name on." She explains standing up again as Sophie's eyes widen.

"There's more witches?" She asks, shocked. "Do you know any?" She adds.

"Yes, I know a few." She chuckles to herself as they're about to enter the play park, which is full of children running around and parents chatting.

"Is Draco a witch?" She whispers, which makes her laugh.

"Boys are usually called wizards but yes, Draco knows magic too." She explains, pausing to glance around the play park but she can't spot Draco or her other cousins anywhere. "They must already have gone back to grandma and grandad's house." She states as they head back out of the play park and out of the park towards the street leading to their grandparents' house.

Hermione uses the few minutes to explain a few of the wizarding rules to Sophie.

"Okay, Sophie, there's few rules that we have in order to keep the wizarding world a secret." She starts but Sophie interrupts her.

"There's a whole world for us." She asks excitedly.

"Yes, but you need to listen to the rules or I won't tell you about it yet." She bribes her into listening.

"You're not allowed to tell anyone that you're a witch or that you can do magic. Not even grandma and grandad or your friends and teachers at school. I think I should be the one to tell your dad or we can do it together." She explains. "He'll find out eventually so the sooner we tell him the easier it'll be for him to understand." She adds.

Sophie nods reluctantly as she listens to the rules.

"I know this one is going to be hard since you're an underage witch who can't control your magic yet but you need to try not to do any accidental magic in front of someone who doesn't know." She states. "These are the two main rules that you need to follow for now."

Sophie nods, seemingly lost in thought, as they walk the rest of the way to their grandparents' house in silence. Just as she's about to open the front door, Hermione places a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Are you ready?" She asks.

"Yes." Sophie smiles up at her for the first time since the incident on Friday.

Hermione takes a deep sigh of relief, glad that her cousin took the reveal well and seems to be coping with it. Returning the smile, they both enter the house to the smell of dinner cooking in the kitchen and sound of Lauren and Craig laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 40 for you all.
> 
> Happy 1 Year Anniversary Week!
> 
> This is a very short, filler chapter for you to take you from Sophie's finding out about magic to what you're about to find out in the next chapter. I didn't want to just abruptly jump from this to that without gently easing you into the chapter 41.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

When the door slams shut behind them, the laughter dies down and the living room door opens to reveal Draco stood with an eyebrow raised in a question of how her conversation with Sophie went. She can feel her eyes tearing up as runs into his waiting arms.

"I'm hoping these are happy tears." He asks, unsure.

"It started off terribly but it ended amazingly. I told her that we knew magic and levitated a twig for her, which shocked her speechless for a few minutes but she seems to be coping with everything really well." Hermione cries into his shoulder as he rubs comforting circles onto her back.

"What's wrong, dear?" Her grandma asks, coming out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion is.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just feeling emotional." She shrugs her shoulders as steps out of their embrace.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" She asks jokingly but still giving her a warning glare.

Draco freezes, eyes wide, next to her as she awkwardly chuckles and shakes her head. "No, there's no chance of that."

"Good. I'm far too young to be a great-grandma and you've got your university course to think about for the next couple of years." She wags her finger at her.

Both Draco and Hermione smile awkwardly, knowing full well that she'll be a great-grandma or great-grandma to be within the next two years. Seemingly satisfied, her grandma peeks her head into the living room where Lauren and Craig are now playing Hungry Hippos with Sophie, who's taken Draco's green hippo. They head into the kitchen where Draco takes a seat opposite Tom, who's now reading a different newspaper, the original being left on the table.

He picks up the abandoned newspaper, glancing at the front cover. There's a picture of a downhearted looking man walking past a gate. He's confused for a second as to why he isn't moving when he remembers that muggle newspapers don't move. The title says something he doesn't understand about a man he doesn't know called Blair. He assumes he's the man in the picture. He flicks the paper over to the first page to where he's surprised by a topless woman. Shocked, he turns the page again, feeling the blush rise up his face.

From what he can tell from the muggle newspaper, there's a lot of British politics, local news, world news, strange stories that people don't necessarily need to know, jokes, puzzles and sports.

"What do you think of the European Parliament elections?" Tom asks, nodding at the front page.

Draco closes the paper to see the same downhearted man looking down at the pavement, obviously trying to ignore the photographer.

"He doesn't seem happy," Draco says, looking over at Hermione, hoping for a hint, but she's stood stirring a pan, but she's talking to her grandma.

"Who? Blair?" Tom folds his newspaper up and stares at him. "Of course he isn't happy. His party was supposedly guaranteed to take the majority of the seats during the election." He explains and Draco nods, hoping if he pretends to understand a single word of what's being said, they might move onto a different topic of conversation but Tom seems to be onto him.

"I would expect someone like you to be very up-to-date with politics." Tom states.

Draco stares confusedly at him. "What do you mean, 'someone like me'?" He asks.

Tom leans forward, beckoning him to do the same.

"David told me you come from a wealthy family with a large inheritance from your grandad. Apparently, you're already renting a house with my granddaughter. That can't be cheap, especially in London during this day and age." He raises his eyebrow. "I would expect someone as wealthy as your family to be heavily involved with politics." He explains. "I assume you're father is a conservative man and raised you with the same beliefs."

Draco frowns at the mention of his father. He wants, very much so, to get along with Hermione's family but when someone doesn't know makes assumptions about him because of his background, which Tom isn't even aware of, he can't keep quite.

"My father's beliefs are his own." He whispers. "Please don't assume that just because he's raised me think one way that I continue to think the same way once I became an adult, capable of having my own beliefs of the world." He continues. "If David told you about my wealth, then I'm going to assume that he also told you my father is in prison and I no long wish to associate myself with him so I would appreciate it if you didn't bring him up." Draco finishes quietly before standing up and heading back into the living room.

The scraping of a kitchen chair calls Hermione's attention from stirring the pan of carrots to the kitchen table, where Draco is stalking away from her grandad. She looks back at her grandma, wondering if she knows what just transpired between them, but she shrugs.

"What was that about, Tom?" Her grandma questions her husband.

"You didn't tell us Draco's father is in prison." Her grandad states, turning to face her.

Anger rises up in her stomach. "I didn't think it was any of your business and since Draco doesn't like to talk about him, I wouldn't have wanted to bring him up." She explains harshly.

"Is he dangerous, your future father-in-law?" He questions her.

Hermione sighs, "Yes, he's very dangerous."

"What's he in prison for?" Her grandma asks, more out of curiosity than concern for her safety.

"I still don't think it's any of your business." She avoids the question. "If you're concerned for my safety then know that he still has fourteen years left on his sentence." She states, then turns her back on her grandad to continue helping her grandma cook dinner.

When dinner is ready, Hermione helps set the dining room table since the kitchen table only seats four people. She ensures that Draco's plate is between herself and her grandma, wanting to keep him away from her grandad for now.

During dinner, her grandma asks the children how their days were, and, since their discussion, Sophie seems much brighter and happier as she tells a story about her friend. Hermione's glad that she was able to help relieve her from some of the burdens of keeping such a big secret.

After dinner is ready, Sophie and Hermione clear the table whilst their grandparents, and Lauren and Craig, head into the living room for a rest. Once the table is cleared and been wiped clean, Hermione tells her cousin to go rest with everyone else whilst her and Draco clean the dishes.

As soon as Lauren has left, shutting the kitchen door behind her, Hermione goes straight up to Draco, who's stood at the sink, washing up. She wraps her arms around his chest, pulling him into a tight hug. He stops in his washing for a moment before sighing and carrying on.

"I'm sorry about what my grandad said to you." She apologises. "Lucius is none of his business." She adds quietly, not wanting to dwell on the topic of his father for too long.

Draco sighs again, taking his wand out of his pocket and charming the dishes to clean themselves, before turning around in her embrace to hug her back just as tightly. She takes the opportunity to nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck.

"It wasn't just that." He mutters into her hair. "He basically said that because my family is wealthy, I must have certain beliefs. I think he called me a conservative. I'm not sure if I should be offended by that but I took it offensively." He explains.

"Coming from my grandad, you should definitely take it offensively." She sighs, shaking her head.

Draco chuckles, confusing her.

"What's so funny?" She asks, leaning back so she can look at him

"Your hair tickled my nose." He explains.

She rolls her eyes, burying her head against his chest as she laughs. Unexpectedly, Draco leans down, pressing his lips to the top of her head in a soft kiss. Hermione smiles contently as he pulls her tighter into a hug.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to head home soon." He mutters, lips still against her head.

"That's fine but we still need to drop Sophie off at home for half five." She reminds him.

She feels him remove his left hand to check his watch and sigh. "It's just gone five o'clock." He states.

"We could always leave a little early. I think Sophie has a few questions for you about magic." She whispers, then remembering what she asked, she starts laughing.

"What?" He asks, defensively.

"It's just something Sophie said. I don't think I explained it too well because she asked if you were a witch." She explains.

Draco scoffs and she can imagine him rolling his eyes at her.

"She did say she read some history book in David's school's library about the witch trials. There are accounts of men being put on trial for being witches. I guess she assumed that everyone who knows magic is a witch." She explains.

"I hope you corrected her." He says and she can picture him raising his eyebrow at her.

"Of course." She mutters.

She hears footsteps walking towards them so they end their embrace, stepping away from each other. A couple of seconds later, Sophie slowly opens the kitchen door, peeking her head around.

"Grandma said you're taking me home. Can we go now?" She asks hopefully.

Hermione glances to Draco, who looks grateful for the excuse to leave.

"Of course, I'll just go tell grandma and grandad that you're tired and want to go home. You get ready then give them a hug goodbye." She tells her cousin, following her back down the corridor. "You get ready too." She turns to tell Draco, who's following closely behind.

Once they've made their excuses and given everyone hugs and kisses goodbye, they're on the way home and as promised, Draco is bombarded with multiple questions from Sophie about magic. He answers them vaguely and Hermione tries to remind Sophie that she'll tell her more about it later on once the news has settled but her cousin continues all the way to her house and then begs for another demonstration. Hermione refuses but promises to pick her up from school the following day as a consolation prize, which she excitedly agrees to.

Sophie then excuses herself to her bedroom, leaving Hermione and Draco alone at the bottom of the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 41 for you all.
> 
> To put it simply, I had a close family death and I haven't felt like writing anything recently. This is what I had written ready for 3rd February. I know it's short but please bear with me. I'm starting to become more motivated to write so I'll upload again soon. Hopefully, I'll be back on schedule by March but no promises.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

"What time is David due home?" Draco asks, glancing down at his watch.

"My grandma said around half five," Hermione answers, heading into the kitchen.

"So any minute now." He states, taking a seat at the table whilst Hermione puts the kettle on and grabs three cups from the cupboard.

"Yeah, do you mind checking on Sophie whilst I make some drinks? I know she seemed to be coping well but it's still a lot for someone her age to take in." Hermione asks him.

Draco heads up the stairs and knocks on the door with Sophie's name written on it.

"I'm busy." She shouts back through the door.

"We just want to make sure you're alright." He says.

"I'm tired and trying to sleep," Sophie shouts again.

"Oh, sorry," Draco replies. "Sleep well." He adds before backing away from the door.

Whilst he's up here, he might as well use the bathroom to wash his face since he's starting to feel tired and run down. Is this what kids do to you? If that's the case, he'd like to change his answer on the questionnaire from three to one. He thinks to himself with a chuckle as he opens the door to reveal not a bathroom as expected, but what he assumes is David's office.

The only furnishings in the room are a desk, with something that looks like a television set on it. A chair and multiple boxes, filled with paper, scattered around the floor. He's about to close the door and carry on in his search for the bathroom when he notices the walls.

At first glance, it looks like a monochrome printed wallpaper, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be the family tree that David has mentioned during their first meeting. Curiously, Draco steps further into the room, letting the door click softly closed behind him. The first name, written at the top of the wall near the ceiling reads 'Karina Rowle' as expected. He follows the lines of the family tree through unknown members until he finally reaches 'Hermione Granger'. He's surprised, to say the least when he sees that attached to her name is his own. Especially since, as far as David knows, they aren't married yet and don't plan on getting married until after university.

Suddenly, from downstairs, he hears the front door open and then slam closed as David returns home from work.

"I'm home, Sophie." He calls up the stairs.

Draco's stomach twists. He probably shouldn't be in here. David insisted that he wasn't going to show anyone until he finished. Turning on his heel, he heads for the door but just as he's about to turn the handle, he stops. Something on family tree has caught his eye earlier but it had only just register in his brain. Spinning back around, he quickly inspects some of the names on the tree, trying to find it again but there must be at least two hundred names written on the wall.

Finally, he spots it, focusing solely on her name.

'Gwenog Jones'.

He reads and rereads her name a few times in disbelief.

"It can't be." He mutters to himself, but as far as he's aware, they year of her birth matches that of what Pansy told him about on numerous occasions. "It can't be." He repeats.

Deciding that Hermione will probably know since it's her family, he quietly leaves the room, closing the door behind him, and quickly runs down the stairs, into the kitchen. David is sat at the table, drinking a cup of tea, opposite Hermione when he enters.

"Hi Draco, Hermione was just telling what my dad said to you." He says looking sheepish. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything to him." He apologises.

"It's fine." He waves it off, turning to face Hermione. "I just remembered that we left Athena out of her cage and I might have left a window open in the kitchen." He makes up, staring at her with wide eyes, urging her to go along with it.

"I put her back in her cage before we left," Hermione says, not getting his hint as she tries to reassure him.

"Still, you can't be leaving kitchen windows open in this area. You don't know who's lurking around, waiting for the perfect opportunity to break in and steal all your valuables." David mentions.

"Yes, maybe we should head home and check on our valuables," Draco suggests, eyes still wide, almost begging Hermione to understand.

She frowns at him for a moment before nodding.

"You're right." She states, standing up as she downs the rest of her cup of tea. "We should probably get going anyway." She adds, heading towards the front door. "We'll see you tomorrow afternoon." She hugs her uncle goodbye before they leave and David closes the door behind them.

He takes her hand instantly in his, guiding her down the side of David's house where he disapparates them directly to the estate.

As soon as they're on the estate, Draco tries to quickly guide her towards their house but she frees her hand from his grasp.

"I know for a fact that there's no window open since we've never opened one since we moved in." She tells him, standing her ground. "So what was all that about?" She asks, crossing her arms across her chest.

He gives their surroundings a quick glance before taking a few steps closer.

"What do you know about Sophie's mother?" He questions quietly.

Hermione frowns at him. What has Sophie's mother got to do with anything? She left not long after she was born and they've never seen her since. David also asked that they don't ever mention her around Sophie since so they tend to just not talk about her at all.

"I know you said she left just after Sophie was born but you must know something about her." He urges her to tell him something.

"I never even met her. All I know is what my parents told me through letters. That my uncle had a girlfriend and they were pregnant, then by the time I came home for summer between second and third year, she was gone and my uncle had a three-week old daughter to raise." She explains, confused by his insistence of this woman.

"What was her name?" He whispers.

She sighs deeply as she tries to remember the name of a woman her parents haven't called by name for seven years.

"I think she was called Gwen but I'm not sure." She admits.

"Gwenog?" He suggests, raising a questioning eyebrow.

The name sound familiar but not in relation to Sophie's mother.

"I don't think so." She shakes her head.

Draco sighs, taking hold of her hand again as they set off for home again. "I need to tell you something." He mutters but doesn't elaborate for their whole walk home, leaving Hermione wondering where she recognises the name Gwenog and the name have got to do with Sophie's mother.

Draco locks the door behind them once they've entered the house. He's surprised that Hermione doesn't know more about her cousin's mother but it makes sense since she was only thirteen at the time and never actually met the woman. He guides her into the living room and onto the couch as he paces in front of her.

"When I was upstairs at David's house, I got lost on the way to the bathroom and ended up in the spare bedroom or I think it was David's office." He starts to explain.

"Okay." Hermione's still frowning at him in confusion.

"Do you remember what David said he was doing in there?" He asks, stopping in front of her.

He watches as she stares at the wall, thinking for a few minutes. He knows she remembers when her eyes quickly flicker back to his.

"He's researching our family tree. He included Sophie's mother." She states, already having figured out the link between all his questions.

"Yes, a Gwenog Jones born 1968." He announces, staring wide-eyed at her again, hoping she'll get the hint.

"You keep saying her name and I'm sure I recognise it from somewhere but I can't rem-" She abruptly stops midsentence. "You can't be serious, Draco. You think Sophie's mother is the Gwenog Jones?" She asks, finally understanding where he was heading.

"Do you know anyone else called Gwenog Jones? It makes sense and explains everything a lot better than some distant ancestor. It's very uncommon for two Muggleborns, who aren't siblings, to be born into the same family." He explains.

Hermione stands up, shaking her head. "This is all too much, Draco." She mutters. "How am I supposed to explain this to Sophie?" She asks, running her fingers through her hair. "Or David? He didn't speak to my grandma for a month once because she asked if he'd heard from her." She throws herself back onto the couch and Draco perches on the edge, next to her. "Anyway, it's probably a common name in Wales and I know Jones definitely is." She says, trying to come up with an excuse.

"I might be wrong," He suggests. "I never listened to Pansy when she was talking about her. She would never shut up." He says.

"Ginny's the same. Completely obsessed with the Holyhead Harpies." She sighs then seems to have an idea. "Ginny would know if the Gwenog Jones had any long absences from Quidditch in 1992."

"Come on then." He says, heading towards the front door.

"What? You want to go now?" She questions him, jumping up from the couch and following him.

"It will put both our minds at rest if we find out now." He explains, opening the door for her exit first.

Hermione knocks on the front door of her best friends' house with shaking hands, trying not to think about what this would mean for Sophie if her mother is the Gwenog Jones.

"Hermione!" Ginny squeals excitedly when she opens her front door.

"Hi, Gin. How are you?" She asks, stepping into the hallway and giving her friend a hug.

"Come in, Draco." She calls her as she drags Hermione into the living room. "Now where have you been?" She asks, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you in over a week and not from a lack of trying. Every time I walk around to your house, you're never in." She explains as they both sit on the couch.

"We've been busy with my family," Hermione explains. "They seem to think that because I've graduated school, I'm free to babysit whenever they want." She chuckles nervously.

"Well tell them I've got you on Wednesday. You can't miss our party." She warns her.

"I wouldn't, Ginny. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again." She tells her.

"Good," Ginny relaxes onto the couch. "Would either of you like a drink?" She asks them, making to get up.

"No thanks, Ginny." She says, placing her hand on her arm to keep her sat down. "Draco and I can't stay long, we wanted to ask you something," Hermione says, getting straight to the point.

Ginny looks between them both as she frowns in confusion. "Okay, what is it?"

"It's about the Holyhead Harpies.".

"Oh," Her face relaxes then frowns again. "Why?"

"We were just discussing Quidditch when the Holyhead Harpies came up and I suggested that we ask you since you know more about them than anyone else I know," Hermione explains.

"What do you want to know then?" She asks, still looking unsure.

Hermione turns to look at Draco for a moment, silently asking if he's sure about this. He nods his answer.

"We were wondering if Gwenog had any absences around 1992." She asks.

"That's a very specific question that doesn't really have much to do with the Holyhead's." Ginny comments.

"Didn't they lose more matches than usual during the 1992 season than any other season whilst Gwenog had been part of the team?" Draco questions.

Hermione's not sure if what Draco said is true or if he's just making it up as an explanation for their strange question, but it works.

"It wasn't much more than usual," Ginny states, defending her favourite team. "She suffered an injury in training when a bludger was hit full force into her stomach. She had terrible bruising and internal injuries. Her healer wrote her off for the rest of the season but she continued to go to training, taking it lightly, but she suffered a second injury three months later resulting in her spending a long time in St. Mungo's and then she went back to her parents' house to recover for seven months. Her life back then was very private and we're not sure how but when she came back for the 1993 season, she was fitter than ever and carried the Holyhead's to victory." Ginny explains in detail.

"Great." Hermione sighs beneath her breath.

"Now, are you going to tell me why you're really all of a sudden interested in Gwenog Jones and the Holyhead's?" Ginny asks, crossing her arms and raising a questioning eyebrow.

"We were just curious." Draco states. "And we should probably get going. We've got dinner plans." He adds, standing up.

"Hermione?" She questions her.

"Yeah, I need a shower before we go out." She corroborates Draco's excuse, following him to the front door.

Ginny huffs as she follows them. "Fine, don't tell me, I'll see you at the Burrow on Wednesday." She tells them before shutting the door behind them.

"She's not very happy with me." Hermione sighs as they set off back to their house.

"She'll get over it." Draco shrugs. "Do you want to go to the Ministry?" He asks.

"We went yesterday. I thought we agreed not to go too often." She states.

"I know you want to go to double check everything. We would only be in the archives for ten minutes at the most to find her filing cabinet and check if Sophie is listed as her child, then we'll be out before Alexander knows it." He tries to convince her.

"You're right, I do want to double check everything but I think I need to go alone." She tells him, taking hold of his hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "I think it's best if you don't come with me this time."

She can see the hurt in his eyes but he nods in agreeance.

"I'll walk you to the gate and then go over to Blaise's." He tells her, squeezing her hand back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and continuing to put up with me.
> 
> Please FOLLOW, FAVOURITE and REVIEW. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 42 for you all.
> 
> I've recently gotten my writing motivation back after such a terrible few weeks. I've worked out I've missed six chapters which you will get at random dates including the usual dates now (1st, 11th and 21st). So there's that to look forward to.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco knocks on the front door once more and waits a few seconds longer than he usually would before turning to head back home. However, he only takes a few steps when he hears a door open.

"Mr Malfoy?" A small voice calls after him.

He glances over his shoulder to find a small woman stood on the doorstep of the house next to Blaise's.

With a hopefully friendly smile, he turns around. "Yes."

"They're not in." She tells him, nodding towards his friend's house.

"Yes, I figured that out myself, thank you." He tells her and turns to walk off again.

"They had an argument last night." She says, making him stop in his tracks.

"When did they argue?" He asks curiously since he and Hermione had been with then from late last night until early in the morning.

The woman shrugs. "Around half three this morning. Luna stormed out around four. It sounded like Blaise was throwing things around for a while after that. Then everything went quiet for a few minutes before their front door slammed again. No one's been back since."

Draco stares at the woman for a moment to take it in. Neither Blaise nor Luna are the kind of people to shout and throw things during an argument. He knows from experience that Blaise hates to argue, instead choosing to walk away from an argument.

"Did you hear what the argument was about?" He questions the women.

"Something about the future. That was brought up a lot. Although most arguments around here are about the future." She nods as though that's common knowledge so Draco nods back.

"Well, thank you." He offers her a smile, then turns on his heel and walks out of the gate where he disapparates away.

Hermione apparates straight to the disapparation floor of the Ministry then sets of straight for the lifts to take her straight to sub-level 47. She's hoping to be in and out before the Ministry Official has time to inform Alexander Vyner. She's not sure if she's fortunate or not when the Official sat at the desk isn't the same one as yesterday.

The new Official is leaning back in his chair, feet resting on his desk, with today's copy of the Daily Prophet open on his lap. He glances up over the top of his glasses when her footsteps sound closer. His eyebrow rises slightly at her appearance but he quickly goes back to his newspaper. With a flick of his wand, the door to the archives open for her.

"Thank you." She nods as she walks pass, entering the corridor.

The door shuts softly behind her as she quickly sets off towards the archive door. She's not sure how the Department of Registration knew she had looked in the Zykan's filing cabinet, probably a tracking charm that transfers information onto a particular piece of parchment, but she needed to be out of the archives before Mr Vyner's informed. The new official most likely would have been told to inform Mr Vyner when she or Draco arrives but by the look of him, the official will probably wait until he's finished his current page of the Daily Prophet. Hermione estimates that she had at least five minutes at most.

Not wanting to waste any valuable time walking down a corridor, she jogs to the door and keys in the combination to open it. Making sure the door is closed properly behind her, she turns the lights on. Before they've reached the other end of the archives, Hermione's opening the 'JO – JY' filing cabinet.

She has to flick pass many Jones' before she reaches 'Gwenog Jones'. When she reaches it, she whips it out but then hesitates before opening the file. She's about to find out whether Sophie's related in any way to the Quidditch Queen, Gwenog Jones. She's not sure she's ready but knowing that she only has two minutes at the most to leave the archives, she opens it.

Gwenog's file must be at least three inches thick. Her heart is heavy as her eyes skim reads through the first piece of parchment, looking for her cousin's name. She spots it halfway through the second paragraph and her heart sinks. However, it's in relation to Gwenog's mother, an English, half-blood.

As far as Hermione was aware, her uncle David had named her cousin. Maybe it was a coincidence. Although, if the events of the past few weeks have taught her anything, it's that when it comes to Sophie, nothing is a coincidence. She quickly continues in her searching for Sophie's name and she finds it.

Hermione rereads the paragraph a few times before closing the file, shoving it back in the filing cabinet and running out of the archives. She hears the door slam shut behind her as she carries on running towards the Ministry Official sat in the foyer. She stops behind the door, to catch her breath, before exiting calmly.

The official is in the middle of writing, what she assumes is a note to Mr Vyner, when she walks passed him. He pauses in his writing for a second before continuing to scribble his note and with a flick of his wand, it's sent flying off. He seems to be watching her nervously as she waits for the lift to arrive. When it does, she enters, flashing him a small smile as she presses the button for the apparition floor. As soon as the lift doors close, her smile falls.

She needs to speak to her uncle but after the last time Sophie's mother was brought up, she's not sure how or when she should do it. Sooner rather than later would be better since she the information would help to better explain everything to both David and Sophie.

The lift pings, signalling its arrival. Hermione steps out and is halfway down the corridor when she realises that she got out on the wrong floor. Annoyed with herself, she heads back to the lift and ends up waiting another five minutes for the lift to arrive.

When she finally reaches the disapparation floor, she apparates straight to the side of David's house, hidden behind the bushes. She takes a deep breath to calm herself then composes her face into what she hopes is a strictly business facial expression before walking around the corner and knocking on the front door.

Sophie answers the door.

"Hermione!" She smiles widely upon seeing her. She glances behind her before leaning closer and whispering, "Did you check the magic register?"

"Yes, I did." Hermione's face softens as her cousin stares up at her hopefully.

"Am I-"

"Sophie!" David's voice comes from the stairs as he hurries down them. "What have I told you about opening the front door?" He asks her rhetorically.

Her eyes widen as she quickly shakes her head.

"You are and we'll speak soon," Hermione whispers to Sophie as David reaches the floor. "I just need to speak to your dad. It's very important." She announces, composing her face once more as she stares up at her uncle.

David looks confused but seems to recognise the importance in her face and voice.

"Come in then." He invites her in, closing the door behind her.

"Sophie, why don't you head upstairs whilst you dad and I talk," Hermione suggests.

Her cousin looks frightened as she shakes her head again. "No. You said-"

"It's getting late, Sophie. I think it's about time you were going to bed." David tells her, patting her hair.

"But I-" She starts, not taking her eyes from Hermione's.

"Sophie, its bed time. Go brush your teeth." David orders.

Sophie stares at Hermione for a second longer before running up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door shut.

"She's been acting strangely all night." David states. "Did something happen at you grandma and grandad's house?" He asks curiously, leading her into the kitchen where he fills the kettle up and places it to boil.

"Not that I'm aware," Hermine answers, leaning against the kitchen table.

"Well, I was rather busy marking mock GCSE exams which I need to finish for tomorrow first period, so if you don't mind, can we get straight to whatever is very important?" He asks, grabbing two cups from the cupboard and throwing a tea bag in each one.

"I won't be staying long." She states. "You don't need to make me a cup of tea."

David glances over his shoulder at her before putting the tea bag back in the pot and the cup back in the cupboard.

"What's this about then, Hermione?" He asks as he pours two teaspoons of sugar into the remaining cup. "You've got me worrying what can be so important."

"You're not going to like what I'm about to ask you." She explains, walking around the kitchen table to take a seat.

Her uncle pauses, his back still turned on her.

"Let me make my tea then." He sighs, pouring boiling water into his cup.

He takes a seat opposite her at the table, placing his cup of tea in front of him. He claps his hands under his chin, leaning on the table.

"Go on then." He nods at her.

"Who's Sophie's mother?" She whispers in the hope that the quieter she asks, the less angry he'll be.

David's face turns instantaneously. His chair scrapes across the kitchen floor as he pushes away from the table.

"Did your grandma set you up to this?" He hisses at her.

"No, she doesn-"

"You can tell her that I haven't heard from her since she left." He glares at her. "Now get out of my house." He growls, pointing towards the door.

"David, grandma didn-" She tries to explain.

"Get out!" He repeats.

"Will you let me explain?" Hermione stands her ground.

"No. I don't know why you're here asking about her but I want you to leave. Now!" David says, taking a step towards her.

"I'm sorry." She tells him sincerely before gripping her wand in her pocket and muttering 'Silencio'.

Although the effect is instant, it takes her uncle a few seconds to realise that there's no sound coming from his mouth as he continues to shout at her. She watches guiltily as his eyes widen and hands fly to his throat. She reads the words 'hello' a few times on his lips as he tries to speak. He must come to the realisation that all the shouting has resulted in him losing his voice as he sighs deeply yet silently and reaches for his cup of tea. Taking a sip, he tries to speak again. He facial features start to look worried and concerned as he sips more of his tea.

"David, since you've lost your voice. I'm going to ask you some questions that I need the answers to. I want you to shake or nod your head. Please just do this for me and I'll never bring it up again. Okay?" Hermione explains to him.

He seems to consider it for a moment before once again pointing towards the front door with a mixture of emotions on his face.

"Did you know her as Gwen or Gwenog?" She asks, not making any move towards the door.

David's eyes narrow in anger as he frowns at her.

"I'll take that as Gwenog. Gwenog Jones?" She mentions and her uncle's expression doesn't change.

"Have you heard anything from her since she left in 1992?" She questions him.

It happens so quickly that she almost missed it, but her uncle's gaze flickered away from her own for a split second.

"When did you last see her?" She asks but he shakes his head, reminding her that he's unable to speak at the moment. "Do you still continue to see her?" She asks instead and he shakes his head again. "Have you seen her in the last year?"

David doesn't respond for a long time and Hermione's about to ask a different question when he slowly nods once.

"In May?" She questions, already knowing the answer.

Her uncle cocks his head to the side as he nods curiously.

Gwen had come to check that the family she had abandoned all those years ago were still alive. She's probably heard about muggle's who were in any way affiliated with wizards and witches being tortured and murdered by Voldemort's followers, and they had no qualms about torturing and murdering children. It makes sense that she would want to see with her own eyes that her daughter hadn't been harmed. What Hermione wants to know, is why she left in the first place?

"When she left, did she give you a reason?" She asks curiously.

David huffs silently and rolls his eyes.

"An unsatisfactory reason." She states and David nods.

Since David hasn't tried to force her to leave in the past few minutes, Hermione reaches into her pocket and subtly counters the spell, sending her uncle coughing and spluttering. He grabs his cup of tea from the kitchen table, sipping it until he's composed himself.

"Hello?" He questions, testing his voice, which comes out rather croaky. "Hmm, I'm not sure what happened there." He laughs awkwardly, taking another sip from his cup of tea, before seeming to remember what they had been having a one-way conversation about.

He huffs again, making a noise this time. "She left me a letter which went into great detail on how it was for the best in order to protect Sophie and I and if the world ever became a safer place, she would return." David laughs. "Protect from what, she didn't say. Is it for the best that Sophie's had to grow up without a mother? She's not stupid either, Sophie knows her mum left out of her own selfish reason. To keep us safe." He scoffs shaking his head.

"What happened when you saw her last May?" Hermione asks, taking a cautious step towards him.

"She came to the school and requested to see me. I received a call over the tannoy system to make my way to the office. I couldn't believe my eyes when she smiled at me." He growls angrily. "I took out into the carpark, asked her what she wanted after years of no contact." David laughs again. "She said, 'It's finally safe enough for her to return to us.' I told her that if she ever came anywhere near me or my daughter again, nowhere would be safe for her. The message obviously got through since I haven't heard from her since." He explains proudly.

Hermione nods as she takes it all in. She's not sure whether she should feel sorry for her uncle or for Gwen. There had been rumours going around the wizarding world since before Hermione even knew it existed that Voldemort would return. Although, she doesn't know how Gwen found out any of it was true in 1992. She could have somehow heard about the incident between Harry and Professor Quirrell in their first year but as far as most people were concerned back then, Voldemort, or whatever that had been on the back of Quirrell's head, had died with him. Hermione has no idea how Gwenog knew enough to fear the safety of her daughter back then.

"Are you sure she didn't mention anything in the letter about what she was protecting you from?" She questions him.

"It was a very short and to the point letter. The main points were that she was leaving to protect us, she would return when it was safe and she would miss us." He scoffs again.

"Could I perhaps read this letter?" She asks hopefully.

David shakes his head. "I set it on fire in a fit of rage after one too many sleepless nights of raising a baby." He admits. "Speaking of which, I apologise for my anger earlier but I want you to leave now. I need to check on Sophie and get back to marking those mock exams. I would appreciate it if you never brought her name up again." He leads her towards the front door. "As you promised." He adds, making a point.

"Of course, David." She nods. "I'm sorry for bringing it up but it was important." She mentions as she steps outside. "I'll see you later." She gives him a sincere smile before turning on her heel and walking down the drive towards the path. When she hears the front door close and lock behind her, she takes a detour to the garden path at the side of her uncle's house, where she safely disapparates back to the estate.

Draco apparates to Diagon Alley, heading straight for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. He spots Blaise sat at the window table, scowling into his bowl of ice-cream as he mixed his topping, probably toffee chunks, into a mushy mess. At that moment, Blaise looks up through the window, smiling sadly when he spots Draco stood on the opposite side of the street.

He weaves his way through the group of people and into the parlour where he takes a seat next to Blaise. His friend doesn't look up but continues to stare down at his ice-cream.

"How long have you been here?" Draco asks him, looking his usually fashionable friend up and down. He's wearing the same clothes he had been wearing last night when they celebrated Blaise's new job.

He glances at his wrist and scoffs. "Since half four." He mutters.

"You've been here for nearly five hours? I hope you bought more than that." He tries to joke.

"Half four this morning." Blaise reiterates.

Draco scowls in confusion. "They don't open until eight."

"I know that." He rolls his eyes. "I sat on the doorstep until Hannah came to open up."

He shook his head at his friend. "Your neighbour said you and Luna had an argument." He states and Blaise frowns. "What was it about?" He asks.

"She wants to go to Australia for a month to track one of her made up creatures." He sighs.

"You didn't use the words 'made up creatures', did you?" He asks but by Blaise's expression, he didn't need an answer. "Oh, Blaise. What happened?"

"It wasn't long after you left." He starts. "We were cuddling on the couch when she brought it up. Apparently, her father has a friend in Australia who thinks he's found the trace of the… whatever they are. Her father asked us to go with him for a month long expedition to track them. He thinks it would be a good family bonding holiday or something. I was pretty excited until she said that we needed to leave on tomorrow night. Well, I've just got that interpreter job with the Ministry starting next Monday so I ask if it could wait," Blaise scoffs before carrying on. "Apparently the trace of this creature will only be present for another couple of days and it's already starting to fade. They're only waiting for tomorrow night so they can register a portkey. She said this holiday was very important to both her and her father. I said this job is very important to both me and our future. She then said she was going with or without me so I told her that it was without me and she stormed out." Blaise sighs. "Am I an idiot?" He asks.

"Almost certainly," He laughs and Blaise scowls at him. "The Italian minister's only here for a week, right?" He nods. "Why can't you meet up with them afterwards? You'll still have two and a half weeks holiday with them." Draco suggests.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Blaise hums to himself as he gazes out the window. "I need to go." He jumps out of his chair, throwing a few coins on the table next to his mess of an ice-cream bowl, then leaves.

"Bye then," Draco calls after him sarcastically, watching through the window as his friend runs over to the alley where he disapparates away.

"Has he finally gone?" Hannah asks as she collects the ice-cream bowl and tip.

"I do hope so." He answers as he stands up.

"I don't want to kick you out or anything but I was supposed to lock up an hour ago," Hannah explains.

"No worries." He heads towards the door. "You should have kicked Blaise out." He adds with a smile as he leaves.

Hannah locks the door behind him. He glances up and down the street. There's a few people walking towards the Leaky Cauldron and a couple gazing through the window of Flourish and Blotts but other than them, the street is empty. For a lack of anything else to do, Draco disapparates back to the estates then walks back to their house.

He feeds Athena once he's back in the house, leaving her cage gate open as he goes throughout the house, tidying up. Since he doesn't know when Hermione will be back, he decides to run himself a bath. He hasn't had one in years opting instead for showers, even when he had access to the prefects' bathroom at Hogwarts. However, right now, it seems like the perfect way to relax for half an hour.

Embarrassingly for him, he's never run himself a bath before and therefore didn't know how much bubble bath was the right about. This results in most of the bath being hidden beneath a sea of lavender scented bubbles. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good bath, he climbs in, sliding down beneath the bubbles into the hot water below. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he sinks deeper down until his chin is resting just above the water.

It's with relief that Hermione finds the front door unlocked when she returns home as she's eager to tell Draco everything she had found out at the Ministry and from her uncle, although she'll skip the part where she used a spell on her own family. She takes her shoes off in the foyer, placing them next to Draco's, before entering the living room where Athena flies straight to her, landing on her shoulder.

"Hello, dear." She greets her, rubbing the top of her head. "Where's Draco gotten too then?" She asks as she walks through into the kitchen, only to find it empty also. "Let's check the bedroom and bathroom." She tells Athena, heading up the stairs.

The bedroom door is wide open, revealing nobody in the room, however, the bathroom door is shut. She knocks on the door and calls Draco's name but there's no answer. To double check she opens the door, pushing it open slowly, giving Draco enough time to notice and shout at her to get out if he is in there but she doesn't hear anything.

Hermione stands in the doorway in shock when the door is fully open, revealing a mass of bubbles on top the bathtub.

"Draco!" She calls out, wondering if he's somewhere beneath the bubbles.

Suddenly, his head pops up through the bubbles and she can't stop laughing.

"You look like Father Christmas." She tells him through her giggles.

With a frown, he reaches up with a bubble covered hand to wipe away the bubbles from his face and hair but the action only leaves more bubbles in its path, which makes Hermione laugh harder.

She takes a seat on the toilet lid. "Why are there so many bubbles?" She asks, holding in her laugh.

"I didn't realise so little liquid could create so many bubbles." He mutters, sinking back down under the water, which is when Hermione realises that he's in the bath, naked.

"Erm, well, I'll see you downstairs when you're… finished and I can tell you what I found out." She explains, standing up.

"Stay," Draco tells her as she's about to leave. "You can tell me here." He adds, peaking over the top of the bubbles again.

"Alright" She sits back down on the toilet lid as Draco slides up the bathtub so his whole head is visible. "Well, you were right. As usual." She smiles at him.

"Which part was I right about?" He questions.

"Gwenog is Sophie's mother. 'Gwenog Jones is the only daughter of Thomas and Sophie Jones, a half-blood welsh family. Although never married, in 1991, she was in a relationship with a muggle, David Adair, with whom they had a daughter, Sophie Adair, born 1992. Due to Gwenog's growing celebrity status, she left her daughter to be raised in the muggle world with her father.'" Hermione scoffs as she stands up and starts pacing the bathroom.

"Due to her growing celebrity status?" He asks for confirmation.

"Yes, although she told David that it was to protect both him and Sophie." She explains.

"How do you know that?" He asks confused.

"Oh, I went to see David after I read Gwenog's file at the Ministry. I was only in the archives for five minutes at the most." She admits.

"How did David take your questioning?" He asks.

"Not well at all," She looks at Athena, who's now sat on the edge of the sink. "But I got the answers in the end."

"What's the next plan of action then?" He wonders aloud. "Are you going to confront Gwen?" He suggests.

"I have to. I need to hear it from her point of view why she left." She nods. "I don't understand what she thought she was protecting them from. Nobody knew about Voldemort's return until 1994 and even then the majority of people didn't actually believe he was back until 1995." She explains.

"She must have a reason and there's no point making assumptions until you've heard her side. Are you going to see her tomorrow?" He asks.

"We've got Gregory and Megan's party tomorrow." She reminds him.

"That's not until the afternoon. You could go in the morning." He suggests.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" She asks when he doesn't include himself in her plans.

"I'm planning on going to the manor to get my hair cut. I didn't think you'd want to come."

"No, I don't." She shakes her head. "If you're busy, I might as well go find her." She sighs. "You know, at the Partner Ceremony, I thought you'd spend most of your time at the manor and I could live a quiet life here on my own."

"Thanks." He huffs, sliding further under the bubbles that were beginning to disappear.

"I'm not complaining." She tells him. "I've just come to the realisation that I'm probably never going to live a quiet life. Especially not in the wizarding world." She explains, standing up once more, ready to leave.

"Do you want a quiet life?" Draco asks her quietly.

She takes a few moments to think. "One day, it would be nice to settle down for a quiet life but right now, I'm actually enjoying my eventful life with you." She smiles at his bubbly head as she leaves with Athena, closing the bathroom door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I also got an Instagram solely for my 'Dumbledore's Wisdom' pseudonym. I'm called 'bigdswisdom'.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and continuing to put up with me.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 43 for you all.
> 
> Happy April Fools Day!
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione's lying in bed, reading a book, when Draco finally vacates the bathroom, wearing his pyjama bottoms and a towel around his shoulders. He perches on the edge of the bed, throwing his head down to dry his hair with the towel.

"I'm tired of this hair." He mutters as he roughly dries his hair.

"Come here." Hermione sighs, placing her book on the bedside table and crawling over to Draco.

Taking the towel out of his hands, she kneels behind him and gently massages his head with the towel, drying his hair. Draco breathes out deeply, relaxing under her touch.

"Wait a second." She tells him, climbing off the bed to rummage through her toiletry bag for her argan hair oil. She pours a few drops onto the palm of her hand before returning to Draco. "This will help make your hair softer and silkier." She mentions as she instructs him to throw his head forward.

Slowly, Hermione massages the oil from the roots of his hair to the tips. Draco purrs softly once, stopping her in her hand movements for a split second before she carries on with a smile. When she's finished, she wipes her hands on the towel before grabbing her wand and a comb to complete the drying process. She gently combs his hair back as her wand emits a soft, warm wind. Once she's done, she runs her hand through his now dry, soft hair, leaving it at the nape of his neck.

Draco lifts his head up to meet Hermione's eyes and is taken aback by the fondness behind them. He watches as her eyes flutter from his own to his lips then back again. Taking that as an invitation, he leans up, capturing her lips with his own. She gasps, probably not expecting him to make a move, and he makes another bold move by tentatively licking where their lips meet. He's met with an approving noise so he continues, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other up her back and into her hair, pulling her closer.

Shocking Draco, and maybe Hermione herself, she takes the lead, pushing him back down onto the bed. She follows him by climbing onto the bed and running her hands up his bare, scarred chest as she straddles his lap.

"I've been too afraid to ask how you go these." She mentions, tracing the longest on from his left shoulder to near his bellybutton.

"You don't need to know." He mutters, self-consciously covering his chest with his arms but she takes a hold of his wrists, pinning them above his head.

"I want to know." She mutters, leaning forward kiss chastely kiss his lips. "Please." She adds.

"It was our sixth year," He starts with a sigh, avoiding eye contact by staring at the ceiling. "I was in the bathroom when Harry came in. I didn't recognise the spell but it was definitely Dark Magic."

"This is what Harry did to you?" She stares down at his chest, taking one hand from his wrists to run up and down the scares. "He told us about it. I didn't realise it had been so serious." She mutters.

"I ended up losing a lot of blood and had to be sewn shut at St Mungo's." He explains. "I deserved it." He adds quietly.

"You deserved something but you didn't deserve a near-death experience." She tells him. "A good bat bogey hex would have done the trick." She adds with a chuckle, making him smile.

"I've heard those are Ginny's speciality. Would he have set his girlfriend on me?" He jokes with a smile.

Hermione chuckles, resting her head against his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me." She mutters, kissing his shoulder.

When he shivers, she kisses her way towards his neck and along his jawline. Draco hums happily as her lips meet his once again in a slow kiss. Her hands make their way through his hair, gently pulling at the strands that catch in her fingers. Draco takes the opportunity to run one of his hands down her thigh, pulling her closer to his body. Taking the hint, Hermione presses her body harder against his, eliciting a groan from him. Arching his back, Draco presses his bare chest against Hermione's clothed one, wishing that wasn't the case. Wishing he could feel the heat from her chest, skin on skin, but not wanting to push them too far.

However, Hermione has a different idea as she sits up, Draco follows eagerly after her, watching in utter admiration as she quickly removes her nightshirt before pulling their bodies together once more for another passionate kiss.

With one hand in her hair and the other running up her bare back, Draco takes the lead, lowering them down onto her back, the added pressure increasing the warmth across their chests. Removing his hand from her back, he lifts her chin up, exposing her neck with which kisses down to her clavicle. The groan that escapes her lips as his teeth nip at her skin does things to Draco that he tries to ignore but unless they cease soon, they'll both have to acknowledge his reaction, which is something he doesn't think they're ready for.

He kisses his way back up her neck to her lips, which he kisses deeply for a little while longer, before pulling her into a tight embrace beneath the quilt. He buries his head in the crook of her neck. They lay in silence, entwined in each other's arms, trying to catch their breaths and their thoughts, however, not before long, they're both fast asleep.

When Hermione awakes in the morning, it's alone. She rolls onto her back with a sigh, rubbing her face tiredly. Had they taken it too far last night? She doesn't think so but maybe Draco regretted it this morning, left their bed embarrassed. Hoping that she's wrong, she climbs out of bed, takes a summery dress out of the wardrobe and pulls it on along with a little denim jacket before making her way downstairs and into the living room. As soon as she opens the door, the smell of eggs and bacon wafting through the rooms.

"Morning." Draco greets her with a kiss on the cheek when she enters the kitchen then hands her a cup of tea.

"Good Morning." She replies, pulling him back towards her for a proper kiss. "What are you making for breakfast?" She asks him, pulling herself up onto the counter.

"Just an egg and bacon sandwich. Nothing fancy, just something to fuel our busy day." He smiles at her.

"What time are you going to the manor?" She asks, sipping at her cup of tea.

"Around ten o'clock. If I go any later, my mother might invite me for lunch."

"Maybe you should stay for lunch, I don't want to come between you and your mother. She's the only family you've got left." She says, staring down at her cup of tea.

"She's the one coming between us." He states. "I do hope that I have a new family now anyway." He adds as he fills two bread buns with rashers of bacon and a fried egg.

"Of course you have a new family. One who cares about you and accepts you but I don't want you to forget about Narcissa. You're all she has left." Hermione explains.

"Are you forgiving her? After what she said to you." He questions, as though she's lost her mind.

"No, I'm not forgiving her. Just recognising where she's coming from. Your mother was raised with certain beliefs and has held those beliefs for the past forty-something years." She further explains as she takes her plate.

"So you're excusing her?" He asks.

"No, I just think the best thing you can do as her son and my husband is to try and change the way she sees the world. It might take a while but I'm telling you now if she doesn't change, there's no way on Earth that I will let our children anywhere near her." She states seriously. "I'm not sure if she'll care but you can try and use that as a bribe." She adds, taking her plate and cup of tea to the kitchen table

Draco follows her to the table but doesn't say much more, seemingly lost in thought.

"Draco!" She places a hand over his on the table to gain his attention.

When he looks up, he smiles at her, turning his hand over to grasp her hand in his.

"I'm going to head out soon. I want to talk to Gwenog as soon as possible." She tells him. "I'll stop by Diagon Alley on the way back and pick Gregory and Megan a present up." She squeezes his hand once before standing up and taking her dirty dishes to the sink to be washed up. "I'll try to be back around one o'clock to get ready for their party." She adds as she walks back over to Draco, tilting his head back to quickly kiss him before heading upstairs to brush her teeth.

Draco waits until he hears the front door close before flicking his wand towards the dirty dishes in the sink. He's heading towards the stairs to get dressed for a visit to the manor when he spots a book on the armchair. He doesn't think either of them has used that chair yet. Hermione probably threw the book on the chair yesterday at some point. He walks over to it, intending to place it back on the bookshelf when he recognises it as 'The Black's Family Tree' book he took from the manor's attic on his birthday.

He pauses for a moment with the book in his hand before placing it on the coffee table and carrying on up the stairs to get changed into a good, pureblood outfit that his mother would be proud of. When he's ready, he picks the book up before leaving, locking the door behind him.

As he walks towards the gate, he turns to a random page in the book, Cassiopeia Black, and reads about his ancestors. He's ready about four of his family members when he reaches the gate and had their eyes glare at him disapprovingly for a few moments before disappearing. He closes the book as he disapparates to the manor, placing it in his pocket as he walks down the garden path towards the front door.

Knocking on the door, he expects Mitty or Gharther to answer but instead, his mother does.

"Draco!" She narrows her eyes slightly at him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She questions, stepping aside to let him enter over the threshold.

"I need a haircut and I did hope I could stay for lunch." He answers, taking Hermione's advice.

"Will your wife be joining us?" She grins far too politely.

"Play nice, mother." He snaps at her. "You know fine well that Hermione won't be joining me on any visits in the foreseeable future."

Ignoring any further comment she might make, Draco heads straight towards the kitchens, where he hopes to find Mitty. Unfortunately, he only finds Gharther, preparing lunch. He seems to be aware of his arrival as he has made enough food for both his mother and himself.

"Mitty!" He calls out and a split second later, his house-elf is stood in front of him, bowing lowly.

"Master!" She exclaims. "Master come visit Mitty?" She asks.

"Yes, I have. Although, I do need a haircut as well." He tells her, pushing back the hair that had fallen in front of his face, to punctuate the point.

"Yes, Master." Mitty bows again then, with a click of her fingers, a chair appears in front of one of the kitchen counters. "Please, Master. Sit down, Sir." She orders him to sit so he does, taking the book out of his pocket to read as Mitty cuts his hair.

He's just finished reading about Regulus Black and about to start reading about Hyperion Malfoy when Mitty asks him to turn around so she can reach his fringe. He closes the book, placing it back in his pocket and closing his eyes so Mitty can finish his hair. When she's done, she clicks her finger and a mirror appears before him, showing him his new haircut, which is the same just shorter. Thankfully, she kept his fringe a little longer than usual to hide the scar on his forehead that's still taking it's time to fade.

He thanks her, then heads into the dining room, where his mother is sat reading the paper, to wait for their lunch.

"I've always thought you looked more handsome with your hair short but, of course, your father wanted you to grow it long in following with the Malfoy tradition." His mother announces once he's sat down.

"I prefer it this length. It's much more manageable." He mentions, running his hand through his hair in a way that had become a habit recently.

His mother simply nodded before going back to her newspaper. Draco took his book back out, curious as to who Hyperion Malfoy was. He's just wondering whether he married into the Black's or if his mother was a Black when the book flies out of hand, across the table and into his mother's tight grasp.

"Where did you get this book from?" She asks with a breathy voice, staring down at the cover of the book.

"You said I could choose any book from the attic for my birthday." He reminds her. "I chose that one. I'm curious about your side of the family since the Malfoy's tend to have very few relatives." He explains.

"You can't have this one. You can choose another one but you can't have this one." She stands up abruptly, hugging the book to her chest as she rushes from the room.

"Mother!" He runs after her, catching her on the staircase. "What's in that book that you don't want me to see?" He questions, reaching out to grab the book.

"There are something that you don't need to know about, dear." She tells him, jerking the book away from him.

Draco narrows his eyes at his mother. "Who are you to decide what I do and don't need to know?" He asks rhetorically, reaching again for the book.

"As the rightful owner of this book, it is my job to keep this book out of the wrong hands, which includes you, Draco. I apologise, but you can't have this book." She explains before turning on her heel and carrying on quickly up the stairs.

However, Draco doesn't leave it there, following her once more and making one last effort to reach for the book, he grabs hold of her wrist, making her stop.

"DRACO!" She shouts. "This is none of your concern." She tugs her arm free, then takes the last couple of steps to the landing.

"Mother, who's Hyperion Malfoy?" He asks. He only wants the book back so he can find out more about his family.

The question makes his mother stop dead in her tracks, at the tops of the stairs. She slowly turns back around to face him.

"Excuse me?" She glares down the stairs at him.

"Hyperion Malfoy. Who is he? I saw his name in the book but I've never heard his name being mentioned before."

His mother continues to stare at him for a prolonged moment before taking her wand out and tapping the cover of the book. Instantly, the book erupts with flames as she drops the book on the floor.

"You were mistaken. There is no Hyperion Malfoy." She turns once more on the spot, then rushes to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

Draco tries his hardest to save the book but by the time he puts the fire out, the entire book is burned black, unreadable. Still, he collects the remains, hoping he'll be able to somebody he might be able to save the pages at the very least.

With his mother locked in her bedroom, Draco decides not so overstay his welcome and leaves after bidding Mitty a goodbye with a promise to visit her more often. He rushes to the end of the garden path, disapparating as close to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom. I follow back and post sneak peaks of future chapters.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and continuing to put up with me.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you! Xx


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 44 for you all.
> 
> Here's an extra chapter for you all. It's one of the missing six that I didn't post during February and March.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione disapparates straight from the gates of the estate to the gates of the grounds of The Holyhead Harpies stadium. Although Ginny had begged her many times to attend games with her, she always found a reason to excuse herself and had never actually visited the stadium before.

At the gate, there's a woman sat in a small booth, guarding the gate. Hermione knocks on the door, making the guard, who's reading a magazine, to jump. She quickly hides the magazine underneath a pile of parchment before opening the door.

"Hello, welc- Miss Granger?" The woman gasps, shaking her hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to The Holyhead Harpies Stadium. I'm Dana Jordan. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" She asks with a slight western American accent that Hermione can't pinpoint.

"I was hoping I could come in for a visit." Hermione states with a polite smile.

Dana laughs out loud. "Really? But you hate Quidditch."

Hermione doesn't ever publically stating that she hated Quidditch or ever reading anything in the Daily Prophet about her hatred of the sport. She doesn't even hate it that much, just has a strong disliking of it. The Quidditch World Cup was fun, up until the Death Eaters attacked.

"Sorry, my cousin, Lee, told me you would always read a book during Hogwarts games if you turned up at all." She explains.

"Lee Jordan?" Hermione asks for clarification.

"Yeah, my mom and his dad are siblings. My dad's American and works in MACUSA so we live over there. My mom and I came to England for holidays though." She nods. "So you really want a visit the stadium?"

"Actually, it's my friend, Ginny Potter's, birthday in a couple of months and she's a big fan of the Holyhead Harpies, I was hoping to get her a special tour of the stadium and grounds and maybe she could meet some of the players. She's a massive fan of Gwenog." Hermione lies, faking excitement.

"That so sweet. I think you'll need to speak with the manager of the club though. I'll give you a visitor's pass and let you through the gate. Someone will meet you at the clubhouse, just follow the sidewalk." She hands her a visitor's pass then takes her wand out of her pocket. With the flick of her wand and the mutter of a few chosen words, the gate opens wide enough for Hermione to pass through.

Hermione takes a few steps down the path before stopping in awe. She glances around at how green everything is behind the wall. There are small trees planted around the entirety of the wall with nettle bushes weaving their way between the trunks. Strangely, growing in between branches of the bushes are thousands of daffodils creating rather a beautiful picture of the welsh countryside. All that's missing are rolling welsh hills, although she assumes hills aren't the best for Quidditch.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Dana calls through the gates. "I wish I could see them from my little booth." She sighs. "Anyway, I just called up to the club house and got Gwenog to meet you at the door. You can run your idea by her before you speak with the manager."

"Thank you, Dana," Hermione calls back as she sets off walking down the path.

Hermione slows her walk to a stroll once she's half way towards the manor that must be the clubhouse. She hadn't thought much further than getting into the grounds of the stadium. She doesn't know what she's going to say once she comes face to face with Gwen. Does Gwenog know who Hermione is in relation to David and Sophie? Hermione never did meet Gwenog, although she can attribute that to being too busy with the Heir of Slytherin that academic year. She stopped sending letters home after she accidentally transformed herself partially into a cat, due to embarrassment. Then she was too preoccupied with trying to figure out how people were getting petrified and her school work to send any more than one letter a month home. She didn't even know she had a baby cousin until she got home for the summer and even then she didn't get to see Sophie until after they got back from a two week holiday to France. By that time, her mother was no longer around and her parents told her not to ask questions about it.

"Hermione Granger." Somebody calls her from the top of the steps to the clubhouse.

She glances up, shielding her eyes from the sun, to find Gwenog Jones stood with her hands on her hips and a bright smile on her face. Hermione takes her posture to mean that she doesn't know of her relation to her abandoned daughter.

"Gwenog Jones." Hermione smiles back politely as she climbs the steps, shaking the other woman's hand when she reaches the top.

"Mrs Johnson is busy in a meeting at the moment so I've been asked to give you a tour of the grounds and clubhouse." She explains.

"Great, I actually wanted to talk to you." Hermione states as Gwenog leads her back down the steps and around the side of the manor.

"Yes, Dana mentions it's your friend's birthday and she's a big fan of us," Gwen says.

"Oh, yes, Ginny Weasley- Potter. It's her nineteenth birthday." Hermione nods.

"We've got a summer house over there," She points to the far corner of the grounds where Hermione can just about see a wooden door between the branches of the trees and bushes. "We call it our Muggle house." She chuckles. "You'll see in a minute."

When they reach the door, Gwenog taps the door handle with her wand, causing it to swing open into a room much larger than what the exterior would suggest. On one of the couches was another one of the Holyhead Harpies, watching the television and sipping at a bottle of coke, much to Hermione's amazement.

"There are two Muggleborns and three half-bloods with a muggle parent on the team," Gwenog explains. "Then there's also a few of us who have spent a while living in the muggle world at some point." She adds, walking off towards the pool table. "Do you play?" She asks, picking up a cue.

"Not really, no," Hermione replies. "How long did you live in the muggle world for?" She asks.

Gwen seems shocked for a moment before realising what she said a moment ago. "About eight months. I got a bad Quidditch injury in December 1991 and wanted to recover in private so I moved in with a friend I had in the muggle world." She explains vaguely, placing the cue back in its stand.

"Is there anywhere a little more private we could go?" Hermione asks. "To talk about my friend's birthday. I want it to be a surprise so the fewer people who hear us, the better." She adds.

"Of course, there's a little terrace out the back. I'll lock the door behind us." She leads the way towards the back of the summer house and out onto the terrace where there are a bench and a few garden chairs.

Gwen takes a seat on one of the chairs facing the bench so Hermione sits opposite her.

"So where you wanting Ginny to be taken on a tour of the grounds and clubhouse then introduced to the players. We could organise a small buffet for lunch, does that sound like something she'd like?" Gwen asks.

"That sounds great. I'm sure Ginny would just be glad to be here." Hermione smiles, trying to think of a way to transition onto the topic of Sophie and David.

"So when is Ginny's birthday?" She asks.

Hermione sighs. She's going to have to be abrupt here. "I'm sorry Gwen but I'm not actually here to talk about Ginny's birthday." She announces.

"What?" Gwen's eyes widen as she glances towards the terrace door which she locked behind her. "Why are you here then?" She asks, sounding nervous.

"I want to talk about David and Sophie Adair." She states, watching her face intently.

Gwen's lip wobbles slightly as she rapidly blinks but she doesn't break their eye contact.

"I'm not sure I know who they are." Her voice breaks.

"So you weren't in a relationship with a muggle man named David Adair? And you didn't have a child with him, a daughter named Sophie in 1992?" She questions her but she simply shakes her head. "Okay then, so you definitely didn't abandon your daughter, leaving her to be raised solely by her father, having no knowledge of the wizarding world that you knew she would one day be a part of?" She finally asks.

Gwenog bursts into tears, burying her head in her hands. "I didn't have a choice. The world was a becoming a dangerous place once again and I could risk Sophie's life. She was better off being raised a muggle by her father." She continues to sob. "And I tried to go back but David threatened me. Told me not to bother him or Sophie again or he'd make sure I was never safe again." She cries into her hands for a few moments before she comes to some sort of understanding and her head snaps up, staring at Hermione. "How did you find out? Do you know them?"

Hermione nods. "Yes, I-"

"Please, Hermione," She reaches forward, taking hold of her hands. "You can explain it to David. How I had to leave? Tell him I had no choice. Tell him about you-know-who for all I care, I just want to see my daughter. Please help me, Hermione." She falls onto her knees, begging for her help.

"Is that why you left? To protect them from Voldemort." She asks in confusion.

"And his Death Eaters. You should know better than anyone the power they had. I didn't want David and Sophie to be a part of this world of terror." Gwen explains, still kneeling on the terrace floor.

"This was 1992 Gwen, how did you know Voldemort was coming back two years before everyone else?" Hermione asks the one question that has been at the forefront of her mind since she found out about Gwenog.

Gwen seems to be weighing her options when she stands back up, taking a seat in her chair.

"I was told never to tell a soul about this but I think they're either dead or in Azkaban so I should be safe enough to tell you." She says between sobs.

"Death Eaters?" Hermione guesses.

"Who else?" She huffs out a laugh. "It was the 1st of August 1992. I was on my way here to talk to Mrs Johnson about coming back after my injury. As far as I was aware, nobody in the wizarding world knew my absence had actually been due to a pregnancy. I'd just signed my contract for the 92/93 Quidditch season and it was a beautiful morning so I decided to walk into the nearest village instead of disapparating home. Sophie was safe with David and I needed to think of a reason why I would be suddenly working full time come September without explaining about the wizarding world. I think I was about half way between here and the village when a group of three cloaked people apparated around me." She sobs.

"Do you know who they were?" Hermione asks.

Gwenog nods. "Even with the masks and the cloaks, it's easy to tell that the leader was Lucius Malfoy and the other two were his cronies Crabbe and Goyle." She says.

"Malfoy and Crabbe are in Azkaban and Goyle died during the battle at Hogwarts," Hermione tells her and Gwen relaxes slightly.

"Malfoy came right up to my face, sneering down at me and asked 'What would the Dark Lord think about you being a muggle's bitch?' and his cronies laughed as though it was the funniest joke they'd ever heard. I don't know where I got the confidence from but I said 'I don't think he's doing much thinking since he's dead' but they just laughed harder. Then he grabbed hold of my chin and said, "When he comes back, and trust me, dear, he will, you and your muggle and your spawn will be the first to go.' I got angry then, I shouted at him 'Don't you dare touch my daughter.' And one of his cronies, I think it was Crabbe, slapped me across the face and hissed at me to show some respect."

"What did they do next?" Hermione asks, eager to know what made the woman in front of her leave.

"Malfoy said he could make a deal with me."

"A deal" She frowns. "What kind of deal?"

"He would protect my Sophie from all harm that was on its way as long as I lost all contact with her." She explains.

"What benefit did that have for him?" She asks.

"He wanted my sole focus to be on Quidditch. He said that he was going to help me become the captain of the Welsh National Team. I told him that I didn't care about progressing my career. He said that I need to be the deciding vote for England to keep the Quidditch World Cup in 1994. He said that all I needed to do was to get back into training and to vote for England at the vote in December 1993. He said he would take care of everything else and ensure no harm ever came to my daughter or David. Then he said that he'll be in touch within a week and started to walk away but just before he disapparated he said: "Of course if you choose to decline our offer of protection for your daughter and muggle, we can't be held accountable for what happens to them." Then he was gone but I had decided before he left that I would accept his offer. I'd do anything for my daughter." She sighs.

Hermione's not sure what to say once she's finished. Hearing that her new father-in-law may have protected her uncle and cousin from the Death Eaters during the war but also that he threatened them left her feeling unsure and confused.

"Now that you know why I left, can you tell David?" She states.

"No, I can-"

"Why not, you said you knew- How do you know David and Sophie?" She questions, staring at her cautiously.

Hermione smiles sincerely for the first time since arriving at the stadium. "David's my uncle so Sophie's my cousin." She says.

Gwen's eyes widen as she thinks it through in her head.

"You're Sarah and Chris's daughter." She states then laughs in disbelief. "Of course, you were away at a boarding school in Scotland." She shakes her head. "What are the chances?" She mutters to herself.

Gwen stares down at the terrace floor for a moment before coming to an understanding.

"I have so many questions." She shakes her head with a chuckle. "What's Sophie like?"

Hermione smiles, leaning back on the bench. "She's an intelligent, beautiful young girl, very independent. She currently spends most her time in her bedroom reading. I actually explained the basics of the wizarding world to her a yesterday and she's so excited to learn as much as she can about everything. Although, you'll be disappointed to know that she's not in the least part sporty so probably won't enjoy Quidditch very much."

At that, Gwen laughs, placing her hand over her heart. "She sounds perfect. I wish I could meet her." She sighs. "I know this is a long shot but do you think you could convince David to let me see her, I know you won't go behind his back and arrange a meeting but please say you'll at least try." She begs.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea at the moment. Ever since you left, he gets so angry if anyone so much as mentions you. I had to silence him yesterday just so I could ask him some questions about you. Then he asked me to never bring your name up again." She explains.

"Please, Hermione, please help me. I've gone on long enough without my Sophie. Just please try. Please." She begs, taking her hands in hers once again. "Please?" She asks once more.

Hermione's not sure if she feels sorry for Gwenog, or if she just wants Sophie to at least have the option to meet her mother if she wants to, but she finally agrees.

"Thank you, Hermione. Thank you so much." She cries, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I said I'd try to talk to him but I won't go behind his back if he still decides he wants nothing to do with you." Hermione hugs her back quickly. "I'm sorry." She adds, pulling away.

"All I can ask of you is to try your best. If it doesn't work out, I'm not going to give up, I'll just try harder myself." She explains.

"Don't push him too hard. It hasn't been easy for him trying to juggle a full-time job and raising a baby but he's done an amazing job." She says.

Gwen nods, drying her face with the back of her hand. "I'm a mess, sorry." She apologises.

"It's fine," Hermione tells her, offering her a tissue from her bag. "I need to go but I'll be in touch once I've spoken with David." She announces.

"Thank you, let me walk you back to the gate." She offers, unlocking the door and leading her back through the summer house.

"It's alright," Hermione declines. "I know the way.

"Okay, goodbye then. Good luck." She waves with a small smile as Hermione walks back towards the path leading to the gate.

She has a lot to think about but not here. She needs to go somewhere quiet to go over everything Gwenog has just revealed to her. When she reaches the gate, she calls Dana, who sticks her head out of her booth to see who it is before opening the gate and shutting it behind her.

"How did the birthday planning go?" She asks as Hermione walks towards the booth to hand in the visitor's pass.

"It went rather well. We've got a few ideas that we're working on but nothing definite yet." She says, making something up.

"Well good luck." She says as she signs the pass back into the log.

"Thank you, bye," Hermione calls behind her as she walks away from the booth then disapparates back to the estate, remembering that Draco was going to the manor for a haircut and lunch so their house would be empty for a while.

* * *

Cradling the book carefully in his arms, Draco bursts through the door of Flourish and Blotts, letting it slam back against a bookshelf. Draco had hoped the owner would be in, as Lucius had entrusted the man with the restoration of private books countless times. However, behind the front desk, glaring at him over the top of a customer, stood Percy Weasley.

"Do you know how to restore books, Percy?" He asks, walking straight up to the desk, next to the customer still waiting for her books to be priced up,

"Obviously, but I'm a little busy wi-" Percy rolls his eyes as he begins to explain.

"I need your help." Draco shows him the burned book.

"Merlin, what did you do to it?" He asks, reaching out to take the book but Draco moves it away from his reach. "Take it into the back, I'll be there when I'm finished with Mrs Tonks." He beacons him around the back of the desk.

"Sorry for interrupting, Mrs Tonks." Draco apologises with a nod and a smile before heading into the back room where there's a large wooden table littered with multiple books currently in the process of being restored.

"Sorry about that, Mrs Tonks." Percy apologises from the shop floor. "Where's Teddy today?" He asks.

"He's spending the day with Harry and Ginny. He loves spending time with them, I think they spoil him with too many sweets and trips to the park." She chuckles. "It's nice to have him out of my hair for a few hours, he's a very energetic fourteen-month-old."

"How are you coping?" Percy asks quietly.

"It's hard but Teddy keeps me busy. He keeps my memory of Nymphadora alive. You know, he changed his hair sky blue last week. I think it's his favourite colour since he keeps going back to it." She explains.

"How adorable," Percy replies. "Have a nice day, Mrs Tonks." He calls.

As soon as the bell on the door jingles, signalling her departure, Percy rushes into the back room. With a flick of his wand, the half restored books scattered over the table neatly pile up at the side.

"Place it on the table." He orders as he pulls his hair back into a short ponytail.

Draco does as he's told, carefully placing it in the centre of the table. He watches as Percy pulls on a pair of dragonhide gloves. With a wave of his hand, the overhead light comes on, directly over the top of the table.

"What happened here?" Percy asks, using a pair of tweezers to open the front cover. "The Bla- Black Fa- ly, Family."

"The Black Family Tree. It was my mother's book but she decided she no longer had a use for it." Draco quickly explains. "Can you restore it?"

"I'm not sure, it's very badly burned. Most of the pages are ash. I'm not sure how they're still being held in place but if I touch them, they'll crumble into nothing." He admits, carefully turning over the first page onto the contents page.

Draco watches in horror as the contents page disintegrates when Percy tries to turn the page over.

"I'm sorry Draco, the best I can do is restore the pages that aren't ash yet and remove the ones that are. Of course, you'll be left with less than half a book." He explains, looking up at him apologetically.

"I'm only interested in one page." He states.

"Which one, I'll try my best to restore that one page if you're not bothered about the rest of the book." He asks.

"I don't know which page it was and now the contents page is powder." He takes a pinch of the ashes, sprinkling it onto the table to prove his point.

"What do you want me to do then?" Percy asks.

"Restore as much of the book as you can," Draco tells him and he nods. "How long will it take?"

"Shouldn't take any more than two hours, unless the shop gets busy over lunchtime," Percy tells him.

"I'll be back in two hours then." Draco nods as he walks back into the shop floor, only to find a young boy peering over the top of the counter at him.

"Sir, can I buy this book please?" The child asks, Draco's about to call Percy but that would just prolong the restoration process.

"Of course, let me have a look." Draco takes the book off the child. It's priced at thirty sickles.

Draco's not sure how to use the till but using trial and error, he manages to type in thirty sickles and open the till.

"That's thirty sickles." He tells the boy, who hands over two galleons. Draco puts them in the correct slot in the till then takes out four sickles change. "There's your change." He says as he hands over the change and the book.

"Thank you, sir." The child smiles before running out of the door into Diagon Alley.

Draco walks around the desk and is halfway towards the door when someone shouts from upstairs.

"Excuse me, I need some assistance."

With a deep sigh, he walks upstairs to find a very small old lady trying to reach a book on the top shelf.

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"Yes, my hands aren't steady as they once were. Could you reach me that dark red book at the top there?" She points at the book she wants.

Draco takes his wand out and levitates the book down off the shelf and into his hands. He tries to pass it to the woman but she shakes her hands.

"It's far too heavy for me to carry all the way home. I'd like it delivered, please." She tells him, making her way down the stairs.

He follows closely behind her, taking the book over to the desk. He makes his way back around the desk to price up the book. It's priced at four galleons and twelve sickles then, according to a piece of parchment stuck to the till, delivery is five sickles, taking the price up to five galleons exactly. The old lady complains as she hands over the money and he places it in the till then takes her name for delivery, writing it on a form he finds in one of the draws in the desk. She leaves without as much as a 'thank you'.

Draco takes the opportunity of an empty shop to make his escape into Diagon Alley. Not sure of where to go, he browses a few of the shop windows but quickly finds himself bored. He finds himself a quiet alleyway to disapparate from. He finds himself in the alleyway behind the shopping centre Hermione had taken him to a few times. With a lack of anything else to do, he walks around to the front of the building and enters.

He stops suddenly in the foyer to decide where he wants to go, causing a man to walk into him.

"Don't just stop, wanker." He shouts as he walks passed him.

"Charming." He mutters, setting off towards the stairs that would take him to the record shop Hermione had taken him to during their first visit to the shopping centre.

He gets stuck behind an old man walking up the steps one at a time and wonders why he doesn't take the escalator up but then again, no matter how old and frail Draco got, there's no way he would ever step foot on an escalator again so he patiently follows slowly behind him.

When he reaches the record shop, he finds it empty, besides the same old man sat still reading a book behind his desk. He looks up when he enters.

"It's you again. Are you going to buy something today?" He asks grumpily.

"I was thinking of buying that album my wi-girlfriends showed me the other day. The crocodile one." He states, walking over to the desk. "I'll also need something to play it on and whilst I'm here maybe you could recommend a few other records." He smirks at the old man who jumps out of his chair excitedly, or as excitedly as an old man can jump out of a chair, and hobbles over to the same place he found the crocodile record the other day.

Draco follows behind him so he can carry whatever the man give him.

"Elton John, Crocodile Rock. This is the best record player we have. It comes with two external speakers. Did you come in a car?" He asks him.

"No."

"I can keep them in the back room until you can come back in a car for them." He explains.

Draco picks up the record player and one of the speakers, carrying them to where the old man had told him to place them, then goes back for the second speaker. When he comes out of the back room, the old man is sat at his desk again with five other records.

"Here's The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Queen, Bon Jovi and Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels to get your collection started. Since you're buying six records today, I'll give you them at a discounted price. So that's thirty-five pounds for the record player plus ten pounds each for the speakers." He mutters to himself as he scribbles down numbers on a piece of parchment. "I'll charge you 10 pounds each for five of the records and then seven pounds for Steve Harley. Altogether that's…" He pauses to add up all his numbers.

"One hundred and twelve pounds?" Draco says, hoping he figured out the muggle money.

"Yes, one hundred and twelve pounds." He agrees, writing the total at the bottom of his parchment.

Draco rummages around in his pocket for the pounds he exchanged the other day and pulls out a handful of notes. He hasn't had the opportunity to look at the notes and isn't sure how much each one is. The first note is purple and has '£20' written in the corner. He quickly finds another four of the purple ones. Then he finds a peach coloured one that's '£10'and a blue or green one that's '£5'. He counts them to double check then hands them over.

"Having a little trouble with your money, are you?" The old man chuckles and Draco laughs politely. "There's your change. What's your name? I like to keep a log of who I've sold what to." He asks.

"Draco Malfoy."

The old man stares at him for a moment. "How do you spell that?"

"D-R-A-C-O M-A-L-F-O-Y."

He writes it down in his notebook and every item he bought and for how much.

"I'm Gordon." The old man offers him his hand to shake, which he does. "When will you be back for the record player and speakers?" He asks.

"I'll be back in twenty minutes," Draco answers, putting his change in his pockets.

"Twenty minutes? Where do you live?" He asks curiously.

"I'll call my father-in-law to come help. He has a car." He lies, remembering what the old man had mentioned earlier about him needing a car.

"Then I'll see you in twenty minutes." He says.

Draco walks out of the shop, back down the stairs and out of the shopping centre, carrying his six records. Once he's back in the alleyway, he shrinks the records down so they fit in his pocket, then disapparates back to Diagon Alley to check on how Percy's coming along.

He's managed to restore seven of the first thirty pages which isn't very promising.

"The pages at the back are in a much better condition than at the front. Did your mother light the front cover?" He asks, dusting the ash from one of the pages.

"I don't know, I was a little preoccupied putting the fire out to notice which side of the book was alright." He snaps at him.

"If you're going to get snappy, Draco, you can leave and come back in an hour and a half." He tells him.

"Fine. I'll be back later." He says before he leaves.

He decides to disapparate back to the alleyway behind the shopping centre and have a look in some of the clothes shop Hermione had dragged him to a few days ago. He ends up buying a black tie that was described as 'the perfect smart/casual accessory'. By the time he'd figured out the coins he had been given from the old man at the record shop as change and then bought the tie, it was time to go back to collect his record player and speakers.

"Is your father-in-law here?" The old man asks when he enters the shop again.

"Yes, he's parked in the alley at the back of here." He answers.

"You might want to be quick then, it's double yellow lines down there." He warns him.

Draco, not knowing what double yellow line means, nods and heads into the back room to collect the record player and one of the speakers.

"I would bring the other speaker down for you but my legs aren't what they used to be." He excuses himself from helping.

"I'll just have to make two trips," Draco states and carries the two boxes towards the lift.

He takes the lift down to the ground floor but instead of heading out of the shopping centre, he makes a right turn and heads towards the public toilets at the back of the ground floor. He washes his hands as he waits for a man at the urinal to leave before shrinking the two boxes down and placing them into his pocket.

"That didn't take you long." The old man mentions when he enters the shop again.

"They weren't that heavy." He says as he collects the last box.

"You'll have to let me know what you thought of those albums." The old man tells him as he exits out of the back room.

Draco nods and bids him goodbye as he walks back over to the lift and then into the public toilet. This time it's empty so he shrinks the speaker and then disapparates from within one of the stalls in case anyone comes in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram @bigdswisdom. I post sneak peaks of upcoming chapters and ask you all questions.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and continuing to put up with me.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 45 for you all.
> 
> I know it's a little late for all my local readers but at least you have something nice (hopefully) to wake up to. Unless you're still awake at 1:30am like me.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

The streets of the estate are crowded when Hermione apparates back. Walking towards her, she spots Ginny who smiles and raises her hand to wave when she must remember that she's not happy with her because her hand snaps back to her side and she turns her face away, ignoring her.

If there's anyone Hermione can talk to about Gwenog, David and Sophie, besides Draco, it'll be Ginny, so she rushes over to her best friend, taking hold of her hand to stop her walking past her.

"Can we go somewhere, Gin?" She asks her friend. "I need to tell you something." She adds, hoping that would grab her attention, which it does.

"I suppose I'm not that busy right now." She sighs, pretending to be annoyed but she still links her arm with Hermione's.

"How's the party planning coming along for tomorrow?" Hermione asks her, which cheers her up.

"It's all planned. Mum's doing all the food, Bill's doing the decorations and I think George is helping him. I've asked Blaise to do some music since he's started getting into muggle music but he also listens to all the best wizard bands too." She rambles on as they walk to the gate. "Can we go to that little café you took me to before the ceremony?" She asks, taking hold of Hermione's hand.

"Of course." Hermione grips her hand then disapparates them both to an alleyway near the café.

"Hey Hermione, how are you and Ron?" Ginny asks as they set off for the café.

"What do you mean, me and Ron?" Hermione asks, frowning at her friend.

"Well, I know you had an argument at the hospital when Draco injured himself but you haven't been very close to each other since we found out about the marriage decree back in January. Is it going to be too awkward for you if he comes to the party? She finally asks.

"No, not at all. I'm a big girl, Ginny. I can't put my issues with your brother aside for your party but if he starts anything, then we will leave." She warns her friend.

"Thanks, Hermione, because I've asked him to bring the alcohol." She smiles. "Also, when I went round to ask him, Pansy opened the door. She asked if she could come and I didn't want to be rude so I said she could. That's not going to be a problem, is it? I mean Draco and Blaise are going to be there so it's not like we have to talk to her." Ginny adds.

"Actually, Pansy and I had a nice chat the other day at Isobel and William's party, she was quite nice." Hermione mentions as they walk up the side street towards 'Mrs Morris' Café'.

Ginny pauses in her step to stare at her for a second. "Draco's having a bad influence on you. You're starting to mix with all these Slytherin's." She shakes her head in disappointment.

"You've invited Blaise and Draco to the party." Hermione points out.

"Only because you and Luna are married to them. I wouldn't invite them otherwise." Ginny points out as they set off again. "I bet you're going to Goyle and Megan's party tonight as well, aren't you."

"Of course we are, Gregory is one of Draco's best friend and he's actually quite a nice person when you get to know him." She says, finding herself defending him.

"Gregory?" Ginny raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Gregory's a follower, he followed Draco at Hogwarts, which is why he was the way he was in school. Now he follows Megan and he's a lot more complaisant." She explains.

"I still don't trust him." She mutters as they enter the café.

"I'm going to assume then that you don't trust Draco either." Hermione states.

"Of course not, the only reason I even let him into our house is because you seem to trust him so much, which is worrying but I trust you know what you're doing with him." She tells her.

"Go find a table and I'll buy us some drinks." She tells her friend, pointing towards a table for two over in the far corner of the café.

Hermione walks over to the counter and rings the bell for service. Mrs Morris comes sauntering out of the kitchen with her frilly apron on.

"Hermione, dear. How lovely to see you again, what can I get you?" Mrs Morris asks her, taking out a notepad from her apron pocket.

"I'll have two hot chocolates, please." Hermione orders and watches as Mrs Morris writes the order down, passing it through the beaded curtain, hanging from the door to a teenaged girl. "How's Derek?" She asks making conversation.

"He's great." Mrs Morris smiles. "I don't know what you said to him the other night but he's enrolled back at his college as a mature student to finish his History and Psychology A-Levels and he's even picking up an English AS-Level. My Shirley's been begging him to go back to college since last August." She tells her.

"That's great news." Hermione smiles. "It was great catching up with him." She adds. "Although it's a shame Verity couldn't make it."

"Verity?" Mrs Morris frowns in confusion. "She's up in Newcastle for University. I don't think Derek and her have talked since they broke up last May." She mentions.

"I must have been mistaken." Hermione chuckles, not wanting to make things awkward but wondering why Derek lied about her in the first place.

Mrs Morris places the cups of hot chocolate on a tray and offers to carry them over to the table for her but Hermione declines politely, saying she can manage.

"What took you so long?" Ginny asks when Hermione places the tray on their table.

"Just catching up with Mrs Morris." She answers. "And don't think I've forgotten what we were talking about before."

"What? About Draco?"

"Yes, what's it going to take for you to believe that he's changed from who he used to be at Hogwarts?" She asks.

Ginny shrugs. "I'll let you know when I know." She says, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Anyway, you wanted to tell me something?" She reminds Hermione and she tenses up.

"Right, it's to do with Gwenog Jones." She starts.

Ginny leans across the table excitedly. "Are you going to tell me what all that questioning was about last night then?." She asks.

"Yes but I need you to promise that what I tell you doesn't leave this café. The only reason I'm telling you sis because I need to tell someone and I need some advice but Draco's at his mother's." She tells her seriously.

"Great, I feel very important to be hearing this information." She rolls her eyes sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Ginny. If anyone else found out about this it could mean a lot of trouble for some people." She stares her friend in the eye.

Ginny frowns at her. "I understand. I won't tell anyone. I won't even tell Harry." She says to prove she's serious.

"Good." Hermione smiles at her friend. "Do you remember what I came to ask you last night?"

"Yeah. You asked whether Gwenog Jones had any absences during the 1992 Quidditch season which she did after a training injury." Ginny repeats.

Hermione nods, sipping her hot chocolate as she wonders how to approach the next topic.

"Do you remember that time you and your dad came to get me from my house during the summer of 1994?" She starts.

"Of course, your whole family were there. I was too scared to say something wrong that I don't think I said anything, I just played with your cousin. What's that got to do with anything?" She questions.

"Draco and I recently discovered that Sophie's a witch," Hermione whispers, not wanting anyone to overhear.

Ginny's eyes widen. "Are you serious?" She leans closer across the table. "Do you know how rare it is for two Muggleborns to be born to the same family? Especially since you're not siblings." She explains. "That's amazing! How's she taking it? Wait, does she know she's a witch?" Ginny asks.

"Yes, she knew there was something different about herself, I just clarified what that was." Hermione nods.

"Poor thing, she must be so shocked," Ginny says leaning back to take another sip of her hot chocolate.

"She's actually really excited to learn more about our world but I don't want to throw everything at her at once." She explains

"Good idea, I can't imagine what it must be like to find out that you're a witch." She shakes her head as she thinks. "Have you told her parents yet?" She asks, leaning back across the table, but before she can answer, Ginny's seems to come to some sort of understanding. "Oh my Godric. Her mum left when she was a baby. Hermione, what if her mum's a witch?" She suggests, then shakes her head. "No, that's probably a long shot." She shakes her head.

"Sophie was born in June 1992," Hermione tells her but she doesn't seem to understand. "Which means she was conceived around the 20th of September 1991."

"Ew, I don't need to know about your Uncle's sex life." Ginny cringes.

"Remind me, when did Gwenog receive that injury during training, " Hermione asks, knowing her friend with put it all together herself.

"Well, she received two. The first one was in October 1991 and then the second was in January. After that, she disappeared for seven months. No one saw her until July 199-" Ginny stops talking to stare at her for a long moment. "No!" She shakes her head. "You can't think-" She leans back in her chair still shaking her head.

"I've just got back from the Holyhead Harpies stadium." Hermione interrupts her. "She confirmed it all."

"Oh Godric, Hermione, please tell me you didn't bombard her with questions?" Ginny questions her.

"I just wanted to know why she left Sophie." Hermione states.

"Did she tell you?"

"Yes, she was just protecting them. Some Death Eater's threatened her and her family if she didn't leave them and vote to keep the Quidditch World Cup in England." She explains.

"What?" Ginny looks at her confused.

"There was a vote in December 1993 about whether England should keep the Word Cup in 1994," Hermione told her, although shouldn't her friend, the Quidditch fan, know this.

"Hermione, we won the bid to hold the 1994 World Cup in 1964. Everything to do with the World Cup is planned years in advance. If there was a vote, it would have been taken a lot earlier than seven months before it was due to start and I'm sure we would have heard about it." Ginny tells her. "There was no reason in 1993 to even need a vote to change the location of the World Cup." She adds. "I think Gwenog lied to you."

"You didn't see her. I know she wasn't lying." Hermione tells her.

"Maybe after a few months of being a mother, she realised it wasn't for her and she wanted to focus on her career of something," Ginny suggests.

Hermione shakes her head. "No, she was literally on her hands and knees, begging me to talk to David about letting her see Sophie. She didn't lie about that."

"Well, she lied about the vote," Ginny says.

"I'll have to go back and ask her." Hermione states and they fall into silence as she thinks about why Gwenog would lie about a vote whilst finishing her hot chocolate.

"What was this advice you needed from me?" Ginny asks suddenly a few minutes later.

"Gwenog wants me to ask David if she can see Sophie but I know he won't agree to that." She states.

"Alright." Ginny nods.

"But Sophie should be allowed to see her mother if she wants to, especially since she's a witch. Before I knew her mother was Gwen, I was more than happy to be the one to introduce her to the wizarding world, but now, it should be her mother to tell her about everything." Hermione explains.

"That makes sense."

"But I'm not going to go behind David's back and introduce Sophie to Gwenog. He would hate me for it. I tried bringing up the topic of Gwen the other day and I had to silence him to stop him from shouting and trying to kick me out of his house."

"You silenced your uncle?" She repeats.

"Yes, he just thought he lost his voice from all the shouting. Anyway, he told me to never mention her name ever again which is a problem now. How do I ask him about Gwenog when he gets so angry at the mention of her name?" Hermione asks.

"Why don't you just tell him about us?" Ginny suggests with a shrug. "He's going to find out eventually since his daughter's one of us." She adds.

"I was hoping for an easier plan." Hermione sighs.

"I'm sure if you tell him about the wizarding world and explain about Voldemort, the Death Eaters and the war, he might understand why Gwenog had to leave. To protect them." Ginny explains.

"You make it sound so simple." Hermione chuckles. "I don't think he'll take it very well. My parents didn't believe the Ministry Official who told them at first. It took me exploding a lightbulb for them to believe."

"Well, if need be, you can show him a little something basic. Levitate a mug or something." Ginny shrugs.

"Ginny, that's illegal." She reminds her.

"Like they're going to put Hermione granger in Azkaban." She laughs.

"Kingsley would, just to make an example of me." She says.

"Blame it on Sophie. She's nearly eight, right. She should be showing accidental magic around now." Ginny suggests.

Hermione thinks about it for a moment. That would make sense in the eyes of the Ministry.

"I'm still not sure. I wouldn't even know where to start with it." Hermione sighs.

"Hey, Uncle David." Ginny starts, sitting up straighter. "You know how I've been attending a boarding school in Scotland for the past eight years? Well, it's actually a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Yeah, I'm a witch." She then picks up her teaspoon. "Wingardium Leviosa." She says, swishing and flicking the spoon. "Also, Gwenog Jones, your ex-girlfriend, is a witch which makes Sophie, your daughter, a witch. I'll give you a moment to process all that." Ginny mimics a curtsey in her chair. "You're welcome."

"Somehow, I don't think that's the best way to break the news." Hermione chuckles.

"You'll figure something out." She reassures her. "Thanks for the hot chocolate but I should get going. I was on my way to Mum's, she wants me to test some food for tomorrow." She rolls her eyes.

"I'll walk back to the alley with you," Hermione tells her as they leave the café together, leaving a tip for Mrs Morris. "What time do you want us over tomorrow?" She asks.

"I've told everyone to be there for five o'clock," Ginny says.

"Do you need us to bring anything?"

"No, I've got everything organised." She smiles.

"How are you Harry doing? It feels like ages since we've talked properly." Hermione asks.

"We're great, you'll find out more tomorrow." She grins at her.

Hermione turns away from her friend to hide her knowing smile. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Are you happy, Hermione?" Ginny asks as they come to a stop in the alleyway.

"Yes, I'm very happy with Draco." She admits truthfully, if not a little annoyed with her friend for asking. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ginny." She tells her before disapparating back to the estate.

When Draco returns home, it's to find the house as empty as he had left it earlier, which he's thankful for. He wants the record player to be a surprise for Hermione when she returns home but first, he needs to figure out how to make it work.

Firstly, he opens Athena's cage, letting her out to stretch her wings. Once he's filled her food bowl up with owl pellets, he takes the boxes and records out of his pocket, placing them on the coffee table. With a wave of his wand, they all return to their original size.

Draco opens the smaller box to find the black record player advertised on the box. He sets it on top of their bookshelf and tries to figure out what the rope dangling out the back is for. In the end, he gives up and goes back to open the two speaker boxes. Both the speakers have similar ropes out of the back but at the end, there's only one prong instead of three, which confuses him until he notices two holes in the back of the record player, the same size as the speaker prongs. Taking a chance, he sticks one speaker in each hole, then places them on either side of the bookshelves on the floor.

He takes a step back, hands on his hips, admiring his work. He's still not sure what the three prongs coming out of the record player are for but hopes that they're not necessary to make it work. He takes one of the records out of the sleeve, placing it on the record player and flipping the switch into the 'on' position, but nothing happens. He flips the switch a couple more times and still, nothing happens.

Taking his wand out, he taps the record player and it lights up but still doesn't play. Remembering that the record was spinning in the record shop, he spins the record but still, there's no music.

Coming to the conclusion that he's going to have to wait for Hermione to come home and fix it, he starts tidying up the packaging when he notices the picture on the front of the box. On the record player, there's a long stick touching the record. Going back to the bookshelf, he finds the stick folded to the side. Carefully, he picks up the stick, moving it to the edge of the record, then flips the switch on. Suddenly, a guitar is being played loudly through the speakers.

Quickly, he takes the stick off. He finds a knob that's labelled 'vol'. He's not sure what that means but he turns it right then places the stick back on the record but it's louder than before. He turns the knob to the left and the music quietens. Feeling proud of himself, he leaves the record playing as he goes back to tidying the boxes.

When Hermione opens the front door to their house, she pauses, wondering if she's walking into the wrong house since she can hear music coming from the living room. In the hallway, though, where she left them, are her boots, so she closes the door behind her, slips off her shoe and pushes the living room door open, confused as to the source of the music.

Glancing around the room, she immediately spots a record player sat on top of their bookshelves with two speakers beside it. She walks over to the coffee table where there are a few record albums and picks up the top one, which is empty. 'Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebel', the album cover reads. Hermione's not sure if she's ever heard of them before. Turning the album over, she reads the songs and thinks she might recognise the first one.

Heading over to the record player, she lifts up the needle and places it back at the beginning of the record. She hears the beginning notes of a recognisable song, though she can't remember where she recognises it from.

"I didn't hear you come in," Draco announces his presence from the kitchen door.

"I'm not surprised." She smiles, turning the volume down slightly. "Where did you get this from?" She asks.

"I bought it from Gordon." He tells her, trying to hide a smile as he walks towards her.

"And who's Gordon?"

"The old man from that record shop we went to the other day." He clarifies for her, taking hold of her hands and pulling her closer.

"You went back, by yourself."

"I'm not a child, Hermione. I can go to a shop by myself." He rolls his eyes slightly.

"I'm just pleasantly surprised." She tells him as they start swaying in time with the music.

"That was my plan." He tells her, twirling her around. "I got you that crocodile song." He adds.

"Really." She stops their dancing excitedly.

She rushes over to the record albums on the coffee table and flicks through them until she comes across Elton John. She takes the record out of the sleeve then places it on the record player after removing Steve Harley. As soon as the piano starts playing, Hermione can't hold back her smile as memories of dancing around the kitchen with her Grandma Emily come back to her.

She turns around to find Draco watching her from the arm of the couch with a gentle smile on his face.

"Come on." She holds her hands out for him to take but he just sits there. "I'm not going to let you sit there and watch me dance. Come on." She tells him, taking hold of his hands and pulling him up.

He sighs as he's pulled to his feet but then starts sidestepping with her as they sway their arms together. She pushes away from him then swings under his arm. When the chorus comes on, she grabs hold of his hands tightly and jumps to the beat, encouraging him to do the same.

"I'm more skilled at ballroom dancing than jumping around the room." He comments as he awkwardly shifts from foot to foot.

"Live a little, Draco. Who cares if you look like an idiot, just enjoy yourself." She tells him, as they swing around the room.

"I look like an idiot." He raises his eyebrow.

"We both look like idiots." She laughs as the song comes to an end. "Let's put on Bon Jovi." She suggests, going to swap the records over.

She looks on the back of the album and recognises a few of the songs, her favourite being 'Bad Medicine' which she remembers her dad singing along to on the radio back in 1988. She places the needle at the start of the song and awaits the start.

"My dad loves Bon Jovi." She mentions as she turns around to find Draco stood right behind her.

She looks up at him as he takes her hands in his and leads her to the middle of the room where they shift from foot to foot whilst swaying their arms again.

"I didn't say before, but I like your hair. Mitty did a good job." She smiles up at him, removing a hand from his grasp and reaching up to run her fingers through his shorter hair.

"She left it a little longer at the front to hide the scar." He tells her and she rolls her eyes.

"You can barely see it when you're not wearing a makeup charm. You have nothing to worry about." She tells him, brushing his fringe to the side. "You look very handsome." She mutters with a soft smile.

"Thank you." He says, blushing slightly, making her chuckle.

They fall into a comfortable silence as they sway gently to a few more songs but then Hermione catches sight of the clock which tells her it's almost half past one.

"I'm going to go have a bath, ready for tonight." She announces, pecking Draco gently on the cheek before heading upstairs.

Draco walks over to the record player, moving the stick to the side to remove the record. He flicks the switch, turning it off then places the record back in its album. With a sigh, he sinks down onto the couch, wondering if he should check up on Percy. He decides against it though, he'll wait the extra half an hour until two o'clock when he said he'd be finished.

From upstairs, he can hear Hermione running her bath and singing one of the songs they had been listening to. He smiles to himself as he closes his eyes and just listens. When the sound of running water stops, he opens his eyes and decides he should get tidied up. Feeling lazy, he waves his hand and the albums fly over to the bookshelf, landing in a pile next to the record player. He does the same thing in the kitchen with the dishes that were on the drying rack.

They don't spend enough time in their house for it to become too messy. With nothing else to tidy up, he grabs a jacket, pulls on his shoes and heads out the front door, towards the gate.

By the time he's disapparated from the estate to Diagon alley and walked up and down the shops a few times, it's five to two and he decides he's waited long enough. When he enters Flourish and Blotts, Percy is stood behind the desk, serving a young man.

Draco heads up to the desk, catching Percy's attention. He nods towards the door behind him so Draco makes his way around the desk and into the back room where his book is laying on the wooden table, looking a lot thinner than it used to. He dares not touch it in case Percy hasn't finished with the restoration and it crumbles under his touch.

A few minutes later, Percy enters the back room looking disappointed. "I managed to save seventy-three of the pages." He states.

"Can I touch it?" Draco asks.

"Yes, I strengthened the remaining pages so there's no risk of them crumbling," Percy explains.

Urgently, Draco snatches the book off the table and flicks through each page, carefully scanning the words for the name 'Hyperion Malfoy'. On his first flick through he doesn't find it so he pulls up a chair, rests the book on the table and starts again, one page at a time.

Percy leaves him to it, going back out to the front of the shop to restock some shelves.

Draco emerges from the back room five minutes later.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Percy asks curiously.

"No, the page isn't there. Thank you for trying though, how much do I owe you?" He asks, reaching into his pocket for his bag of gold.

"There's no charge." Percy shakes his head. "You asked me to restore a book and shops policy is we save more than half or there's no charge." He adds with a wink at Draco's confusion.

"Well, thank you. I'm assuming I'll see you tomorrow?" He asks.

"Yes, both Audrey and I will be there." He replies.

"Goodbye until then." He nods, then leaves the shop.

Draco had been hoping that he wouldn't have to visit the archives to find out who this 'Hyperion Malfoy' is since Mr Vyner seems to know which filing cabinets they enter, but it looks like he doesn't have any other choice.

Since there's plenty of time until Gregory and Megan's party, Draco decides he might as well go there now. He'll be in and out before Mr Vyner even receives a letter about his arrival. He disapparates to the disapparation floor of the Ministry then heads straight to the lift which takes him down to the archives.

In the foyer, sat at the desk, is a different official than the first time they visited. This woman is writing vigorously on a piece of parchment as Draco walks towards the door. She doesn't look up to acknowledge him until he stops in front of her.

"One moment, Mr Malfoy." She tells him as she finishes her writing, folds it up and sends it flying towards the lift. "Are you here to visit our archives?" She asks him politely but with a sharp stare.

"Yes, I am. Could you open the door?" He offers her a polite smile.

"One moment." She tells him and starts vigorously writing another note on a piece of parchment.

Draco peers over the desk at the note. Her handwriting is terrible and he's reading it upside down but he can make out 'Mr Vyner' and his own name.

"As I'm sure you can understand, I'm a very busy man who can't afford to waste my time waiting for ministry officials to write notes." Draco sneers down at the woman, hoping a little intimidation will get her moving a little quicker.

"And as I'm sure you can understand, Mr Malfoy," She says whilst she continues to write. "Mr Vyner must be informed of your arrival, therefore, I will not allow you access until I receive confirmation that he's been informed." She finally looks up at him. "If you'd like to take a seat." She gestures over to a chair he hadn't noticed before on the other side of the foyer.

Reluctantly, Draco sits on the chair, that's too small, waiting for the official to send her note. She sends it a minute later, then receives one back a few minutes after. She takes her time to open and read the letter then, with a flick of her wand, the door creaks slowly open.

"Thank you." He says sarcastically with a smirk as he walks past her desk and through the door.

When he enters the archives, he flicks the switch for the lights to turn on then heads towards the 'MA – NO' filing cabinet in order to find the code for the location of the Malfoy filing cabinet. He's about to open it when he stops.

Mr Vyner somehow knows which filing cabinet they're opening. Draco's not sure how he knows but there's an easy way to ensure he doesn't know exactly which one he's looking in. With a wave of his wand, every drawer in the first fifty filing cabinets open, including 'MA – NO'. He flicks through the files until he finds his own. Skipping the paragraph on his family history, he scans his eyes to the bottom where he finds the code. FC: L-R-L-L-7R. Memorising the code, he replaces the file in the filing cabinet, then, with another wave of his wand, the drawers slam shut.

Following the code, he quickly finds the Malfoy filing cabinet. He stares at it for a few minutes, not sure what exactly he's going to find in there. There's obviously a reason why he's never heard about Hyperion before and why his mother went to the extent of setting fire to the book that mentioned him. He needs to know who he is.

Turning around, he points his wand at a random filing cabinet near the door to the archives and the drawers slide open. He repeats the process in different areas of the archives until there's enough to throw Mr Vyner and his team off his tracks.

He opens the top drawer of the Malfoy filing cabinet, waits a few seconds then flicks his wand randomly behind him, opening the drawers of another filing cabinet. Unfortunately for him, the cabinets are organised by year, not name, and he has no idea when Hyperion was born so he starts at the beginning. After flicking quickly through the first drawer and not finding anything, he slams it shut, flicking his wand behind him a few time in different directions before diving into the second drawer but there's no mention of a Hyperion Malfoy. Starting to feel a little nervous as he gets closer to the twentieth century, he shuts the middle drawer, flicks his wand behind him a few final times, and then starts at the back of the last drawer.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 46 for you all.
> 
> Surprise!!!
> 
> This is the second chapter of the missing six.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

Draco feels nauseated as he comes closer and closer to his own file. Why doesn't he know who Hyperion is if he was born in the twentieth century? He realises he hasn't been paying attention when he reaches the end of the drawer and finds Hermione's file, which confuses him for a second. He heads back but he needn't go far as he finds it. Hyperion Malfoy.

He takes the file out of the drawer, placing it on top of the cabinet as he tries to steady his hands. However, the archive's door suddenly burst open. Quickly, Draco drops to the floor, grabbing the file on is way down.

"Mr Malfoy!" Mr Vyner's voice echoes around the archives.

Taking out his wand, he waves it above his head, shuddering as a cold sensation shivers down his spine. Having faith that it worked, he stands up. Draco can see Mr Vyner stood at the archives door, scanning every inch of the room, trying to find him. When his eyes ghost over him, he lets out a silent breath.

"It is not wise to hide from me, Mr Malfoy." He calls into the archives.

Quietly, Draco places the file in his jacket's inner pocket then makes his way towards the archives door, following the code to his filing cabinet in reverse.

"I'll give you to the count of five, Mr Malfoy and then you will severely regret even asking permission to enter my archives." He hisses.

Draco stops in his tracks wondering exactly what Mr Vyner is threatening him with. He's a child of the war. He doubts there's much he can do that Draco can't give back twice as severe if he wished.

"One." He starts.

However, if he starts going around cursing Ministry Officials, all his hard work to change people's perspective of him would all be for nothing.

"Two."

Taking out his wand, he stares at Mr Vyner. A simple stupefy and he would unconscious before he even hit the floor.

"Three."

Before he changes his mind, he points his wand at a filing cabinet on the opposite side of the archives and mutters, "Mobiliarbus".

"Fo-" r Vyner pauses as the filing cabinet moves a few inches before stopping when Draco lowers his wand.

Mr Vyner's head snaps in the direction of the scraping noise.

"Five," Mr Vyner smirks. "Your time is up, Mr Malfoy." He sets off running in the direction of the noise, thankfully, in the opposite direction.

Draco takes the opportunity to run as quietly as possible towards the archives door. He makes it there within twenty seconds.

"MALFOY!" Mr Vyner shouts and his voice echoes a few times around the room.

Turning around, he finds the other man stood where the filing cabinet had moved. He's glaring around the room, obviously aware that he's been fooled. Draco points his wand at the door to the book vault, casting a silencing charm. Then, making sure Mr Vyner is looking in that general direction he slowly opens the book vault door with a wave of his wand and closes it again.

Mr Vyner stares at the door for a few seconds, then glances around the rest of the vault, seemingly weighing up his options. After another few seconds, he sets off running towards the book vault's door. Draco casts another silencing charm on the archive's door. Checking one last time that Mr Vyner's back is facing him, he opens and closes the door quickly.

He doesn't have time to wait for the disillusionment charm to wear off before exiting into the foyer, instead, he sprints down the corridor and burst out of the door, making the ministry official at her desk jump. He doesn't wait for her reaction as he runs through the door to the right of the lift and up the staircase.

Nine floors and eighteen sets of stairs later, Draco stops, out of breath and exits onto sub-level 36. He presses the button for the lift and tries to catch his breath as he waits for it. Down the corridor, a door opens and two men start walking towards him. Not sure if the charm has worn off yet, he stands up straighter and tries to look as nonchalant as possible.

"Mr Malfoy." The two men greet him with a nod, which he returns.

When the lift arrives a few seconds later, the three of them enter. Draco presses the button for the disapparation floor whilst one of the men presses the button for the main foyer. Their stop comes first and Draco steps aside to let them pass and also to hide at the side of the lift. Once they've exited, he repeatedly presses the button for his floor, hoping nobody joins him. Thankfully, the door closes and he's on his way. As soon as the doors open on the disapparation floor, he steps out and instantly turns on the spot, disapparating back to the estate.

When Hermione climbs out of the bath an hour and a half later, feeling more relaxed than she has in about a week. She takes her time combing the tangles and knots out of her hair before drying and lightly curling it with her wand. She moisturises her body then pulls on a pair of short and a t-shirt before going into their bedroom. She sits at the dressing table to apply some simple makeup to her eyes and lips.

Hermione opens her side of the wardrobe and has a quick rummage through for a nice summery dress but can't decide between the yellow dress that she wore the other day and the sky blue dress with a small flowery pattern. She walks to the top of the stairs and calls Draco but he doesn't answer. With a sigh, she heads downstairs, into the living room but he's not there. She checks the kitchen and the garden but he isn't anywhere.

She wonders if he's gone to visit Blaise or one of his other friend but with no way of communicating him, she decides to wait until closer to the time of the party before she worries about his whereabouts. She heads back upstairs, into their bedroom, where she spends another few minutes deciding which dress to wear before finally deciding on the sky blue one. She takes it out, waving her wand at it to iron out the creases then hangs it on the back of the wardrobe door to put on in half an hour.

Whilst she waits for Draco to return home, she lounges on their bed with a book but she doesn't take much of the words in and by the time she hears the front door open, she's still on the same page she was on when she opened the book.

"Where have you been?" She calls down to him as she walks to the top of the stairs.

"I just went for a walk." He calls back up from the living room a few seconds later.

"Well, we've only got fifteen minutes until we need to leave for the party." She tells him as he comes out of the living room and up the stairs.

"It won't take me long to get changed." He smiles at her as he passes, walking into their bedroom. "You're not ready, anyway." He adds.

"I need you to zip up my dress." She states, standing at the threshold of their room with her arms crossed.

"Are you wearing this one?" He asks, pointing to her dress hanging off the wardrobe.

"Yes, is there something wrong with it?" She asks him.

"Not at all. I have a shirt in a similar colour." He explains, pulling the shirt out of his side of the wardrobe. "Are you going to get changed or just stand there staring?" He looks over his shoulder to smile at her.

She rolls her eyes at him, walking over to the wardrobe and grabbing her dress.

"Don't look!" She warns him and he chuckles, closing his eyes.

She leans up, placing a quick peck on his lips before leaving him to get changed. Once she's inside her dress, and she's zipped it up as far as she can, she calls him over to finish the task. He gently brushes her curls aside, sending a shiver down her spine, as he zips the dress the rest of the way.

"Thank you." She blushes, trying to turn around to face him, but his firm hands on her shoulder and hip keep her in place. Instead, she turns her head around to look up at him.

"You're welcome." He mutters, leaning down to gently kiss up her neck and jawline towards her lips. "You look beautiful." He whispers before capturing her lips with his own.

Hermione returns the kiss passionately, reaching her hand behind her to run her hand through his hair and hold his head in place. After a few minutes, she breaks away.

"We're going to be late." She tells him. "And you still need to get changed." She adds, walking over to the bedroom door. "I'll wait downstairs."

Closing the door behind her, she heads downstairs, fanning herself with her hand as she goes. She's just pulling on her heeled boots when Athena chirps from the top of the record player, reminding Hermione of her presence.

"Do you want some food before we leave?" She asks the baby owl who chirps excitedly in reply.

Together, they head into the kitchen where Hermione fills her little bowl up with owl pellets, placing it in her cage, locking it behind her when she flies in. Athena has a quick nibble of her food before hopping onto her perch and preens her feathers so Hermione leaves her to it.

A few minutes later, Draco comes downstairs wearing his pair of black jeans, light blue shirt and a black tie she didn't know he had.

"Where did you get that time from." She asks, going over to straighten it down his chest.

"That shop we got these jeans from. I needed to waste some time before picking up the record player from Gordon." He tells her sitting on the couch to pull on his shoes. "Are you ready?" He asks when he's done.

"Yeah, we better hurry up. We're already ten minutes late." She tells him.

Draco knocks on Gregory's door when they arrive a few minutes later and it's answered by Blaise.

"Draco, you're late," Blaise tells him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"We know." He huffs as he tries to push his friend away.

"Can you believe Gregory is moving to America?" He asks, pulling him by the arm into the living room.

He hears Hermione close the door behind him as he's dragged over to the couch where Gregory and Theo are already sat talking and drinking bottles of something.

"Have you heard this, Draco? They're going to live on a canal in Georgia." Theo laughs.

"Behind a canal." Gregory corrects.

"In Georgia." Theo continues to laugh.

"Who's Georgia?" William asks, coming into the conversation late.

"Georgia, it's a state in America." Blaise clarifies for him.

"Oh, is that where you're going then, Greg?" He asks.

Everyone stares at him for a second. The last person to call Gregory, Greg, got a punch to the stomach. Draco notices that his friend's fists are clenched so interrupts.

"Yeah, it is, Will." He answers.

"It's just William." He corrects him.

"And that's Gregory," Theo tells him.

"Sorry, Gregory." William apologises.

"William, come here and tell Lisa and Megan that joke about the Dragon," Isobel calls from the kitchen.

"When the wife calls." He chuckles awkwardly before scurrying away to the kitchen.

Blaise rolls his eyes. "Anyway," He passes a bottle to Draco. "To Greg and Meg." He laughs.

"To Greg and Meg." They toast and even Gregory appreciates the joke.

Hermione glances around the living room for Luna but none of the girls are around so she heads through into the kitchen where she finds Oliver sat at the kitchen table with a few bottles of beer. Isobel, Lisa and Megan are huddled in the middle of the room chatting and Pansy's stood leaning against the counter.

When Pansy spots her, she waves her over, holding out a glass of punch out for her so Hermione walks over and accepts the drink.

"Hi, Pansy." She smiles, taking a sip of the drink. "Is this just juice?" She asks.

"Yes, I'm not drinking alcohol at the moment. Not after Isobel and William's party." She chuckles awkwardly. "Thank you for looking after me that night. I appreciate it." She adds.

"It was no problem." She tells her. "Did Draco get you home alright?" She asks then remembers what Draco told her when he got back to the party and grimaces.

"What's that face for?" She asks suspiciously.

"Sorry, Draco told me." She sips at her juice feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, right. Do you have a problem with it?" She questions her.

"Not at all, I'm glad you're… moving passed your issues." Hermione mentions.

"We haven't. He still drinks too much, I still complain too much," She rolls her eyes. "And we still hate each other but we just want to get this over with." She shrugs, drinking her juice.

"Well, the sooner you have a child, the sooner you can divorce and move on with your life." Hermione nods

"We aren't getting divorced." Pansy states.

Hermione stares at her wondering if she's serious or if she's trying to be funny but she doesn't laugh.

"You hate each other." She reminds her.

"I know but my father will disown me if I get divorced and I don't see Ron helping his ex-wife out financially." She explains.

"I though your dad hated Ron. Wouldn't he want you to remarry someone you loved?"

Pansy laughs. "You don't understand pureblood beliefs, Hermione. Once a woman marries, she's tainted by her husband through any children they have. If she were to divorce and then remarry, then she taints the bloodline of her new husband and any children they have." She explains. "And love has very little to do with anything." She adds.

"That's very old-fashioned thinking." Hermione frowns.

"It's just the way it is for a lot of pureblood families." She shrugs.

"I think it's time things changed, especially with this marriage decree. It's inevitable that some couples are going to end up divorcing. Are they expected to stay single for the rest of their life so they don't 'taint' any future spouse's bloodline?" She asks angrily.

"Of course not, I could divorce Ron and date other men, I just can't marry them but what's the point. I don't know any men who would want to support a single mother who they can never marry." Pansy shrugs.

Hermione just stares at her for a few seconds wondering what else she can say to that but she knows it's going to take a lot more than one conversation to change her pureblood beliefs so she quietly drinks her juice.

"Have you see Luna?" She asks once she's finished her drink.

"Yeah, she's outside talking to Mandy and Sue." She nods towards the back door.

"Do you want to join me?" She offers.

Pansy shakes her head. "Mandy's kind of a bitch." She states.

"Pansy, you don't even know her."

"She gossips, flips her hair then laughs in your face. I don't want to know her." She says, glaring at the girls through the kitchen window.

Hermione leaves her to her juice and heads outside where Luna is sat at the garden table with Mandy and Sue.

"Hi Hermione, we were just talking about the Pentagon. Have you been there yet?" Sue asks as Hermione takes a seat between Mandy and Luna.

"Yes, Draco and I went the other day for dinner. It was very nice. We both had the salmon tikka." She answers.

"We went yesterday for a girl's lunch and though it was rather substandard, didn't we Sue?" She states.

"It was alright," Sue mutters with a shrug.

"Blaise and I thought the décor was beautiful but it could have done with some gold decorative pieces," Luna says.

"I guess some of us are used to a higher standard of restaurant." Mandy shrugs and since Pansy mentioned it, Hermione realises she does flip her hair behind her shoulder quite a lot. "Anyway, let's get down to the reason why we're really here." She leans across the table. "To gossip." She laughs excitedly. "I heard you and Blaise had an argument the yesterday."

Hermione looks curiously at Luna, this being the first she's hearing about it, to find her smiling back at Mandy.

"I'm going travelling with Daddy to Australia tonight and I wanted Blaise to come so we can all get to know each other better but he's got a job starting next week and can't come. Draco suggested he comes once his jobs finished next Friday." Luna explains.

"How long are you going travelling for?" Hermione asks.

"Just a month." She answers. "We take a portkey to a friend's house in Katoomba and start tracking in the Blue Mountains." She explains.

"So you're not coming to Ginny's party tomorrow?"

"I'm going around to tell her when I leave here." She says.

"Is Blaise still going?" She questions. "Isn't he in charge of the music?"

"I'm sure he will be?"

"So what's this about Ginny having a party?" Mandy questions.

"She's having a little family get together at the Burrow. Nothing special." Hermione says, not wanting rumours to spread around the estate. "How are you and Oliver doing?" She turns the questioning onto her.

Mandy stiffens in her seat. "As well as you can expect." She smiles forcefully. "We both just want this over with as quickly as possible."

"You're sleeping with him." Sue gasps disapprovingly.

Mandy rolls her eyes at her friend. "Obviously. How else do you expect us to get this over with?"

"But, you don't even know him." Sue reminds her.

"I don't need to know him. I just need him to conceive a child with me."

"Maybe if you got to know him, you might like him," Sue suggests.

Mandy scoffs. "I doubt it. Whenever he's in the house, all he talks about is Quidditch. Anyway, what about you Sue? I noticed Richard isn't here." She asks.

"Richard and I are a lost cause." She shrugs. "He never wanted to get married or have children. He wants to be the head of his own Ministry department one day so he's focusing on that." Sue explains.

"What department is he in now?" Hermione asks curiously.

"I don't know. He doesn't talk much about work." She says.

Megan, Isobel, William and Lisa all come outside, joining them around the table.

"I'm going to get myself a drink." Hermione excuses herself, returning to the kitchen where Pansy's still stood glaring at them out of the kitchen window.

"Since you mentioned the hair flipping, I can't stop noticing it." She mentions as she grabs herself a butterbeer from the counter.

Pansy chuckles. "I did warn you." She says. "What were they gossiping about?"

"Themselves. Apparently, Luna and Blaise had an argument yesterday about Luna going travelling with her father. Mandy and Oliver are already trying to get this over with." She explains quietly so Oliver doesn't hear them over the music.

"No offence, Hermione, but I don't care about Mandy and her sex life." She tells her.

"Right." She says and they fall into awkward silence.

"How are you and Draco?" Pansy asks a few minutes later.

"So you don't care about Mandy and Oliver but you care about Draco and me?" Hermione smirks at her.

Pansy's eyebrows raise in apparent shock. "Are you having sex?" She asks.

"What? No, we're not." Hermione answers quickly.

"Well, you better get a move on. You said our children could be friends." Pansy raises an eyebrow.

"Wait, are you pregnant?" She leans closer to ask Pansy quietly.

"No, but I doubt it will be long." She smirks knowingly at her.

"I did not need to know that." Hermione shakes her head.

"You're the one who said it wasn't a problem." Pansy shrugs.

"Doesn't mean I want to hear about it." She clarifies but Pansy just laughs.

Draco tries listening to a story Theo's telling about Lisa's younger brother but his mind is preoccupied. Since it took longer than expected to find Hyperion's file, he didn't have time to read it when he got back home as he needed to get ready. He barely had enough time to hide the file within one of his potions books before Hermione was asking where he had been.

He doesn't know why he lied to her. Or why he didn't tell her about Hyperion and The Black Family Tree book. His search for Hyperion isn't any different from Hermione's search for Karina but for some reason, it feels different. He just doesn't want to get Hermione involved in Malfoy family history. He remembers her reaction to what his great-grandfather did all too well and if Hyperion Malfoy is anything like the other members of the Malfoy family, he doesn't think he wants Hermione to know anything about him.

"Draco, are you listening?" Blaise elbows him in the ribs, making him flinch.

"What?"

"Obviously not then." Theo laughs.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Blaise knocks on his forehead.

He pushes his friend's hand away. "Nothing." He mutters.

"Is it to do with Hermione?" Theo questions.

"It's nothing." He stares pointedly at his friends and they drop the topic.

"Gregory, are you all packed up ready to go then?" Blaise asks, changing the topic.

"We didn't have much to pack." He shrugs. "Just clothes and her books." He adds.

"Travelling light." Blaise nods. "It's the best way to go. When mother and I got to Italy or France, we never take anything with us and just pick up what we need when we're there." He says.

"I bet you're glad you're going to an English-speaking country," Theo mentions.

"You can barely speak English as it is." Blaise jokes.

"What are you going to do in America anyway?" Theo questions.

Gregory shrugs. "I dunno. I don't need a job."

"Doesn't mean you can't get one just to pass the day away. You'll be bored out of your mind sitting in the house all day by yourself." Blaise suggests.

Gregory just shrugs again.

Draco knows that Gregory will do whatever Megan tell him to do so he'll be fine in America.

Two hours into the party, Megan turns the music off and calls everyone into the kitchen. Draco's surprised to find Hermione and Pansy stood next to each other chatting near the breakfast bar. He walks over to them to makes sure they're not quietly arguing with each other but when he gets closer, he hears them laughing.

"Hi, Draco," Pansy chuckles. "Hermione was just telling me about that time she punched you in the face." She and Hermione laughs. "Why is this the first I'm hearing about it?" She questions.

Draco sighs. "I wasn't exactly going to brag about the fact I got punched in the face by Hermione Granger."

"Sorry Draco," Hermione smiles up at him. "I didn't know you were keeping it a secret."

"It's fine." He tells her just as Megan call everyone's attention.

Draco steps behind Hermione, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his embrace. She leans back into his chest and entwines their fingers together.

"You two make me sick," Pansy mutters to them.

Draco's about to tell her to shut up when Megan starts talking.

"Thank you all for coming to our leaving party. It's been a fun couple of weeks of getting to know you all at these parties and we're going to miss them." She tells everyone and a few people cheer. "Of course, we'll miss you all as well." She chuckles. "We'll be back before you know it for Christmas with tales of America." She finishes her speech.

"To Megan and Gregory." Isobel raises her glass and those with glasses join in whilst everyone else just cheers.

Once the cheers have calmed down, Luna comes over to them, announcing her departure.

"I'll see you when I get back Hermione." She says as she hugs her friend.

She then unexpectedly turns around giving Draco a hug. "Take care of Blaise for me please?" She asks him.

"He's a big boy Luna. I'm sure he can look after himself." Draco reminds her.

"I know, just make sure he eats properly and doesn't stay in the house."

"We'll invite him over for dinner a few nights." He tells her.

"Thank you, Draco." She smiles then walks over to Blaise, taking him by the hand into the living room, probably to say goodbye to him.

By ten o'clock, everyone has moved the party into the garden. Since Isobel and William lived next door to Megan and Gregory, they went to collect some more chairs from their garden and kitchen so there were enough for everyone. The party went on late into the night with everyone chatting about everything and anything. At one point, Theo sets some wood on fire in the centre of the garden to keep them all warm as the night grew colder. When Hermione starts yawning and resting her head against Draco's shoulder, around one in the morning, he decides it's time they should be getting home.

They bide goodbye to everyone and exit through the garden gate. It's easy to find their own garden since it's the one with a pink flamingo and a muggle garden gnome stood guarding the gate.

"Malfoy, what a lovely surprise?" A voice announces making him jump and Hermione laugh.

"It's Geoffrey, Draco." She explains, pointing down at the muggle garden gnome.

"It's been a while. I was starting to think you forgot about me and old Pinky here." He sniffles.

"Of course not, Geoffrey, we've just been very busy." Hermione tries to console him.

"How was your wedding?" He asks suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Draco asks, confused.

"How was your wedding?" He repeats.

Draco looks at Hermione who shrugs.

"It was alright considering we didn't know who were getting married to at the time." She tells him.

"I heard the cake was in tiers." He says then bursts out laughing.

"We didn't have a cake, did we?" Draco asks, not remembering seeing any cakes at the reception party.

"It's a joke Draco." Hermione sighs, pulling him past Geoffrey and towards their back door. "A terrible one at that." She mutters with a yawn as she unlocks the door.

"I'll lock the door," Draco tells her. "You go up to bed." He adds when she yawns again.

Hermione, not needing to be told twice, heads upstairs where she strips out of her dress and into her pyjamas then climbs into bed after charming her teeth clean. She's fast asleep before Draco even comes up the stairs to bed.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 47 for you all.
> 
> Sorry, It's late.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco lies on his back, staring absentmindedly up at the ceiling. As soon as he climbed into bed, Hermione shuffled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his chest and entwining their legs, preventing him from escaping their bed. He can't take his mind off the file hidden in his potion book downstairs.

He wonders if Mr Vyner managed to figure out which filing cabinet he had purposefully been searching in. Did he know about the missing file? If he did, there's no doubt in Draco's mind that Mr Vyner would inform Kingsley straight away and their access would be revoked. Not that it would make much of a difference. Hermione found out about Karina Rowle and as soon as Draco can entangle himself from his wife, he'll find out about Hyperion Malfoy.

He needs to know what Hyperion could possibly have done that his own mother refuses to acknowledge his existence. Although, to a pureblood family, it could be anything from befriending a Muggleborn to attempting the assassination of the Minister of Magic. Anything that could tarnish the reputation of a pureblooded family was cause for being disowned and forgotten about.

Not wanting to waste any more time lying in bed thinking about it, he carefully rolls Hermione over to her own side of the bed and makes his escape. He pauses under the threshold of the door to ensure she's still sleeping and not about to walk in on him whilst he's read the file. He watches as she shuffles into a more comfortable position and then sighs softly before making his way downstairs into the living room.

The potion book he had chosen to hide the file in was the first book on the bottom shelf of the bookshelves. He removes the book, taking it into the kitchen where he waves his wand at the kettle to silence it, then flicks the switch. He wasn't going to take any risk of waking Hermione up. He makes himself a cup of tea then takes a seat at the kitchen table, facing the kitchen door, with the book laid in front of him. He takes a long sip from his cup, sets it down and then opens the book to the page with the file.

Draco flicks through the file only to find a few pieces of parchment which confuse him. If Hyperion did something to cause himself to be disowned, he would have expected to find a lot more than three pieces of parchment. With a deep sigh and another sip from his teacup, he picks up the first piece of parchment.

'Hyperion Malfoy (1947 - ), is the eldest child and son of Abraxas Malfoy (1919 – 1986) and Marcella (Black) Malfoy (1920 – 1977). On 15th February 1956, Abraxas and Marcella took their son to the Ministry of Magic to have his magic tested where it was discovered Hyperion Malfoy is a Squib. Abraxas Malfoy sent his son to live in a Muggle orphanage. It is unknown what became of Hyperion Malfoy.'

Draco has to reread the first piece of parchment five times before it finally sinks in. He stands up abruptly, regretting the noise the chair makes as it scrapes along the kitchen floor. He paces the kitchen from the back door to the living room door, running his hands through his hair and down his face. He pauses in front of the file to reread the paragraph once more.

"Hyperion Malfoy is the eldest child and son of Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy." He mutters to himself as he reads "He's my uncle." He says as he starts pacing again. "I have an uncle." He laughs, going back over to the table.

He sits back down at the table, taking a quick sip from his tea cup before picking up the second piece of parchment.

'Muggle records show that a Hyperion Malfoy lived in Staffa, Hollybush Hill in Snaresbrook, London, until February 1964 when the orphanage closed down. There are no Muggle records of Hyperion Malfoy moving to Exeter, Devon with the other Staffa orphans, however, he was seventeen years old at the time and most likely stayed in London to find employment.'

Draco can barely believe what he's reading. He has an uncle who's a squib and was sent to live in a muggle orphanage in London. How can there not be any records of him since 1964? Don't muggles make records when someone gets married or buys a house? Unless his uncle moved away to another country once the orphanage closed down.

It's all becoming too much for Draco to wrap his head around. Picking up the third piece of parchment, he hopes it will answer some of his unanswered questions but it's just Hyperion's birth certificate.

"15th February 1947." He mutters to himself. "Seven years before Lucius was born." He works out.

Lucius would only have been two years old when his brother was sent to the orphanage so he highly doubts he remembers anything about him. Draco wonders if Lucius even knew he had an older brother, not that he would mention it if he did. Most pureblood families hold the belief that squibs bring embarrassment and disgrace upon themselves and their family. Therefore, it would come as no surprise to Draco if Lucius does know about his brother but kept his existence a secret to protect the Malfoy's family reputation. Although, there must be somebody in the wizarding world who still remembers Hyperion Malfoy. Perhaps someone who knew his grandfather or grandmother.

Draco never met his paternal grandmother since she died three years before he was born and he barely got to know his grandfather who died when he was just seven years old. He's not aware of there being anyone who's still alive today who was acquainted with his grandparents, especially after the war.

The only person who seems to know anything about Hyperion is his mother. It looks like he's going to have to pay her another visit. He sighs, running his hands through his freshly cut hair and pulling the ends slightly. The pain to his scalp reminds him this isn't a dream. He really does have an uncle somewhere in the muggle world. He chuckles to himself lightly in disbelief.

Draco checks the time on the kitchen clock. It's almost half four in the morning. Deciding that he should probably try and get some sleep if they're planning on having another late night at the Burrow. He places the piece of parchment back into the file, hiding it back within the pages of the potions book. He'll have to remember to figure out a way to return the files to the Malfoy filing cabinet at some point but right now, he places the book back on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf and quietly makes his way upstairs to bed.

Not long after climbing into bed, Hermione shuffles back over to him, mumbling something in her sleep as she once again wraps herself around his chest. He closes his eyes, hoping he'll eventually drift off but his mind is preoccupied with thoughts of an uncle he doesn't know and why his mother won't even admit to his existence. He watches a beam of light dance across the ceiling through a gap in the curtains as the sun rises and knows he won't be achieving any sleep tonight.

When Hermione wakes up, she finds herself wrapped around a sleeping Draco. She smiles to herself as she squeezes herself closer to the warmth of his body. Surprising her, he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer still. She glances up at his face to find him staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Draco?" She questions him in a quiet whisper, not wanting to break the silence of the early morning.

He hums a reply, blinking a few times to focus his eyes then looks down at her with a soft smile.

"Morning." He mumbles, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"Are you alright?" She asks worriedly. "You looked a little lost for a moment there." She comments.

"I'm just tired. I didn't get any sleep last night." He mutters against her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

"Is there something on your mind?" She wonders.

He chuckles against her. "Isn't there always." He sighs before pulling away and climbing out of bed. "I need to visit my mother again this morning. I shouldn't be out any longer than forty minutes." He states as he pulls some clothes out of the wardrobe.

Hermione sits up in their bed, confused as to why he's being vague and secretive all of a sudden.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She suggests, not really wanting to in the slightest. Especially after what happened the last time she saw Narcissa.

"You don't have to do that. I know you don't want to be in the same room as my mother for the foreseeable future." He says, pulling on a pair of trousers and a black shirt.

"I know that I don't want to but if you wanted me to go with you, I would." She tells him, hoping he knows that she's there for him, for whatever's on his mind at the moment.

He pauses in buttoning up his shirt to turn to face her with a sincere smile on his face and for a moment, she thinks he's going to take her up on her offer but then he shakes his head.

"Hermione," He sighs, walking over to their bed, his shirt still half fastened. "I will never ask you to something you don't want to do but I appreciate the offer." He leans towards her to capture her lips in his.

Their kiss only lasts a few seconds before he's backing away to finish buttoning up his shirt. Hermione grabs her dressing gown before following him out of their bedroom and down the stairs. She pauses on the bottom step as Draco pulls on his shoes and his jacket.

"I'll be back soon." He smiles at her then slips out the door, leaving Hermione stood confused on the stairs.

She heads back to their bedroom to get dress herself before making herself some toast and a cup of tea for breakfast. She's leaning over the counter, eating her toast when she notices that one of the kitchen chairs has been pulled out. She distinctly remembers pushing the chairs in after breakfast yesterday because she nearly tripped over Draco's. He must have come downstairs during the night when he couldn't sleep. What she doesn't understand is why he would sit at the kitchen table rather that in the living room.

She wishes he would tell her what's plaguing his mind but she isn't going to force him to tell her anything he's not ready to, which reminds her that she still hasn't told him about what happened with Gwenog. Although, she's not sure she wants to tell him that his father was the reason behind her abandonment. He seems to have enough going on in his mind at the moment.

Hermione pulls on her pair of boots and heads out of the front door where she walks to the gate then disapparates straights to Diagon Alley.

Draco storms straight up to the front door of the manor, his anger making his heart beat faster. He knocks sharply on the door and waits impatiently for his mother, Gharther or Mitty to open the door. When there's no answer after half a minute, he knocks again, much louder this time.

Suddenly, mid-knock, the door swings open to reveal his mother in her silk dressing gown, frowning at him.

"Morning mother, do you mind if I come in?" He asks, not waiting for an answer as he pushes his way past her into the foyer.

"Of course not Draco," She says, shutting the door behind him. "Will your wife not be joining us this morning?" She smirks at him, seemingly hoping to rile him up.

"You know why Hermione won't be visiting the manor anytime soon." He glares at her.

"That's a shame, dear. Shall we have tea in the dining room?" She suggests gesturing towards the dining room doors behind him.

"No thank you, mother. I won't be staying long." He announces. "I'm only here to ask you something."

His mother's eyes narrow, her jaw tightens and her back straightens as she glares down her nose at him warningly. She takes a few steps towards him until she's stood directly before him and raises her hand to caress his cheek. "Don't ask questions that you don't want to know the question to." She smiles then slaps his cheek gently. She starts to walk towards the dining room.

"Mother," He shouts, stopping her in her tracks. "Who's Hyperion Malfoy?" She turns to face him.

A fire lights up behind her eyes as she glares at him. "There is no Hyperion Malfoy?"

"Who is he, mother?" He asks again.

"Forget about that book, Draco." She tells him. "It's not important."

"Are you sure about that?" He questions her, raising his eyebrow.

She shakes her head disappointedly as she walks towards him again.

"Draco," She sighs. "There is nobody and never has been anybody in our family named Hyperion." She tells him with a pointed stare. "Do you understand?"

"So I don't have an uncle Hyperion living in the muggle world?" He asks.

The only reaction she gives him is the slight widening of her eyes.

"I don't know where you got that information from but-"

"The ministry seems to be under the impression that Lucius has a brother-" Draco's interrupted by his mother's hand slapping him across the face.

"Don't…" She shakes her head. "How dare you?" She growls at him. "How dare you go to the ministry, behind your own family's back? Who did you speak with?" She interrogates him.

"I wasn't getting any information from you. What did you expect me to do?" He takes a step away from his mother, who had gotten too close to his face.

"Who knows, Draco?"

"Kingsley needed a favour from me, so I took him up on it," Draco explains, taking a step away from his mother.

"The Minister knows?" She stares at him in disbelief.

"Nobody knows anything. I'm not stupid, mother." He scoffs. "I know how to divert attention from the true nature of my business. Lucius taught me well. Speaking of whom, does he know he has a squib brother seven years older than him?" He questions.

"I hope whatever hold the Minister has on you was worth this useless information." She tells him, walking towards the front door. "Now leave." She orders, opening the door for him.

"Why are you so adamant to keep Hyperion a secret?" He asks, not moving.

"He's a squib." His mother snaps. "If my father had known Lucius had a squib in his immediate family, we never would have married. Who you marry defines who you are and the Malfoy's had tainted blood. Of course, Abraxas hid the squib very well but not well enough. I found that book in your grandfather's vault at Gringotts upon his death. The less who knew, the better off our family would be so I never brought it up with you father but if he knew anyway, I don't know and I don't want to know. I've tried to forget and you should too. No good can come from this, Draco." She explains. "Don't you think our family's reputation has been damaged enough?" She asks him.

Draco stares at his mother for a few seconds, trying to take everything in and understand what she had just told him.

"Goodbye, mother." He mutters as he walks past her out of the front door.

He carries on down the garden path towards the manor's gates. He thinks about apparating back to the estate but Hermione will know something is wrong straight away and he needs time to think things through before he tells her. He will tell her though. She's his wife and he doesn't want to keep anything from her. Secrets can tear relationships apart. Instead, he sets off walking down the country path towards the road.

Hermione heads straight to the apothecary, once she's in Diagon Alley, where she purchases a sleeping draught. She's gotten to know Draco well over the past couple of weeks and even the past couple of months during their NEWT exams when they would both be in the library until early in the morning. Therefore, she knows he won't be getting much sleep until he's gotten his head around whatever's on his mind. Unless his mother was able to help him figure it out, then that wasn't going to be anytime soon. Not wanting him to feel too exhausted for Ginny and Harry's party tonight, she plans on slipping some potion into a cup of tea when he returns from the manor.

Since he told her he would be forty minutes, she decides to browse Flourish and Blotts for ten minutes before heading back to the estate. She surprised to find Percy sat behind the till reading a book.

"Morning, Percy." She greets him as she walks up to the desk. "I thought you had been transferred to the branch on the estate." She mentions.

"I was… I am. I picked up some extra shifts here since they needed a two weeks holiday covering." He explains.

"I know you, Percy. Don't pick up too many extra shifts." She tells him.

"Of course not." He rolls his eyes.

"How are you and Audrey getting along?" She asks, changing the topic but the question elicits a deep sigh from him. "That bad." She chuckles.

"I wouldn't know." He admits. "With me working six shifts a week now and her working full time at the Ministry, we barely see each other." He explains.

"Which department does she work in again?" She wonders curiously.

"I'm afraid that's classified." He says. "That's all she says when I try to ask her about work. I don't know how we can be expected to communicate if she can't talk about her job and I bore her to sleep with mine. We have barely anything else in common, besides our favourite colour being mustard yellow." He shakes his head.

"You're not expected to communicate with her, Percy. You expected to reproduce with her." She points out, earning her sarcastic glare.

"Yes, thanks for the reminder. I'm well aware of the law laid down in the marriage decree. I still don't know how the ministry got away with this. The amount of people within the ministry who were, and still are, against it is astounding. How did Kingsley pass the decree? There must have been a vote. All new decrees are supposed to be voted into being by the Wizengamot, of course, the Minister has final say on the matter but I've heard from a reliable source that forty-six of the members were against it. That obviously begs the question, did they vote against it when they had the chance or wasn't there a vote, to begin with?" Percy rambles on, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I assume you aren't going to tell me who this reliable source is, are you?" Hermione asks hopefully.

"Sorry, they've asked to be kept anonymous." He explains.

"What are you planning on doing with the information they give you?" She asks curiously.

"I want to get back into the Ministry. I need to make it into the Muggle Liaison Office." He tells her. "The Minister is hiding something from us and the Wizengamot are either wrapped around his finger or too scared to vote against him. Either way, I'm not going to wait six years for the next election only to have Kingsley voted as Minister again." He announces angrily.

"Do I want to know what you're planning?" She asks worriedly.

"Just know that one day, I'm going to put an end to this marriage decree and make sure it never happens again." He states.

"I'll look forward to it," Hermione tells him. "Anyway, I better get going. I'll see you tonight." She smiles, giving him a small wave as she leaves the shop.

Hermione heads down a secluded alleyway and disapparates back to the estate wondering just what Percy's planning. It sounds like another one of his conspiracy theories that Ginny mentioned once. She just hopes that he doesn't get into trouble for it.

When Draco finally decides to return to the estate after twenty minutes walking aimlessly through the countryside, he's still not much closer to sorting his mind out.

How can his mother ask him to forget about his uncle when it's all he can think about? Did Hyperion marry? Did he have any children? What career path did he take in the muggle world? Where does he live? What does he remember of the wizarding world? Does he miss the wizarding world? Did he ever try to get back to his family or did he accept his fate and embrace muggle culture? The main question on his mind though is whether he's going to follow his mother's advice and forget about Hyperion? Ignore his existence completely?

His mother was right about one thing, the Malfoy family's reputation has been damaged, maybe irreparably, but he's been working hard for the past year not to increase the damage. He doesn't want to risk worsening their name for his mother's sake. He knows she rarely leaves the house since Lucius was sentenced to Azkaban for fifteen years. If she needs anything, she sends Gharther or an owl to the shop for delivery. He's surprised she even went to the partner ceremony. If word got out that they have a squib in the family, not everyone would be understanding. Even the Weasley hide their squibs from the wizarding world if the rumours were true.

He pauses at the front door to their house to take a deep breath and put on a smile before entering.

"Draco!" Hermione's voice calls from the kitchen. "Is that you?" She asks, coming into the living room as he takes his shoes off.

"Yeah, I'm back." He announces.

"Did you figure everything out with your mother?" She asks curiously.

He shakes his head as he makes his way over to the couch, throwing himself down with a yawn.

"I got some answers but they just posed more questions." He admits.

"Would you like a cup of tea" She suggests.

He expected her to question him further, which he's not ready for, so he gladly accepts the offer of a cup of tea.

Hermione heads into the kitchen and puts the kettle on. She places a tea bag in two mugs then pours a few drops of the sleeping draught into Draco's cup. When the kettle's boiled, she makes the cups of teas. Remembering that Draco's mug is in her right hand, she walks back into the living room passing him his cup of tea.

Draco thanks her as he accepts the mug, sitting up to take a deep swallow. He coughs afterwards, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth thoughtfully.

"Did you spike my tea with a sleeping draught?" He asks, frowning at her.

"You said you didn't get any sleep last night and you seem to have a lot on your mind. I thought I would aid you a little." She tells him with a soft smile, hoping he won't be too angry.

"Thank you for your concern. I appreciate your thoughtfulness but it would have been nice if you asked if I wanted the draught rather than spiking me." He says, looking more annoyed than angry.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help." She tells him, taking the mug out of his hands and laying it on the coffee table. "Why don't you lie down?" She suggests, grabbing a blanket from the back of the armchair.

"Fine." He mutters. "But only because I don't have any other choice right now." He yawns, lying back down on the couch as Hermione throws the blanket over him.

"I'll wake you up at half three so you can get ready for the party." She tells him, leaning down to kiss his forehead as he slowly drifts off.

Hermione grabs her own cup of tea, a book from her bookshelf and curls up in the armchair with Athena to read.

Draco's woken by Hermione shaking him awake by the shoulders.

"Afternoon." She smiles down at him from her place perching on the side of the couch.

"Afternoon already." He sighs, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. "It only feels like a couple of hours." He mutters.

"It's four o'clock," She tells him. "And we only have an hour to get ready for Ginny and Harry party so we better go get dressed." She stands up, pulling his blanket off him.

"Right, I'm coming." He climbs off the couch and follows her slowly up the stairs as he stretches.

Hermione's already pulling a white shirt and royal blue skirt out of the wardrobe when he enters their bedroom, having already decided on what she's wearing. Draco hasn't given it much though. He opens his side of the wardrobe and removed a grey pair of trousers, a white shirt and a grey tie to match. They both get changed on their respective sides of their bedroom.

Draco pulls on his leather jacket to make his outfit look more casual as Hermione pulls on a blazer of a similar colour to her skirt. Whilst she sits down at the dressing table to apply her makeup, Draco heads into the bathroom to brush his teeth and fix his hair. He hasn't yet figured out how to style it with the new cut. He tries it with his hair brushed back and gelled lightly in place but after five minutes of trying to keep it from falling in front of his eyes, he gives up, deciding instead to just have his fringe brushed gently to the side. Once he's made sure it's perfect, he charms it into place and lets out a sigh of relief before casting a light makeup charm on his scar, which is barely noticeable.

There's a knock on the door as Hermione asks if he's nearly ready.

"Yes, I'm coming." He tells her, washing the gel out of his hands and drying them before exiting.

She gives him a once over, pausing on his hair for a few seconds longer, before giving him an approving smile.

"You look very nice." She tells him as she leads the way downstairs.

"I can say the same about you." He returns as they pull their shoes on.

As Draco's looking their front door behind them, Neville and Hannah step out of their house to the left of them.

"Hi guys, are you setting off for the Burrow too?" Hannah asks as Neville locks their own door.

"Yeah, I think we're going to be a little late," Hermione answers, checking her watch.

"We'll only be five minutes late," Neville says as the four of them set off towards the gate.

"Ginny won't mind," Hermione tells them.

"Besides, it's fashionable to be late." Hannah points out, linking her arm with Neville's.

"She's not going to announce anything at the beginning of the party anyway. She'll wait until later on to end the night with a bang." Neville mentions.

"I'm not sure it's going to be much of a 'bang'," Draco states, taking Hermione's hand in his.

"So you know then." Hannah chuckles.

"I think everybody who's been invited has come to the same assumption about the purpose of this party," Draco says.

"I've been working on my surprised face," Neville admits and Draco laughs until he realises he's being serious. "I don't want her announcement to be ruined just because we already know." He explains.

"I am surprised that they are announcing this early. Most people usually wait until at least two months." Hannah says.

"I'm surprised it only took them two weeks," Neville adds.

Hermione lightly squeezes his hand and when he looks down at her, she's smirking to herself. As though she knows something they don't.

"What is it?" He whispers, squeezing her hand back."

"Nothing." She tries to hide her smile but fails rather miserably. "I'll tell you tonight if they don't." She mutters back when he raises a doubtful eyebrow.

When they reach the gate, Hannah and Neville unlink their arms to disapparate separately to the burrow. Draco keeps hold of his wife's hand and disapparates them both to the gate of the burrow.

The first thing Hermione notices when they apparate to the burrow is a large gazebo, similar to the one at Bill and Fleur's wedding, is set up in the garden with numerous tables and chair set up in a horseshoe shape. Along the back wall were plates upon plates of delicious looking food, piled high that Molly had made for the partygoers. In the centre, someone has transfigured the grassy lawn into a dancefloor and hanging from the ceiling of the gazebo is a disco ball and a few colour lights. Near the entrance, there's a small table with a muggle DJ station and some speakers. She spots Blaise stood behind the table, sorting through a few boxes of records.

She's glad that he decided to come, even though Luna's gone off on her expedition with her father. It might help Ginny to change her thoughts of him. By the looks of it though, he has already distanced himself from the rest of the partygoers who were all crowded near the back door to the burrow, chatting to each other.

Hermione leaves Draco talking to Neville and Hannah as they walk down the garden path, to go over to Blaise. He glances up then smiles at her when he notices he's being approached.

"Hi, Hermione. How are you doing?" He asks as he takes an album sleeve out of one box and places it in another.

"I'm great thanks. I hope you're not going to be behind here all night." She mentions.

"Of course not. I live to party." He says seriously, continuing to rummage through the box. "I'm sorting the records into an appropriate order then I'll charm them to change themselves." He explains.

"That's clever." She comments impressed.

"Thanks, I have my moments." He smiles up at her.

"Are you nearly done?" She questions. "I'll walk over to the Burrow with you." She suggests.

"Nearly. I'm on my last box now. I sort of already organised them this afternoon since I had nothing better to do with Luna being gone." He explains. "And I'm done." He adds.

"Come on then. Have you met all the Weasley yet?" She asks him as he links his arm with hers and they set off towards the Burrow.

"Not officially. Of course, I'm acquainted with Ginny and Ronald." He mentions. "And I've seen George and Percy around since we're pretty much neighbours, but I've never met the other two or their parents." He tells her.

"I'll introduce you." She smiles at him encouragingly but his return smile looks nervous. "Don't worry. The Weasleys are one of the kindest family I've ever known." She reassures him as they join the crowd of people milling around outside the Burrow.

George is closest to them, so she guides him over.

"Hi George, have you met Blaise before?" She asks, nodding to the man still linked to her arm.

"I don't think we've met but I've seen you around. You live three doors down from Angelina and me, right?" George asks, holding his hand out for Blaise to shake, which he does.

"Yeah, that's right. You're the Weasley who owns the joke shop right?" Blaise asks, unlinking their arms.

George smiles as he nods. "Yep, that's us." He answers, smile faltering when he realises his mistakes.

Blaise doesn't seem to catch it though as he carries on talking.

"Great, because I've been wanting to ask you a question about your Fainting Fancies for three years now." Blaise states.

George stares at him curiously for a moment before nodding.

"I bite half the Fainting Fancy and I'm unconscious in seconds, right?" He pauses for confirmation so George nods. "But then how do I eat the second half of the Fancy if I'm lying unconsciously on the floor as though I really fainted?" He asks and George's eyes widen slightly in interest.

"Well, you're supposed to have someone with you to feed you the second half," George explains.

"What if I don't have anyone with me?" Blaise asks.

"We didn't think of that." George frowns.

Since she never approved of the use of any of the Skiving Snackbox sweets, Hermione takes her leave and tries to find Draco or Ginny. She finds Draco stood next to a small table of drinks with Pansy, whom she is surprised to see. She makes her way over, smiling when they both look up and smile at her.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Pansy."

"Ginny invited me." She shrugs, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"She said she had but I didn't think you would show up." Hermione states.

"Well my child's going to be half Weasley so I might as well try to get on with them." She shrugs. "Molly seems nice. She gave me some juice." She smirks slightly, motioning with the glass in her hands.

"She is nice." Hermione agrees.

"Do you want a drink?" Draco asks, offering her a butterbeer.

She accepts the drink with thanks then excuses herself to find Ginny. She assumes that Draco, Pansy and Blaise will stay near each other for most of the party but a glance at Blaise finds him still talking amicably with George, who's now making notes in a small notebook that he didn't have earlier.

Hermione enters the Burrow to find Molly busying herself in the kitchen whilst Ginny, Fleur and Angelina sit at the kitchen table chatting and chuckling with each other.

"Hi Gin," She announces her arrival and her best friends jumps out of her seat, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're late, Hermione." She states with a laugh. "We were about to head over to the gazebo." She adds.

"You didn't need to wait." She tells her.

"I know but mum insisted." She rolls her eyes playfully.

"Just because you're married now, doesn't mean you're not too old for a telling off," Molly warns as she waves her wand at a large plate of sausage rolls and they disappear, presumably to the table of food under the gazebo.

"I'll go tell everyone we're ready to move now," Ginny says, heading outside with Fleur and Angelina.

"How are you, Molly?" She asks, walking with the older woman outside and over to the gazebo with the rest of the guests.

"I've told you before not to worry about me, I'm great, Hermione," Molly tells her. "I'm more concerned with how you are doing." She says.

"I'm great as well." She smiles at Molly. "Where's Arthur?" She questions, looking around the crowd.

"He's in the garage as usual with Bill and Harry." She rolls her eyes fondly. "I'll go fetch them soon." She says.

"How's Ron doing? Is he here?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Oh, Hermione dear." Molly takes hold of her hand. "I heard what he did. I gave him a right good telling off, believe me." She frowns. "He's here somewhere. Probably in his old room ignoring everyone but if he starts, I'll sort him out. Don't worry dear." She pulls her into a typically tight, Molly Weasley hug.

"Thank you, Molly. I appreciate it but I hope there'll be no need. We're both adults now." She says.

"Well, you might be an adult, dear." She winks. "Oh, Audrey dear, please don't go straight for desserts?" Molly calls over to Audrey who's stood at the food table with a half-eaten strawberry tart in her hand. "Sorry, Hermione." She excuses herself.

She smiles to herself, as she goes over to the table where Draco and Pansy are sitting near. Molly seems to be enjoying having everyone in her house again.

"Are we allowed to eat yet or not?" Pansy asks her as she sits down next to Draco

"Yeah, you can help yourself." She answers.

"One of my dear sisters-in-law just got told off by Mother Weasley." She mentions with a tone of sarcasm.

"Audrey," Draco points out, earning an eye roll from Pansy.

"Just don't start with dessert," Hermione tells her.

"Are any of you coming?" She asks but they both decline so Pansy walks off on her own the grab a plate of food.

"Have you talked to anyone else or just Pansy?" Hermione asks Draco, as he glances around the room.

"Harry came to thank us for coming but he left in a hurry. No time for a little chat." He smirks.

"He's probably busy. It is his party." Hermione explains.

Suddenly there's a loud bang coming from the DJ station and every head turns towards George, whose wand is poking one of the speakers, and Blaise, who's doubled over laughing.

"George, what are you doing?" Ginny shouts as she storms over to the DJ station.

"Don't worry, we'll fix it. Go eat or something." George tells her as he begins to poke the speaker again.

"Mate," Blaise takes hold of his wand wrist, pulling it away from the speaker. "Unless you want to look like Finnigan after the rum incident, I wouldn't do that."

"Hey!" Seamus complains from behind them as Draco laughs as Hermione elbows him in the side.

"Everybody, help yourself to food whilst they try to fix the speaker," Harry announces to his guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	48. Chapter 48

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 48 for you all from Stirling, Scotland.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

The crowd slowly makes a line at the buffet table, grabbing a plate and helping themselves to the food. Draco and Hermione join the back of the line behind Harry and Ginny.

"Great party so far." Draco comments.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Ginny glares at him.

"No, really, I think more parties should start off with a bang." He says with a chuckle.

"Good one, Draco," Harry says with a small smile. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"I'll enjoy it more when I get some food. I haven't eaten all day." He complains as his stomach growls. He stands on his tip toes to peer down the line.

"Are you not feeding your man, Hermione?" Ginny asks.

"He can feed himself." She scoffs at her friend.

"I'm not sure I'd trust any food you give me anyway. Not after that cup of tea." Draco smiles at his wife who rolls her eyes.

"Did you drug him?" Harry asks, a little too enthusiastically.

"It was just a sleeping draught." Hermione defends herself.

"I don't think I've been this proud of you since you punched him in the face." Harry states.

"Why do people keep bring that up?" Draco sighs as his stomach growls again.

"It was a very good punch though, wasn't it?" Hermione smiles up at him.

"I feel as though you really had to step back and watch as an outsider to get the full effect of the punch though." Harry says with a sly smirk. "Wouldn't you agree, Hermione?" He asks but she just laughs.

When they reach the buffet, Draco picks up a plate a fills it with a bit of everything. His memories from last Monday night might still be fuzzy but he does remember Mrs Weasley's food being delicious. Hermione and Draco head back to the table they were sharing with Pansy earlier to find Thomas, Finnigan, Neville and Hannah sat there as well.

"How are your family?" Draco asks Pansy as the rest of the table chats loudly with each other.

"Just great." She says sarcastically with a pointed stare. "My father's stopped talking to me and my mother has banned any children I have with the Weasel from entering their house. Of course, it's not my fault I was paired with him so I'm still welcome." She scoffs. "What about you? Is Narcissa already pairing you off with some young, untainted pureblood?" She asks.

"She's had plenty of offers." He smirks. "Including from your father but of course she declined. You'll be tainted by a blood traitor." He tells her jokingly, earning him a punch in the arm.

"Which desperate father has offered the most then?" She asks curiously.

"Mr Greengrass."

"Daphne!" Pansy frowns. "She's more tainted then I am. She got paired with a mud- Muggleborn." She corrects herself.

"Her sister, Astoria. She's going into her seventh year in September." He explains.

"She's two years younger than you." She points out.

"That's not much a difference. Isn't your mother five years younger than your father?" He reminds her.

"Yeah but they're old. It doesn't matter when you get into your fifties but when you're our age, the difference is massive." She makes a point. "Can you see yourself marrying a sixteen year old when you're twenty-four?"

"I can't see myself marrying anyone else." He admits quietly. He looks at Hermione out the side of his eye, she doesn't appear to be paying attention to his and Pansy's conversation.

"Ugh, you make me sick." She frowns at him as she stands up. "I'm going to get a drink." She adds as she walks back towards the burrow, leaving him alone.

He tries to follow the topic of conversation that Hermione's currently having with Neville about him becoming an Auror but he has no interest in the topic so takes his leave, heading over to the DJ station.

"How's it coming along?" He asks Blaise and George.

"We thinks there something wrong with the wire but we're not sure." George explains. "You don't know anything about muggle electicy, do you?" He asks.

"Not a thing." He says leaning closer to have a better look but he wouldn't know where to start. "Doesn't your father know a lot about muggle things?" He asks.

"Yeah but he doesn't have the best success rate so we're keeping him as a last resort." He admits.

"What's a wire?" He asks curiously.

"This thing here." Blaise lifts up the rope dangling out the back of the DJ station. "We've plugged it in but it's not working. Then George here went and poked the speaker with his wand and broke it. Now we've only got three." He glares jokingly at George who just shrugs.

Draco leans over the table to find the three prongs sticking out of the rope are inside a white box.

"What's that?" He questions.

"It has the electicy inside. We've plugged it in like dad said so it should work." George explains.

"What's that light switch thing next to it?" Draco points out.

"I don't know." Blaise frowns says as he bends down to flip the switch.

Suddenly, a song by the Weird Sisters blasts out of the three remaining speakers, making every party guest jump and sending Draco, Blaise and George's ears ringing. All three of them reach for the knob to turn it down.

"Merlin's beard." George curses loudly.

"I think I've gone deaf." Blaise shouts then shakes his head. "No, I can hear myself." He says loudly with relief. "Unless they're my thoughts. Draco say something to me." He grabs hold of his shoulders and starts shaking him.

"Get off me, Blaise." Draco pushes his friend off him.

"I can hear." He rejoices loudly.

"Boys, will you stop messing around with the music and go sit down. That's the second time you've scared everyone." Mrs Weasley scolds them but Draco can barely hear her.

Blaise follows Draco over to his table, sitting down in Pansy's old chair. All eyes at the table are on them.

"Sorry guys." Blaise apologises loudly. "I'm not very experienced with muggle things." He states.

"Blaise, you're shouting," Neville shouts over the table.

"Oh, sorry. I can barely hear myself." He tries to speak normally but it still comes out loudly.

Draco feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to face Hermione who's talking to him but he can't hear anything she's saying.

"I can't hear you." He tells her, hopefully in a quiet voice.

She shakes her head at him. "This is what happens when you mess around with electricity." She shouts at him. "You both could have been electrocuted." She scolds them, taking out her wand. "Hold still." She tells him, placing her wand behind his ear and muttering something he can't hear or read on her lips. When's she's done, she moves her wand to his other ear and repeats the process.

Slowly, his hearing comes back to him as the noises of his surroundings starts off as a low buzz then grows to distinguishable sounds. Hermione has moved on to Blaise and done the same for him.

"I better go find George too." She sighs, wandering off to the table where George and Angelina are sat with the rest of the Weasley's.

The next couple of hours go by quickly. Draco follows Hermione around as they make their way around the gazebo, talking to everyone. Quite a few people still seem unsure about talking to him so to them, he makes sure he asks them polite questions and pretends to be interested in their answers. Hermione holds his hand for most of the time, squeezing it every now and then in encouragement.

Around nine o'clock, the garden lights that have been set up around the gazebo are dimmed down as lights are directed to a shiny ball hanging from the ceiling which radiates light.

"Let's go dance!" Hermione exclaims, pulling him by his hand towards the dancefloor.

Draco sighs and reluctantly follows her. Another Weird Sisters song plays as more people make their way to the dancefloor. Blaise had charmed the records to change and play themselves so he can join in with the festivities. They dance for a few more songs before she's pulled away by Ginny to dance with her and their friends. Draco tries to make his escape but Blaise grabs hold of his hand pulling him towards Neville, Harry, Dean and Seamus, who are all dancing in a huddle. He shuffles from foot to foot for a few songs until he spots Pansy coming out of the Burrow with an annoyed looking Ron following not far behind.

Draco walks over to meet her on her way back over.

"Where have you been?" He asks curiously since he hasn't seen her since she went to get a drink. "You're missing the dancing."

Pansy glances over her shoulder at Ron then looks back at him and winks.

Draco rolls his eyes as he groans. "I didn't need to know that." He tells her.

"You asked." She chuckles. "Anyway, I don't dance." She stares at him pointedly.

"That won't stop Blaise." He tells her and as if on cue, Blaise runs over, grabs both their hands and pulls them onto the dancefloor.

By half ten, Draco is sat back at his table with Pansy and a drink as the part starts to die down. Most people seem to be well danced out as they slump tiredly in their chairs. He watches as Hermione sits laughing with her fellow Gryffindors at a nearby table. They look like they're having a good time catching up with each other.

"I sometimes wish the Slytherin's were more like that," Pansy admits as she also watches the Gryffindor's table.

"In what way?" He questions her.

"When was the last time Slytherin's were excited to get together to chat and laugh about the good old days?" She asks rhetorically.

"We don't have any good old days." He laughs.

"We had some good times. Remember that night when you convinced Snape to let us have a midnight feast in the common room." Pansy smiles at the memory.

"I remember the younger years falling asleep on all the couches before midnight and the older years were either making out with each other, stuffing their faces or drunk and spilling their secrets." Draco reminds her.

"That's probably why I remember that night a little differently. I was drunk." She admits. "I didn't say anything too embarrassing, did I?"

"No, you just confront people when you're drunk," He tells her. "Which is why you should take it slow with those." He nods to the bottle in her hand.

"Says you," She scoffs. "You get mopey when you're drunk. Actually, you're a little mopey now. You might want to slow down." She quirks her eyebrow at him.

"I'm fine." He tries to smile at her but he is feeling a little mopey.

"Cheer up, your wife's coming over," Pansy tells him then starts laughing. "You're falling in love with her, aren't you? And don't try to deny it, your eyes don't lie, and they just lit up."

Draco ignores her, instead of watching as Hermione makes her way over, and she takes her seat next to him, giving him a smile.

"I think Ginny's going to make her announcement in a minute." She states.

"I'll try to look surprised," Pansy tells her.

"Good. This is their first child and their moment. I don't want it ruined because mostly everyone knows." She explains.

"How's this?" Pansy asks then pulls an over dramatic, shocked face.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Blaise." She laughs.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Ginny shouts above the noise of the party.

"Here we go." Hermione smiles excitedly and Draco can't help but radiate the smile back to her.

Ginny waits a few moments as the guests of their party quieten down. Harry makes his way over to the dancefloor, where his wife is stood, and stands next to her. Draco watches as they hold hands and smile lovingly at each other.

"We have an announcement to make," Ginny starts, glancing around the crowd.

Draco has a look around too. Most of the people he can see seem to be trying to hide a knowing smile so he assumes that Hermione's right and most people already know.

"Harry and I are pregnant." She announces.

"I don't think Harry's pregnant." Pansy jokes but Hermione shushes her.

Draco laughs as the crowd gasps in fake shock then cheers excitedly for them. Hermine claps her hands excitedly as she jumps up from her hair and hurries over to her best friends to congratulate them. Draco follows behind and offers both Harry and Ginny his hand and a smile in congratulations.

"Everyone already knew, didn't they?" Ginny asks with a sigh as Hermione pulls her into a hug.

"I think the majority of people had already assumed as much," Draco admits.

Suddenly, Hermione and Draco are pushed out of the way by a crying Mrs Weasley.

"Ginevra, I'm your mother and you chose to tell me along with everyone else." She cries, pulling her daughter into a hug.

"You didn't already know?" Ginny asks.

"Of course not, how am I supposed to know if you don't tell me. Oh dear, my youngest baby is giving me my first grandbaby." She announces. "Where's Arthur?" She wonders, turning around to search for her husband. "Arthur!" She calls. "There he is, Arthur." She beckons him over. "We're going to be grandparents." She hugs her husband tightly.

"Who's pregnant?" Mr Weasley glances around at all his children who are gathered around them.

"I am, Dad." Ginny rolls her eyes.

"Ginny! Aren't you a little young." Mr Weasley asks, taking his daughter's hand in his.

"We did what we had to," Ginny admits shyly.

"This damned marriage decree." Mr Weasley curses then sighs. "I'm happy for you darling. For both of you. Come here, Harry." He says, pulling them both into an embrace.

"Come on Draco, let's leave them to celebrate," Hermione tells him, pulling him back towards their table.

Blaise, Neville and Hannah have occupied their previous seats again.

"Who do you think will be next?" Hannah asks as they sit down.

"Probably another Weasley." Pansy shrugs.

"Aren't you a Weasley now, Pansy?" Hannah points out. "Is there something you want to tell us?" She chuckles.

"We're having sex regularly in an attempt to conceive. How's your sex life, Hannah?" Pansy leans across the table, inquisitively.

"Okay Pansy, I think you've had enough to drink." Draco takes her bottle out of her hand, earning himself a glare. "Remember what I said about you confronting people when you're drunk." He stares at her.

"Fine, sorry Hannah." She apologises, slumping back in her chair. "Actually, I think I might go home. I'm tired and the announcement has been made." She stands up and begins to make her way over to the gate.

"Draco, you can't let her disapparate home alone." Hermione tugs on his arm.

"Fine." He sighs, standing up.

"I'll meet you at home. I'm just going to say goodbye to Ginny and Harry." She tells him and he nods back in understanding.

"Pansy, wait. You can't disapparate home alone." He tells her as he catches up to her. "Come on, I'll do the disapparating." He offers her his arm, which she takes.

"You're a good friend, Draco." She tells him.

"I have a good wife." He corrects her.

"Ah, Hermione Granger. Your moral compass." She shakes her head. "Did she change her name?" She asks curiously.

"No, she quite angrily told me our first night that she wasn't changing it." He admits.

"She might change her mind." She tells him.

"She might." He agrees as they reach the gate and disapparate back to the estate.

Hermione walks over to Ginny, who's talking to Audrey and Angelina, and taps her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Draco and I are taking Pansy home. I'll come see you on Friday." She says, hugging her friend goodbye.

"Can't he take her himself," Ginny asks, pouting sadly.

"We had a late night last night and I'm starting to feel tired" Hermione explains.

"Yeah, I heard. You were at Goyle and Megan's party until early in the morning." Ginny huffs, crossing her arms. "I never thought you would be the one to change the most after the partner ceremony but I guess when you get married you get new friends." She says spitefully.

"Ginny, you're one of my best friends and that's not going to change because I'm married to Draco. It might make it a little harder for us to meet up as often as we're used to but you'll always be one of my best friends." She says.

Ginny sighs, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry Hermione. I just feel like everything is changing and it's only been two weeks. You actually like Draco, you're friends with Pansy and the other Slytherins, you and Ron aren't talking anymore-"

"As soon as he apologises to me, we can go back to talking but I'm not sure if we can go back to how things used to be at Hogwarts." She interrupts.

"I'll make him apologise to you," Ginny says determinedly.

"He has to mean it," Hermione tell her.

"Oh, he'll mean it." She smirks. "I'll have a little talk with him." She adds.

"Okay, I better get going but I'll see you on Friday. I promise." She says, hugging her friend once more time before leaving and disapparating back to the estate.

Once he's gotten Pansy into her house and she's locked the door behind herself, Draco walks back towards the gate wondering where Hermione has gotten to. She said she was just saying goodbye to Harry and Ginny. He leans against the wall outside of the estate as he waits for her to apparate. A few minutes later, she appears right in front of the gate.

"What took you so long?" He smiles at her as they walk through the gate.

"Ginny wasn't happy that I was leaving," Hermione tells him.

"Why we ate, we drank, we talked, we even danced?" He frowns.

"Someone must have told her we were at Gregory and Megan's party until late last night. She seems to be under the impression that I've changed too much since the partner ceremony." She admits.

"And she blames me for that, doesn't she?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

"Of course she does." She takes his hand in hers. "The mean Slytherin boy is poisoning the innocent Gryffindor girl's mind and forcing her to be friends with the other snakes." She says with a smile then laughs.

Draco can't help but laugh along with her.

"It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?" She continues to chuckle.

"Is that really what she thinks, that I've brainwashed you?" He asks seriously.

"No, she just thinks that everything around her is changing too much and I don't think she's ready for it. I've told her that I'll go visit her on Friday. We might go shopping in Diagon Alley like we used to." She tells him.

"She's going to have to get used to change. Everything can't always stay the same. Especially with her being pregnant." He mentions and Hermione nods as she takes the key out of her pocket to unlock their front door.

"Are you tired?" She asks him as they take their shoes off in the hall.

"Yeah, even with that unscheduled nap," He glares at her jokingly. "I'm still shattered." He admits with a yawn.

"I am sorry about that. I was just trying to help and I know you wouldn't have accepted it if I asked you." She apologises again.

He smiles down at her, brings his hand up to caress her cheek. "I forgive you." He says, kissing her forehead before heading upstairs. He hears her following behind him.

"I was impressed you could tell just by taste." She admits, waiting by their bedroom door as he gets changed. "Not many people would have noticed."

"Are you forgetting who my godfather was?" He asks. "He trained me well."

"Have you ever thought of going into potions making?" She asks curiously.

He stops in the folding of his shirt. He'd never really thought of potions making as anything more than just a hobby. Lucius had wanted him to be a ministry man whereas child Draco wanted to be a professional seeker. Then he didn't think much about life after the war. No matter which side won, he didn't think he had much chance at having a career but thanks to Harry, he wasn't imprisoned with Lucius in Azkaban and he was given a second chance at living his life the way he wanted. Of course, he's still a Malfoy and that comes with a reputation that most people don't want to get involved with so he knows finding any career is going to be difficult to get into. Then again, potions has always been a love of his. If there was any career he would work hard to get into and work his way up, it would be potions making.

"Not really but it might be something I consider in the future." He admits, folding his shirt up and placing it back in the wardrobe. "What about you, Professor Granger?" He asked with a coy smile.

"That was the plan eventually." She smiles with a sigh. "I wanted to go travelling, visit other wizarding communities and broaden my knowledge." She admits.

"We could go travelling together," Draco announces, walking over to where she's still stood underneath the doorframe.

She looks up excitedly. "Really?" She asks, taking his hands in hers.

"Of course, I'd love to go travelling. I've already visited a lot of wizarding communities with Lucius and my mother as a child. I'd love to show you my favourites and maybe you could show me the muggle world in those countries." He suggests, hopefully.

Blaise had told him about all the muggle places he's visited around Europe, especially in Italy and the way he describes them always makes him jealous.

"Sounds like a plan." She pulls him in for a hug which he returns tightly, stifling a yawn. "I think you need to go to bed." She adds.

He rolls his eyes as he heads into the bathroom. "Are you coming?" He asks.

"No, I'm not tired yet. I'm going to go feed Athena then maybe read a book." She shrugs, indecisively, watching him brush his teeth and wash his face. "I won't be too long, maybe an hour." She adds as he climbs into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me sleep?" He asks with his eyes closed.

"Goodnight, Draco." She chuckles, closing the door behind her as she leaves.

Hermione walks downstairs, into the front room where she opens the cage for Athena to stretch her wings. The baby owl follows her into the kitchen where she grabs a handful of owl food, placing it in her food bowl and placing it back in her cage. She leaves the cage open for Athena to fly in and out of as she grabs a transfiguration book off her bookshelf and lies down on the couch.

Once Athena's had enough of her food, she flies over to Hermione's side, landing on her shoulder and nuzzling into her cheek. After an hour of reading her book, Hermione stands up, stretching her back, ready for bed. Athena flies back into her cage, nesting on her perch. She locks the cage, places her book back on the bookshelf then heads upstairs into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She enters their bedroom as quietly, glancing at Draco to find him fast asleep with his mouth slightly agape. She smiles fondly at him as she grabs her pyjamas then gets changed for bed. She hangs her clothes back in the wardrobe before climbing into bed and shuffling close to Draco's side, wrapping her arm around his waist, ready for a good night's sleep.

When Draco wakes up in the morning, the first thing across his mind is Hyperion. He can't forget about him. He has an uncle out there and he wants to know more about him. He wants to find him. Although, he doesn't know the first thing about how to track people down in the muggle world. Hermione might be able to help but he doesn't want her involved yet. She's already got enough on her mind with Sophie and Gwenog. Speaking of whom, she never told him how her meeting with her went. Hermione moves next to him and his gaze flitters down to her. She's gripping at his chest tightly and her face is furrowed in fear. He wraps his arms around her in a hug, watching her facial expressions as she dreams. After a few minutes, her brow relaxes and he's curious about what her dream was about.

A few minutes later, Hermione opens her eyes, staring directly into his.

"Hi!" She greets him with a shy smile.

"Are you alright?" He asks. "It looked like you were having a nightmare."

She frowns for a moment as she tries to remember details from her dream but in the end, she just shrugs.

"I can't remember." She tells him, closing her eyes as she shuffles closer in his embrace.

"Have you got any plans today?" He wonders.

"I'm thinking about visiting Gwenog again." She announces, eyes still closed.

"You never told me how your first meeting with her went." He reminds her.

She frowns slightly as she opens her eyes.

"She admitted to being Sophie's mother." Hermione starts.

"Did she tell you why she abandoned her?" He asks.

"Yes," She pauses. "She said she was threatened by some Death Eaters." She admits.

Draco freezes. "What would Death Eaters want with her?" He questions.

"Something to do with the Quidditch World Cup. They needed her to vote for England to keep the final." She states.

"I don't remember hearing about any vote." He frowns. "Why would there even need to be a vote? There wasn't any danger in England at that time. The Dark Lord didn't resurface until the summer after the World Cup. Are you sure she isn't lying?" He asks, lifting his hand up to run through her hair.

"I don't know anymore." She sighs, leaning into his touch. "That's why I'm going back to visit her today. She wants me to talk to David about letting her see Sophie but until I find out the truth about why she left and this World Cup vote, I'm not asking him anything. You should have seen him when I asked him about Gwen in the first place. He's still angry about the whole thing." She explains.

"Understandably so. When are you going?" Draco asks her, twisting her hair around his fingers.

"I'm not going anywhere until I've had a shower and eaten some breakfast." She says as she rolls away, stretching her limbs out.

"You go in the shower and I'll make some breakfast." He tells her, watching as she climbs out of bed.

"Can you make scrambled eggs?" She asks as she grabs some clothes to change into.

"Of course, with bacon?" He asks as he too climbs out of bed and grabs his dressing gown.

"Sounds great." She kisses his cheek before closing the bathroom door behind her.

Draco makes his way downstairs where he opens Athena's cage and decides to put on one of the records he bought the other day. Choosing one at random, he places it on the record player then flicks the switch. Thankfully, it starts playing and he doesn't need to prod the player with his wand. He doesn't want to risk blowing the speaker up like George had last night. He turns the volume up, feeling stupid when he realises that the 'vol' on the knob probably stands for volume. He laughs at his stupidity as he heads into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

He pours some food into Athena's bowl, who perches on top of the microwave to eat. When he hears the shower turn off, he fills the kettle up and sets it to boil as he puts some bread in the toaster. By the time Hermione's has made it down into the kitchen, dressed and hair dried, their breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon on toast with a cup of tea is ready on the table.

"Thank you, Draco." She kissed the top of his head on her way over to her seat at the table. "It looks delicious." She adds, looking down at the plate. "I'm still quite shocked and impressed that you can actually cook."

"Mitty taught me well." He chuckles before they both dig in.

"What are you going to be getting up to today?" She asks, a forkful of eggs and bacon halfway to her mouth.

"I don't know. I might go visit Blaise. He gets bored quiet quickly when left alone." He says.

"That sounds nice, why don't you make a day out of it?" She suggests. "You could take him into the muggle London. He seems quite interested in the muggle world." She adds.

"He knows more about it than I do but I suppose I could take him to that shopping centre." Draco shrugs.

"You should go and explore other areas of London. There's a lot more interesting places than the shopping centre." She smiles.

"We'll see." He mutters as he continues to eat his breakfast.

"I want to visit Gwenog before lunch time then I might go shopping down Diagon Alley. I want to buy Sophie something from the wizarding world for her birthday." She announces.

"Is that wise? What if David sees it questions what it is?" He points out.

"I'm hoping that Gwenog will clear up my confusion today, then I can think about tell David about everything." She admits, looking down at the cup of tea in her hands.

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything. He deserves to know that his daughter is a witch. He would have found out eventually anyway, but I think it's better if he find out from me." Hermione explains. "I just need to figure a way to approach the subject before Sophie's birthday."

"When's her birthday?" Draco asks.

"On the 21st June."

"You've still got a bit of time to figure it out." He says.

A loud tapping noise from the kitchen window makes them both turn sharply towards the sound. Athena chirps angrily from where she's still perched on top of the microwave. A large, ministry owl is sat on their windowsill, staring at them through the window. Draco stands up, wondering what the Minister could be wanting off them now, as he makes his way over and opens the window. The owl lifts its leg up for him to retrieve the roll of parchment. As soon as he's untied it, the owl stretches his wings and flies off.

"From the ministry?" Hermione asks from next to him as she places her dirty plate and cup into the sink.

Draco unravels the parchment and begins to read.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Thursday 16** **th** **June 1999**

**Dear Mr Malfoy,**

**The Ministry is writing to inform you that the trail for the Death Eater, Rabastan Lestrange, to whom you have agreed to bear witness, will take place tomorrow, Friday 17** **th** **June 1999 at 09:00. Please ensure you are present in court at least twenty minutes before this time.**

**Approved and signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister for Magic**

"What is it?" Hermione asks as she starts washing up their dirty dishes in the sink.

"My first trail bearing witness." He answers with a sigh. "Tomorrow at nine in the morning."

"They don't exactly give you much time to prepare, do they?" Hermione comments.

"I don't need to prepare, I already know enough about him to send him away for at least twenty years." Draco states.

"I meant mentally prepare. It must be difficult for you to relive through the evidence and then the Daily Prophet are going to be beside themselves with excitement when they discover you're the main witness. Especially after you said you were only going to testify against your father." She explains.

"I know how to handle the Daily Prophet's words. I've had enough of them thrown at me in the past year. I'll be fine." He says to comfort Hermione. "Don't worry about me." He adds, hugging her from behind as she finishes washing up.

"I'm heading out in a minute. Should I bring something home for dinner or will you still be out?" She asks him, turning around to hug him back.

"I might take Blaise out for fish and chips. He'll probably enjoy that." He says.

Hermione breaks their embrace as she heads into the hall to pull on her shoes.

"Don't stay out too late since you've got to be up early for this trail now." She warns him.

"Yes, I know." He rolls his eyes, making her laugh as she opens the front door.

Draco kisses her chastely on her lips before closing the door behind her and heading upstairs to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	49. Chapter 49 - Hermione's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 49 fo you all.
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers. 
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

At the gates of the estate, Hermione disapparates straight to the gates of The Holyhead Harpies stadium. She can see Dana, in her small booth next to the gate, with her feet resting up on the desk as she leans back in her chair, reading a magazine. Hermione walks up to the door of the booth, knocking and making the girl inside jump again.

"Miss Granger!" She stares at her for a second. "Back so soon?" She smiles as she hides her magazine beneath some parchment strewn across her desk.

"Yes, I need to speak to Gwenog about some details for the party." She smiles back.

"Oh, yeah. I'll get you a visitor's pass. How's it coming along?" She asks as she digs around the draw for a badge.

"Great. I'm planning the music at the moment. She's quite into muggle music at the moment." She states.

"Here you go?" She says, producing the visitors pass from the draw. "I'll call up to the club house and have Gwenog meet you again." She adds, taking her wand out to open the gate.

"Thank you, Dana."

Hermione slips through the gate and begins the long walk up to the club house. She's about hallway when the front door opens. Gwenog exits and starts running down the steps and along the path towards her.

"Hermione!" She gasps when she's within hearing. "Hi!" She adds when she reaches her. "I didn't expect to see you this soon." She says, taking Hermione's hand in hers and squeezing it excitedly. "Did you speak to David?" She asks hopefully.

"Not yet, I need to clear something up with you first," Hermione admits.

Gwenog frowns, dropping her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I just want to make sure I've got all my facts right before I explain anything to my uncle." She explains.

"What do you need clearing up then?" Gwen asks, glancing around to make sure none of her teammates are around to overhear.

"Should we go to the summer house again?" Hermione suggests.

"No, most of the team have gone over there for a break between practices," Gwen tells her. "We can go for a walk around the grounds. It's usually quite around this time of day." She suggests.

"Okay, lead the way." Hermione smiles at her encouragingly.

Gwenog sets off back down the path towards the gate. They walk in silence until they near the gate when Gwen guides Hermione onto the grass where they skirt around the wall and its protective trees, nettles and daffodils.

"Are you going to ask me," Gwen suddenly asks as Hermione's busy admiring the view again. "Whatever it is you need clearing up?" She adds.

"You said Lucius wanted you to vote to keep the world cup in England." Hermione starts.

"Yeah." Gwen nods.

"Why hasn't anybody heard of there being a vote?" She stops in her tracks to stare questioningly up at Gwenog.

"Who did you ask?" She asks, eyes glancing around nervously.

"Some friends that are big Quidditch fans who would have heard about a vote." She explains. "And they didn't know anything about it when I asked." She adds.

Gwen sighs deeply, rubbing her face tiredly with her hands. "It was a secret. Nobody besides Minister Fudge, Ludo Bagman, the ministers of each country that qualified for the world cup, and the team captains of those countries knew about it." She explains.

"Why was it such a secret?" Hermione questions.

"How do you think people would react if they knew the ministry were worrying about hosting the world cup?" She rhetorically asks.

"But why were they worried. The Ministry didn't even believe that Voldemort was back until almost a year after he returned. What else was so dangerous that the wizarding ministries of multiple countries were worried about us hosting?" Hermione asks in frustration.

"The Investigation Department had picked up a sudden spike in Death Eater activity in June of 1992. There were whisperings heard through the cell walls of Azkaban, suspicious meetings took place in the manors of some of the more high-ranking Death Eaters and it was all thanks to Harry Potter once again defeating You-know-who." She explains. "Or so we thought." She adds with a scoff.

Hermione thinks back to the day after Harry came face to face with Voldemort again. She and Ron had been sat in the Great Hall, eagerly awaiting permission from Professor McGonagall to visit Harry in the hospital wing. Breakfast was completely forgotten in favour of repeated mutterings of 'You-know-who' and 'He-who-must-not-be-named' spreading throughout the hall. The Professors sat at their table, already given up on trying to settle the students down. So it makes sense for the Death Eaters to begin communicating once more.

"The Death Eaters obviously found out about Quirrell and Voldemort, then realised there was a way for their Master to return to the physical world. After what had happened to the Death Eaters who didn't return to Voldemort in that Graveyard at the end of the Triwizard tournament, it's not surprising that after finding this out, they devised a plan to bring him back again, or face the consequences when he inevitably came back himself." Hermione mutters to herself. "It makes sense." She adds.

"Has this cleared things up?" Gwen asks hopefully. "Will you speak to David, please?"

"I will but I need to do something before I can take your word for this." She explains. "I'm sorry."

Gwen sighs, shoulders dropping. "I understand. You have no reason to trust me." She smiles sadly.

"As soon as I've checked your story, I'll speak to David and let you know his response," Hermione says as they set off back the way they came, towards the gate.

"Thank you, Hermione, I really appreciate what you're doing for me." Gwen states.

"I'm doing this for Sophie. She deserves to know you and our world and you're the one who should be teaching her about it, not me." She explains. "Does any of your family know about Sophie?" She asks.

Gwenog looks at the ground then at the trees over Hermione's shoulder.

"My mother is a very traditional, pure-blooded woman who only married my half-blooded father for his money. If she found out that her only daughter was not only pregnant out of wedlock, but with a muggle, she would have disowned me and outed me to the world. I would have lost everything." She explains.

Hermione frowns at her for a moment. "For Sophie, everything is worth losing." She glares at her and Gwenog looks down at her hands guiltily. "I'll be in touch," she adds sharply before leaving through the gates.

"Thank you," Gwenog mutters quietly as she leaves. Hermione ignores her.

"Leaving so soon, Hermione?" Dana asks as she hands over her visitor's badge.

"Yeah, I think we've got pretty much everything sorted out know." Hermione smiles in what she hopes looks genuine as she waits for Dana to sign her out.

"Great. When's the party?" She asks, making conversation.

"Not until August but I wanted to get it sorted out sooner rather than later." She says.

"You're a great friend. I'm not sure if any of my friends would do this for me." Dana says. "I don't think _I'd_ do this for any of my friends." She admits with a chuckle.

"If I don't organise something, Harry would leave it to the last minute and her eighteenth birthday would be a mess." Hermione laughs then bids her goodbye.

Maybe she should organise a birthday party for Ginny. It is one of the big birthdays, her being eighteen after all. She'll have to have a word with Harry to see if he's planning anything yet but she doubts it.

Since Draco probably hasn't left to meet Blaise yet, and she wants the wrap her own head around everything Gwen said before she tries to tell Draco, Hermione decides to disapparate to Diagon Alley. She knows she'll have to tell him eventually, especially since she still needs to tell him that his father was involved in everything, which is something she still doesn't fully understand.

Making her way to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. She needs a large vanilla ice-cream cone to numb her mind so she can sort all her thoughts into some kind of order that would make it easier to tell Draco. Once she's bought her cone, she hides herself in a booth where no one outside would be able to see her unless they came into the parlour.

She starts at the beginning. Gwenog was threatened by a group of death eaters. Lucius Malfoy, Mr Goyle and Mr Crabbe but Lucius was obviously the leader of the bunch. It happened on the 1st of August 1992, a month or so after Harry had come face to face with Voldemort again. Lucius was a high ranking death eater so most likely held some of those meeting the Investigation Department heard whisperings of starting in June.

Were the death eaters pleased to hear that their _Dark Lord_ was somehow alive after a decade of believing him dead? Or were they scared, terrified that their master, who had figured out a way to return to them, may do so again, only to find out that his supposed loyal servants had abandoned him for dead? Did they try to find Voldemort after his second defeat? Harry had told her what Voldemort had said when he returned to his body in that graveyard. He was under the impression that none of his death eaters had bothered to look. Is that why they started causing havoc again? If their master returned, maybe he would be more forgiving if they were still practising death eaters.

She has so many questions that need answering but the only people who can answer them are either in Azkaban, on trial, on the run or dead. All death eaters in Azkaban are denied visiting rights from the moment they are arrested so the only way she'd be able to ask one is if she hunted one down, which would be a death wish, or if she somehow got permission from Kingsley to visit one in Azkaban.

As soon as the though crosses her mind, a plan begins to form. A plan she doesn't want to admit to actually thinking about putting in action because it would mean going behind Draco's back, lying to him and bribing the minister. She was all up for bribing Kingsley for access to the archives, but this plan seems bigger than that. The risk of someone finding out is so much higher and her reputation would be ruined. Draco risked his own reputation just to save hers and now she's actually thinking about throwing it in the gutter. But she needs to know. Gwen's answers just seem too pathetic. Of course, she only knows everything from her own perspective. She doesn't know what the death eaters were planning. That it.

She stands up suddenly, rushing from the ice-cream parlour and disapparating straight to the Ministry.

She needs to do this now before she changes her mind. She heads straight for the lift, pressing the button for the top floor where the minister's office is located as soon as she enters. The ride up takes longer than it should with people entering and exiting on what feels like every other floor but eventually the doors open onto a long corridor with only one door at the very end.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione marches down the corridor with her purpose in mind. She isn't going to leave until the minister gives her what she wants. She thinks as she burst through the door. His secretary simple glances up from her desk at the noise, most likely used to the commotion on a daily basis.

"Good morning Miss Granger, I'm afraid Minister Shacklebolt is in a meeting at the moment down in the Auror Department. If you would like to write him a message card I'm sure he'll get back to you when is convenient to him." She says, pointing to a pile of message cards at the edge of her desk with a spare quill.

"I'm fine with waiting," Hermione answers, taking a seat opposite her desk.

"Of course you are." She sighs, going back to her work.

Ignoring the rude secretary, Hermione starts to go over what she wants to say to the Minister in her head. She's barely come up with the correct introduction when the door smoothly opens as Kingsley glides into the foyer to his office.

"Do I have any messages, Selina?" He asks on his way pass her desk.

"Yeah." She says, pointing over to Hermione who makes her way over to the minister.

"Hermione Granger, what a pleasant surprise?" He smiles forcibly. "How can I help you?" He asks, opening the door to his office and beckoning her inside. "Has this got anything to do with what your husband came to ask me?" He wonders.

"No, it hasn't although I would like to thank you for the opportunity you gave us." Hermione smiles, trying to butter him up.

"You and your husband should do well to remember not to abuse this opportunity." He says as he starts manoeuvring some of the pieces of parchment on his desk.

"I'm sure Alexander will inform you if we do." She says, taking a seat in front of his desk.

"Don't worry, he has." He states, sitting down in his chair.

Hermione doesn't let herself dwell too long on what he means by that, instead focussing on maintaining a neutral expression.

"Now, what is it you wish to discuss?" He looks her bluntly in the eye.

"The letters I have been receiving." She states.

"Ahh!" Kingsley sighs, leaning back in his chair. "Do you wish to bribe me also?" He laughs but stops when she doesn't correct him. "I regret your pairing with Malfoy, he seems to be rubbing off on you."

"He's changed since the war, Kingsley." Hermione blushes at his choice of wording as she defends her husband.

"Not that I've seen." He mutters as he summons a blank piece of parchment and a quill. "Tell me what it is you want from me and I'll tell you how many speeches I'd want from you in return." He says, poising his quill above the parchment.

"I want unsupervised and unlimited access to Azkaban." She states, not breaking eye contact with him as he stares back.

"To Azkaban?" He asks for clarification.

"Yes." She says pointedly.

"And to whom do wish to visit, if you don't mind me asking?" He questions her.

"I do mind you asking." She replies.

"Let me reiterate, tell me who you want to visit in Azkaban or there is no deal." He places the quill down atop the still blank piece of parchment before folding his hands on the desk.

Hermione stares at him for a long moment wondering if she's entirely sure that this is the right thing to do. She needs to find out more from the perspective of a death eater and there's only one death eater she would even consider visiting and he's been locked up in Azkaban for the past year. She shakes her head clear of doubt. It's definitely not the right thing to do but it's definitely worth it, even if she loses the respect of the minister.

"I wish to visit my father-in-law, Lucius Malfoy." She states.

The minister looks taken aback as the words seep into his brain.

"Lucius Malfoy?" He asks.

"Yes, Lucius Malfoy." She repeats. "He's my father-in-law now and there a few topics that I wish to discuss with him. Topics that cannot wait fourteen years until his release from Azkaban." She explains.

"You do realise, Miss Granger, that Lucius Malfoy is one of our high-security inmates under the request of your husband. He has no contact with the outside world. He doesn't even know that you're married to his son." He explains.

"Another topic I will have to discuss with him." Hermione smirks, "Now, you know what I want, how many speeches do you want in return?" She asks, getting back down to business.

Kingsley stares at her for a prolonged moment and she thinks he might decline to make her an offer, whether it be because he's trying to protect her from Lucius or because he's trying to protect himself from the backlash if it ever gets out to the Daily Prophet.

Finally, he shakes his head and Hermione's stomach drops. She's in the middle of forming another plan when Kingsley speaks.

"Speeches aren't going to be enough for what you're asking for, Miss Granger." He states, picking his quill up as he begins to write.

Hermione waits patiently for the scratching of the Minister's quill to stop so she can read his demands. When he's done, he pushes the piece of parchment over to her. She picks it up.

**1\. Three ceremonial dinners (Christmas Eve 1999, 2** **nd** **May 2000 and 1** **st** **June 2000).**

**2\. Two interviews with the Daily Prophet.**

**3\. Five speeches.**

She rereads his demands a couple of times before placing it back on his desk and staring him directly in the eye.

"The Daily Prophet?" She questions, raising an eyebrow.

"They have been getting restless since the anniversary. If I don't give them a good story, I become their story and you know fine well the rumours they can spread." He explains.

She sighs, "Three ceremonial dinners, two interviews but only three speeches and I convince Harry to do the interviews with me." She tries to haggle.

Kingsley's eyes sparkle as he thinks. "Convince Ron to join you and Harry for the interviews and I'll take away the Christmas Eve dinner and another speech." He counter offers.

"Two ceremonial dinners, two interviews with Harry and Ron, and two speeches?" She asks for clarification.

Kingsley nods once. "Do we have a deal?" He stands up, reaching his hands over his desk towards her.

"I want a copy of the letter you're going to write to Azkaban." She says, pushing the parchment of demands back towards him then crossing her arms firmly across her chest.

"Of course, Miss Granger." The minister sighs, summoning a blank piece of parchment with which he writes the letter to Azkaban. "Will this suffice?" He asks, pushing the parchment over to her carelessly.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Thursday 16th June 1999**

**I, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, hereby give Ms Hermione Granger unsupervised and unlimited access to visit Lucius Malfoy within his cell in Azkaban. Under no circumstance shall Lucius Malfoy leave his cell and a minimum of two officials must keep guard at a minimum of five meters away from the cell door** **. Ms Granger will present you with a duplication of this letter. You will escort her to Lucius Malfoy's cell where two ministry officials will unlock his cell door to allow Ms Granger to enter, locking the cell door behind her. You will wait for Ms Granger to indicate her wish to leave. The ministry officials will unlock the cell door to allow her to exit, locking it once again. Ms Granger will then be escorted to the gates of Azkaban.**

**Approved and signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

"You haven't addressed it to anyone." She comments after reading through it once.

"I'm afraid I don't know the rota of every member of staff within the Ministry of Magic and since I am the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, the Department in charge of the goings on at Azkaban, I'm not exactly going to write a letter to myself." He tells her with a hint of sarcasm. "Show your copy of this letter to whoever is head official on the day you decide to visit Azkaban and they'll make sure the rest of the officials are aware." He explains.

"I don't want anyone to find out that I'm visiting Lucius Malfoy so I would appreciate if only the head officials knew about my visits." She states, handing the letter back.

"I'll see what I can do." He tells her, giving her the feeling that he isn't going to look too far into keeping it a secret.

The Minister holds his hand out for the letter, which she passes back to him. She watches as he duplicates the letter with a tap of his wand, handing the copy back to her.

"Do we have a deal?" He keeps his hand outstretched for her to shake but she hesitates.

If Draco ever finds out that she visited his father, behind his back, he would never forgive her for it. Is this really willing to jeopardise her relationship with Draco in order to help Sophie meet her mother? She remembers what she told Gwenog. For Sophie, everything is worth losing.

She reaches out, firmly shaking the Minister's hand.

"We have a deal. Give me a week to convince Harry and Ron to do the interviews with me before you set them up." She tells him. "I assume you'll let me know of all the dates?"

"Yes, you will receive a letter with the details of the dinners, interviews and speeches." He sighs, leaning back in his chair. "Now, please leave." He tells her, opening the door with a flick of his wand.

"Thank you, Kingsley." She thanks him with a nod before exiting his office.

"Have a nice day, Ms Granger." The secretary calls smugly as she walks past.

"You to Selina." Hermione flashes her a quick smirk over her shoulder.

She walks hurriedly towards the lift at the end of the Minister's corridor, the adrenaline pulsing through her veins as she presses the button for the disapparation floor. She shuffles from foot to foot as she waits impatiently for the lifts to arrive at its destination. When she finally reaches her floor, she steps out and instantly disapparates back to Diagon Alley, into a secluded alleyway.

She checks the time. It's almost half past eleven. She could go home and think about what she's going to say to Lucius when she visits him. She shakes her head of that thought. She doesn't want to go home. She doesn't think Draco will still be there at this time but she's too excited to go home. Maybe she should be spontaneous for once in her life and head straight to Azkaban, straight to Lucius. Before she can change her mind, she disapparates once more to the island where Azkaban is located, behind its gates.

A chill shivers down her spine as she takes in the enormity of the prison of Azkaban. Instead of rebuilding what had been demolished when the death eaters escaped, they bricked it off creating an abstract building. She had heard that within the walls of Azkaban, long winding corridors that once lead to high-security cells now lead to dead ends. Apparently, by taking a wrong turn, a person could become lost for days. It's why all ministry officials worked in pairs.

With a deep breath to steady her nerves, she pushes the large, grand, out of place gate to Azkaban's grounds open. She winces as it loudly creaks open, echoing into the night and bringing the prison to life. A howl erupts from one cell window, followed by a hysterical giggling and then a blood-curdling scream which silences everything. Hermione wonders if she's gone deaf when a loud, raspy voice is carried down to her by the wind.

"Help me, help me, help me, help me, help me." The voice repeatedly begs.

Repressing a shudder, she rushes up the path that winds between the graves of all the prisoners who have died within the walls, trying not to catch any of the names crudely written on their simple headstones. She can't even begin to imagine how terrifying the island would be at night.

Before she can even reach out for the freshly polished bronze door knocker on the modest, wooden door, it silently opens before her.

Hermione reaches her hand inside her bag, taking hold of her wand, ready to whip out if need be then steps over the threshold into the cold, dark foyer. She curiously casts her eyes around for whomever opened the door but there isn't a single person in sight. Directly opposite the door is a small, thin, stone staircase. It reminds her of the servants' staircase in the kitchens of Malfoy Manor. She pushes away the images her mind has formed of Draco's great-grandfather's collection of muggle skulls and begins to climb the dark staircase.

At the top of the staircase is another wooden door. Slowly, she pushes it open, thankful that the old wood doesn't make a noise. However, she needn't have worried since on the other side of the door are two ministry officials brandishing their wands at her.

"Reveal yourself!" One of them shouts before she can completely step out from the dark staircase.

"Hermione Granger." She replies, stepping out holding both her hands in the air. "I have a letter of permission from Minister Kingsley." She adds, lowering her hand to her bag.

"Don't move!" The second official yells.

"Hands where we can see them!" The first one shouts.

"I'm just going to reach into my bag to-" She tries to explain.

"Stop! Don't move!" The second official calls.

"Go get the head!" The first one mutters to the second one as he tightens his grip on his wand.

The second official slowly backs away towards a door next to a table and three chairs where Hermione assumes the two officials had been sat before hearing her arrival. She and the first official lock eyes in a stare whilst the second official slips through the doorway to talk with the head.

"Davies! Show some respect and lower your wand." A man she assumes is the head official snaps at the first official as he rushes over to her.

"Why?" He asks as his wand arm falls down to his side. "Because she's a war hero?" He scoffs.

"Because she is here under the Minister's permission." He corrects. "You are dismissed, Davies. Go home." He adds before turning to face Hermione. "Ms Granger, I apologise for your rude welcoming, please, join me in the office." The head guides her into the office. "Wilson, call Lohier from seven. They're over staffed as it is."

"Yes, sir." The second official nods, quickly scribbling a note on a piece of parchment on the table and sending it down the corridor.

"Please have a seat, Ms Granger." He gestures to the chair in front of the desk.

"Thank you, sir." She nods, sitting down and taking her copy of the Minister's letter out of her bag.

"Rasheed Ahmed and is that your copy of the letter?" He asks, reaching over his desk.

"Yes, it is." She hands the letter over. "I'm not sure if Minister Kingsley mentioned that I'm wanting to keep these visits quiet so I would appreciate it if only the head officials knew why I'm here." She explains.

"Of course, Ms Granger, that's completely understandable." He nods with a sincere smile before going back to reading her letter. "Everything seems to be in order. If you're ready, I'll take you to Lucius Malfoy's cell." He stands up,

"Is there anything I should know before I'm locked in a cell with him?" She asks, her adrenalin quickly leaving her veins as a nervous energy encapsulates her body.

Mr Ahmed sits back down in his chair, clasped hands resting on his desk. "Mr Malfoy is one of our most sane and dangerous inmates. His cell is on the top floor, which you will notice is a lot smaller on the inside than it appears to be from the outside due to its five feet of magically reinforced walls. The door was created by the wizard who made the Gringotts' high security vault doors. The only people with high enough clearance to enter his cell is myself, the two other head officials and five ex-aurors who are now his security officials. We will allow you to keep your wand on your person for protection as I'm sure you're aware, Mr Malfoy is extremely talented in wandless and non-verbal magic, so be warned. When you wish to leave, press the button which resembles a muggle light switch and a bell outside will ring. The officials will open the doors for you." He explains then leans forward. "And I don't mean to assume anything by this but there are highly powerful charms on Azkaban that prevent any of the unforgivable curses from being cast within its walls."

Hermine nods, head full of all this new information. She's safe within these walls. As long as she keeps her wand on her at all times.

"I think I'm ready." She states, standing up.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to leave your bag in the visitors' locker, but as I said, you can keep your wand."

Hermione nods, taking her wand out of her bag, placing it into her pocket then placing her bag into the visitors' locker.

"Follow me, Ms Granger."

Hermione follows as Mr Ahmed opens the door. They walk pass the table where Wilson and Lohier are sat playing cards, pass the wooden door she came through five minutes ago and down the long, straight corridor to the very end where a lift door was. Mr Ahmed places his hand on the lift doors and a whirring noise signals the lift descending to their floor. He keeps his hand on the door until they slide open and they enter. He presses the button for floor fifty.

"For security reasons, the lift will only take us up to the fiftieth floor. Mr Malfoy is on the fifty-fifth floor. Each floor has another set of high-security vault doors which only those who need to have access have access to." He explains as they ride the lift up. "How many visit do you plan on making to Mr Malfoy?" He asks.

"It depends entirely on whether he gives me the information that I'm searching for. I have a few issues to discuss with him. I'm hoping to have my answer within two or three visits." She explains vaguely.

Mr Ahmed chuckles to himself. "I hope you get your answers but I should warn you, Mr Malfoy rarely speaks other than to ask what's for dinner tonight. If he asks, it's beef wellington."

Hermione smiles forcefully as she tries to push her nerves down. The lift stops not long later on the fiftieth floor. Together, they exit.

"Mr Aaaahmed?" A flirtatious voice comes from the first door on the left. "I know that's you, darling." She giggles childishly. "I can smell ya." She growls, pulling repeatedly on her cell door. "I can smell ya blood. You filthy Mudblood. Let me out. Let me watch your blood run down my knife, across the floor. Let me, let me, let meeeee!" She squeals until from inside her cell is a thud.

"Poor Isabelle." Mr Ahmed shakes his head sympathetically as he guides her down numerous snaking corridors. "She's one of our less sane and harmless inmates." He states.

"She didn't sound harmless." She points out.

"She's all talk and no bite." He chuckles. "I take her the Daily Prophet most mornings and we have lovely conversations about her assortment of pets. The potion she's on at the moment has a hallucinogenic side effect. She hallucinates a different pet each week." He explains as they finally reach the door to the next floor.

Mr Ahmed places his hand on the door. The multiple locks click as they are unlocked and after a few moments, the door swings opens. He lets her exit floor fifty-first, locking the door behind them.

"Just up the stairs to the next floor." He nods as they both set off up the stairs.

They end up entering the fifty-first floor through one door and then exiting on to the next staircase through the opposite door. Hermione follows Mr Ahmed quietly as they carry on up three more staircase until they reach the fifty-fifth floor. The first thing she notices isn't that it appears to be smaller on the inside than on the outside like Mr Ahmed had mentioned. It was that there seemed to only be one cell.

"Is Lucius the only inmate on this floor?" She asks curiously.

"Yes, at his son's request. Mr Draco Malfoy didn't want his father to come into any contact with the outside world. In fact, he was so adamant about it that I'm surprised Minister Kingsley even gave you permission to visit him." He explains.

"I gave a convincing argument." She smiles. "He is my father-in-law, whether I like it or not and I need some answers from him." She adds.

Mr Ahmed stops in his step to look down at her in sudden shock and surprise.

"I had forgotten that you and Mr Malfoy were paired together. Congratulations, how are you getting on with your husband?" He asks.

From any other stranger, she would have taken the question as a way for them to pry into her life, then spread gossip but Mr Ahmed seemed genuinely curious as to how well they were.

"Surprisingly well, actually. We've become good friends and are looking forward to seeing where this marriage decree can take us." She answers honestly, if not a little formally.

"I'm glad you could both work your way through this." He smiles with a nod as they carry on towards the two ministry officials stood guard on either side of Lucius Malfoy's cell.

"Mr Ahmed." The two officials greet the head as they approach.

"Mr Malfoy has a guest, please open his door." He states, gesturing with a nod at Hermione.

The two officials share a confused, concerned glance.

"Mr Ahmed-?" One of them starts to question.

"Ms Granger has permission from Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt to visit Mr Malfoy." Mr Ahmed interrupts.

The two officials nod then together, they turn around and place their palm on the door. After a few minutes of locks clicking, shifting and turning, the door is unlocked.

"Will you be accompanying Ms Granger, Mr Ahmed?" One of the officials ask.

"No, under the Minister's orders, Ms Granger is to have unaccompanied and unlimited visits to Mr Malfoy." Mr Ahmed explains.

Both the officials glare at her as one of them opens the door for her and the second one steps aside to let her pass.

Taking a deep breath and placing her hand inside her pocket to grasp her wand, Hermione steps over the threshold into Lucius Malfoy's cell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Instagram at bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 50!
> 
> As I metnioned on Instagram, I've been wanting to write this scene for so long. Literally for years and I've been so excited to finally write and upload it for you all to read.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Hermione enters Lucius Malfoy's surprisingly cold cell to find him hunched over a small desk with his back to the door, quill scribbling on a piece of parchment. He doesn't seem to have noticed that someone has entered his cell. She takes a look around the tiny room. Against the left wall is a single bed with one pillow, a duvet and a blanket. All the crisp, white, sheets are neatly folded back. Against the right wall is a small wooden door, which she assumes leads to his bathroom, and a small chest of drawers probably containing his spare black Azkaban robes.

"Mr Ahmed, I do hope that we're not having cottage pie for dinner again. I don't think I can handle beef on four consecutive nights." His voice has the same aristocratic accent but he speaks softer and calmer than she's ever heard him speak before.

"I'm afraid it's beef wellington for dinner, Mr Malfoy." She states, not moving away from the door and the light switch that will allow her to escape from the confined room.

Lucius sits up sharply, dropping his quill on his desk, probably making an inky mess. Deliberately slowly, he rises from his seat and smoothly spins around to face her with a smug smile on his face. He perches on the edge of his desk, leaning forward to lean on the back of his chair. Something sinister flashes in his eyes as his smile turns into an ominous smirk.

A breathy gasp escapes her as her back pressed firmly into the door. Her left-hand twitches at her side as she represses the urge to reach for the switch. She hasn't seen Lucius in person since the Battle of Hogwarts and hasn't spoken to him since she was held captive in the basement of his manor.

"My, my, Miss Granger," He purrs softly, pushing the chair carefully to the side as he stands up to his full height and strolls over towards her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having you grace my cell?" He asks, coming to a stop a foot away from her and glaring down his nose at her with an intimidating smile.

Hermione opens her mouth to speak but no words come to her. The only sound to leave is her raspy breath as her heartbeat quickens.

Lucius' tangled hair falls in front of his face as he inquisitively tilts his head. "Do I frighten you, Miss Granger?" He asks, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, grazing her cheek as he does.

The touch sends a shiver down her spine as she turns her face away from him, eternally thankful that it feels nothing like when Draco caresses her cheek.

"Are you scared, Miss Granger?" He leans forward to whisper in her ear and she can't take it anymore.

Her right-hand brandishes her wand, which she jabs into his jugular as her left-hand flicks the switch. Almost instantaneously, she hears the clicking, shifting and turning of the locks within the door. Lucius laughs a deep, low chuckle in her ear before taking a step backwards. She follows him with her wand.

"Goodbye, Miss Granger." His eyes twinkle with a smirk as the last lock clicks open and she lowers her wand and shuffles backwards, closer to the door. "I hope to see you soon." He winks at her making her feel physically sick and threatened.

As the door begins to open and a rush of warm air hits her back, Hermione whips her wand up, pointing it at Lucius' head as she whispers, "Obliviate."

Lucius' smirking face contorts into one of shock and then a blank canvas as his memories leave his mind. Hermione quickly spins on her heel, slipping through the gap in the door. She stumbles pass the ministry official, collapsing into the arms of Mr Ahmed.

"Ms Granger!" He calls her name in a panic as he lowers her carefully to the ground. "What happened in there?" He asks, kneeling down next to her.

She tries to regulate her breathing but all she can focus on is the thumping sound of her heart in her ears before everything goes black.

When Hermione wakes up, she's unsure of her surroundings. She's lying in what appears to be a hospital bed. She's still in her clothes but someone has tucked her into the bed. She glances down the bed, noticing dragonhide wrist and ankle straps attached to the metal safety rail. Thankfully, she isn't strapped to the bed but it does help her to realise that she must be in the hospital wing of Azkaban. Taking a glimpse around the room, she notices that all but one other bed is empty. At the far end of the room is an old man strapped to his bed, writhing around in apparent pain.

"Miss Granger." Mr Ahmed calls her name as he enters the ward. "I'm glad to see you awake." He smiles as he perches at the end of her bed.

"How long have I been out?" She asks, sitting up and shuffling to sit back against the pillows.

"Just over five hours. How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Five hours!" She gasps in shock.

"Yes, are you feeling well?" He repeats.

"I'm feeling fine." She assures him, swinging her legs out of the bed and standing up.

Mr Ahmed rises with her, holding his arms out ready to steady her if she wobbles but she stands steadily.

"Let's make our way to my office." He motions towards the door.

Since the hospital wing is one floor below Mr Ahmed's office, they take the stairs up to the next floor. She sits in the same chair on the other side of the desk as Mr Ahmed takes a seat and shuffles some papers he had been working on.

"Miss Granger," He says, placing his stack of papers in the top drawer of his desk. "What happened in that cell with Mr Malfoy?" He questions her, maintaining eye contact.

Hermione shakes her head, looking around the room for a moment before glancing back at Mr Ahmed.

"I just wasn't expecting Lucius to be so…" She pauses as she tries to think of the right word. "Unchanged." She decided with a sigh. "I know you told me he was your most sane inmate but you also told me he rarely speaks."

"So, he spoke to you?" He repeats for clarification. "Did you get any information out of him?"

She shakes her head. "No, I wasn't prepared. I panicked. His cell is rather claustrophobic." She tries to laugh it off but Mr Ahmed's eyes soften sympathetically.

"I apologise Miss Granger, myself and Lexica Park are the only visitors he's been allowed in the past thirteen months."

"Lexica Park?" She questions.

"She's one of the other heads. The third head, Anthony Andrews refuses to enter Mr Malfoy's cell. He's a Muggleborn so it's understandable." He explains.

"He was sat at his desk when I entered." She starts. "He thought I was you and said he hoped cottage pie wasn't for dinner again. His whole being just seemed calmer and softer than ever before. That was until I spoke and he reverted back to his usual self, standing tall, speaking in smirks and just being altogether intimidating." She explains what happened.

"Do you think reverting back to his old ways is his way of coping when faced with someone from his past that he hasn't seen since his imprisonment?" Mr Ahmed suggests.

"Are you suggesting that Lucius has changed so much that he feels threatened by someone from his past?" She asks.

"I never knew him before his imprisonment. Of course, I'd heard stories about him but I'm guessing stories aren't the same as knowing. I just think that Mr Malfoy has had a lot of alone time in the past thirteen months to do some thinking and I honestly believe that it's helped him to come to some form of understanding with himself." He admits. "Now, I'm not sure what this understanding is since the longest he will hold a conversation with Lexica or myself is five minutes and he sets fire to those letters he writes." Mr Ahmed explains.

"Who does he write them to?" She asks.

"We don't know and when we ask, he closes upon us so we've stopped asking for now." He tells her. "His guards-" He starts, glancing towards his office door. "I took care of them."

Hermione's mouth hangs open in shock.

"No, I obliviated them." He clears up her confusion. "And I went to check Mr Malfoy and saw that you took the liberty to obliviate him yourself." He adds.

"Sorry, but I couldn't have him remembering me in my panicked state for the next time I visit." She explains.

"Are you sure you definitely want to visit him again?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I wasn't sure what to expect but now that I do, I'll be fine." She tries to reassure Mr Ahmed but he doesn't look convinced. "I'd like to visit him again before I leave." She states.

"I'm not sure that would be wise, Miss Granger." Mr Ahmed says.

"Need I remind you of the permission letter Minister Kingsley wrote allowing me to have unsupervised and unlimited visits with Lucius?" She asks rhetorically.

Mr Ahmed sighs. "It is your decision, Miss Granger. I just want to make sure you feel safe within these walls."

"Knowing the guards are on the other side of his cell door helps me feel safe enough." She assures him.

"Very well then," He nods, rising from his chair and walking to his office door. "If you're sure about this, then we better make our way up to his cell now."

Almost fifteen minutes later, Hermione and Mr Ahmed make it to the fifty-fifth floor of Azkaban which holds Lucius Malfoy. Mr Ahmed explains the details of Hermione's visit to his guards once again who don't seem any happier the second time they hear the news that the sanest and most dangerous man in their prison is suddenly allowed a visitor.

"It's nearly six o'clock, Miss Granger. I would appreciate it if you left Mr Malfoy's cell before half six since that's when dinner is served." He explains.

Hermione nods nervously in reply. She tries to steady her hands, reminding herself that she knows what he's like now, she's prepared.

The two guards place their hands on either side of the Lucius' large cell door. She waits impatiently as the locks click, shift and turn, unlocking the door.

"Just flick the switch if you need me." Mr Ahmed reassures her as she slowly takes small steps towards the cell door.

Taking a deep breath, she enters. This time, Lucius is lying flat on his back with his eyes closed on top of his bed, hands clasped across his stomach. It's such a strange position for her to find him in that she stops to stare at him for a moment before continuing to his now empty desk where she pulls out his chair and turning it to face his bed before sitting down.

"Mr Ahmed, we've already had a conversation today." He states, eyes still closed. "Unless you've come to inform me you were mistaken and we're not having beef for the fifth night in a row for dinner." He adds with a slight upturning of his mouth.

Hermione crosses her legs, resting her slightly shaking hands upon them.

"As far as I'm aware, Lucius, it's still beef wellington for dinner." She answers.

There's an audible silence as Lucius holds his breath. After a few seconds, he opens his left eye and glances over towards her, snapping it shut when he recognises her. A small smirk appears on his face as he continues to lie on his bed.

"Miss Hermione Granger," He gently hums her name. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" He asks coolly.

"I have something to ask you." She states hoping that they can get straight to the main point of her visit.

Lucius takes a deep breath before swinging his legs off the bed and standing up to his full height. Feeling intimidated, Hermione stands up then waits for him to make the first move but he doesn't. He simply stands tall beside his bed, hands clasped behind his back.

"I was under the impression that my dear son Draco doesn't want me to have any visitors. I wonder how _you_ managed to convince him otherwise." He mentions, staring her down. "Unless you didn't ask for his permission first." He adds, quirking an eyebrow.

"Minister Kingsley needed something from me and as it turned out, I needed something from him." She explains.

Lucius laughs a low chuckle. "Impressive, Miss Granger, bribing the Minister. You would have made an interesting Slytherin if it weren't for your dirty blood." He comments.

"My blood isn't dirty." Hermione shakes her head.

"That's a matter of opinion." Lucius narrows his eyes slightly.

"You watched as my blood spilt across your dining room at the hands of your sister-in-law, tell me, Lucius, did it look any less red than yours does?" She asks, staring at him pointedly.

She watches as Lucius' jaw tightens and his eyes widen. "You wanted to ask me something?" He changes the subject.

"Yes, did you threaten Gwenog Jones and her family back in the summer of 1992?" She asks straight out.

Lucius' brow furrows. "What has Gwenog got to do with you?" He asks confusedly.

"Answer the question, Lucius."

"I don't see of what importance it is seven years later." He says, taking a few steps towards her.

"Did you or did you not threaten them?" She asks again, stepping closer to the door.

"I wouldn't call it threatening." He states, taking a seat at his desk. "I simply persuaded her to make the correct decision regarding the safety of her muggle family." He spat out the word 'muggle'. "If she found that threatening, I can assure you, it wasn't intended." He says as he pulls out a blank piece of parchment, ink and quill from the only draw under his desk.

"Why did you need to 'persuade' her in the first place?" She walks over to stand next to his desk, leaning against the wall.

He glances up at her for a second before back down at his parchment.

"The Dark Lord was returning." He mutters.

He begins to quickly scribble a letter, his long knotted hair falling down to cover his face. Hermione turns her head to the side to try and read it but his handwriting is illegible.

"I took charge of the remaining Death Eaters. We had to look like we're doing something. I didn't know when he would return just that he would and I wanted to ensure mine and my family's safety. We started slowly, persuading a few notable people to do our bidding, and planning for the future." He explains.

"The Quidditch World Cup?" She asks.

"The World Cup is the biggest wizarding event happening in the wizarding world at any giving time. England won the bid for the World Cup in 1964 and have been planning it ever since. We knew if we wreaked enough havoc in the years leading up to it that there would be a vote similar to the World Cups in 1637, 1705 and 1853. We persuaded the captains of most of the teams involved to vote for England to keep it and we did. The Dark Lord praised us for what we did that night. Striking fear in the hearts of all wizards and witches." He chuckles to himself.

"You told Gwenog you would protect David and Sophie." She states. "Why?"

Lucius tilts his head to glance up at her, hair falling over his shoulder. "Are they her muggle and daughter?"

Hermione nods. "She hasn't seen her daughter since then because you told her to lose all contact with her."

He goes back to writing with a smile on his face. "She kept her end of the deal and so did I. I protected her family. No harm came to them."

"How did you protect them?" She asks curiously.

He looks up at her again as though she's an idiot. "Wards. I linked them to the muggle's mind. Anytime someone he didn't know walked onto his grounds, I was informed and investigated." He explains. "Of course, nobody but I knew of their connection to the wizarding world so they were never targeted." He tells her going back to his letter.

"How long did you protect them?"

"From that day until the end of the war. I saw no reason to continue once the Dark Lord had been defeated." He mutters.

"You continued to protect them even after Gwenog had done her end of the deal and Voldemort had returned, putting yourself and your family in danger if he ever found out?" She asks him.

"Miss Granger," Lucius sighs, placing his quill down on the table and screwing the lid back on his ink bottle. "I do not hold many noble qualities but I always keep my word." He says firmly, folding his letter in half.

Suddenly, it bursts into flames in his hand making her jump away from his desk. Once the flame reaches his fingers, he drops the burning parchment onto his desk where he waits until his letter is burnt to ash. He gently sweeps the ash into the palm of his hand and stands up, walking over to the top drawer of his chest, taking out a large glass jar which he pours the ash into. Hermione notices that the jar already has about two inches of ash at the bottom already. He replaces the jar in the drawer and returns to his bed where he perches on the edge, staring at her.

"Is that all, Miss Granger?" He asks tilting his head to the side slightly.

"For now." She tells him, walking over to his cell door and flicking the switch.

A few seconds later, the locks start clicking, shifting and turning to unlock. Lucius lies back down on his bed, hands clasped on his stomach and eyes closed once more.

"Thank you, Lucius." She says spontaneously.

His eyes flash open and he stares at her confused.

"For protecting my Uncle David and my cousin Sophie." She clarifies.

Lucius smiles as he closes his eyes again. Just as the door starts to open, he starts laughing.

"Goodbye, Miss Granger." He mutters just loud enough for her to hear before stepping through the door.

Mr Ahmed is sat on the floor with his ankles crossed reading the Daily Prophet when she exits. He glances up at her as she makes her way over towards him.

"How did it go Miss Granger?" He asks, folding the paper up and placing it in the inside pocket of his robes. "Did you get any information out of him?" He adds, standing up.

She glances at the guards behind her whom had resumed their stations either side of his cell door.

"Of course, let's head to my office." He motions for her to head towards the door.

Once they're through the door and walking down the stairs, Hermione starts talking.

"He acted differently this time." She tells him. "I think he saw that I wasn't scared so he didn't feel the need to try and intimidate me. He was quite open with me and answered my questions without much resistance." She explains. "He wrote one of his letters while I was there. I tried to read it but his handwriting was atrocious. Something else that has changed." She smiles. "He set it on fire and put the ashes into a glass jar in his chest of drawers." She tells him.

"Yes, I've seen the jar. I don't quite understand his process of writing and then burning of his letters and I'm not sure what he is going to do with the ashes of them." Mr Ahmed admits as they make it to the fiftieth floor and head down the corridor towards the lift. "Do you know when your next visit will be, Miss Granger?" He asks, pressing the button for the lift which opens straight away.

"I'm not sure, I think I need to speak to my husband about this first." She admits, pressing the button for the first floor where Mr Ahmed's office is.

"You didn't tell him you were coming to visit his father?" He sounds shocked as he asks.

"I've brought it up before but he shot the suggestion down quickly." She tells him. "I know I have to tell him though."

"Trust me, Miss Granger, secrets and lies in a marriage are rarely good." He tells her.

"Oh, I know. Draco and I learnt that on our first day of marriage." She smiles.

Once the lift reaches the first floor, Mr Ahmed leads Hermione back to his office where he lets her take her bag out of the visitor's locker.

"Thank you, Mr Ahmed, for looking after me today. I appreciate it very much." She thanks him.

Mr Ahmed bows his head. "It was no problem, Miss Granger. It was lovely to finally meet you. I hope to be seeing again sometime." He says as he walks her back out of his office and down the staircase that leads to the foyer and the main door. "Would you like me to walk you to the gates?" He asks her.

"I'm fine, thank you, Mr Ahmed." She declines his offer.

"Goodbye then, Miss Granger." He bids her goodbye then closes the door behind her once she's set off down the winding path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my instagram at bigdswisdom
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	51. Chapter 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 51.
> 
> I love a good Draco/Blaise bromance.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Once Draco's dressed and brushed his teeth, he heads back downstairs into the living room to find that the record had reached the end. He flicks the switch, turning the player off and removes the record, placing it back in its sleeve. Glancing around the room, he discovers that despite them not spending much time in the house, the living room is a mess with the couch cushions and blanket strewn on the couch and a few books lying on the coffee table along with a nearly empty glass of water.

He sets to work draping the blanket evenly over the back of the couch then plumping the cushions and positioning them correctly in the corners of the couch. He collects the glass of water, taking it into the kitchen to wash up, pausing when he notices that the window is slightly ajar. He swiftly casts his eyes around the kitchen, placing the glass of water on the counter before running into the living room and up the stairs.

"Athena!" He calls, thankful that she isn't deaf. "Athena, where are you!" He calls as he frantically searches the bathroom and bedroom but she's nowhere to be found. "No." He curses, running down the stairs, two at a time, then back into the kitchen where he throws the kitchen window wide open. "ATHENA!" He shouts, running into the garden, a few people in their own gardens and over on the green stare at him as he casts his gaze to the sky, wondering why he bought such a tiny bird.

"Lost someone, Malfoy." Someone calls but he doesn't pay attention.

A faint chirp sounds from somewhere nearby and lower to the ground. He follows the sound of the chirp with his eyes to find Athena sat atop of the flamingo's head.

"Athena!" He sighs in relief, rushing over to her and carefully picking her up. "I wondered where you had gotten to my dear." He mutters to her, stroking the top of her head.

Athena closes her eyes, nuzzling her head against his finger affectionately.

"Lost someone, Malfoy." The voice he now recognises as Geoffrey's asks again.

With a deep sigh, he looks down at the gnome deciding to humour him for once.

"Get on with it then, Geoffrey." He nods at him as he crouches down to his level.

"Get on with what?" He asks.

"Whatever terrible joke you're about to tell me."

"I'm no one trick pony, my friend, I can do other things," Geoffrey says angrily.

"Really? What else can you do?" Draco asks doubtfully.

"I can hold a conversation for one thing, not that you would ever know since you never come to visit me. Do you know how my conversations with Pinky are?" He asks. "None existent." He answers straight away.

"As far as I'm aware, all you can do is talk." Draco points out.

"Rude. You know, words can hurt." He says. "All you care about is getting your joke and going."

"I don't actually care for your jokes, I'm just being polite," Draco tells him.

"There you go again, hurting me with your words. You know what, you're not getting a joke today and it was a really good one so you're missing out." Geoffrey scalds him.

"I doubt it," Draco mutters, standing back up.

"Fine, I'll tell you." He calls, rolling his eyes. "What do you call a magical owl?" He asks.

Draco frowns. "Aren't all owls magical?" He questions.

"Are you going to play along or not?" He frowns at him, trying to hold in a smile.

"Fine, I don't know."

"Hoo-dini!" Geoffrey bursts out laughing, slapping his knee.

"I don't get it," Draco states in confusion.

Geoffrey sighs. "There's a muggle magician called Houdini and an owl says Hoo." He explains slowly for him.

"Oh, okay." He gives him a quick chuckle. "I have to go."

"Yeah, bye, whatever." He shrugs.

As Draco starts walking away, he hears Geoffrey mutter Houdini and laughs to himself. He makes a mental note to ask Hermione about the joke. Back in the house, he locks the back door and closes the kitchen window.

"Did you just want some fresh air?" He coos as Athena who chirps in return. "We'll have to start letting you fly in the garden." He tells her as she spreads her wings and flutters around the kitchen.

Draco goes back to washing up the dirty glass, letting it dry next to the breakfast dishes. In the living room, he replaces a few books on their bookshelves before taking out the potions book that contains Hyperion Malfoy's file and taking it over to the couch where he rests the book on the coffee table.

For a few minutes, he just sits on the edge of the couch staring at the potions book before working up the courage to take the file out. He wonders what it would have been like to have had an uncle growing up. Technically he did have an uncle, Rodolphus Lestrange, but he, along with his aunt Bellatrix, was in Azkaban up until they escaped in 1996. However, Rodolphus wasn't the first person who came to mind when he thought of an uncle, Hermione's Uncle David seems like a perfectly good uncle. Maybe Hyperion would have been like him but he highly doubts it. If he wasn't a squib, it's most likely that Hyperion would have been an older version of Lucius.

Shaking his head of thoughts of his father, he opens the book, taking out the file. He really should return it soon before Mr Vyner figures out it's missing if he hasn't already. Taking his wand out, he opens the file and duplicates each piece of parchment placing the originals back in the file and closing it. He might have time today to take it back.

Draco goes through each piece of parchment multiple times trying to remember every detail, which doesn't take too long considering there's very little information on him. The muggle ministry must have some form of record keeping. He wonders if Hermione knows how to get hold of their information. After checking his watch, which tells him it's nearly half past ten, he deems it late enough to knock on Blaise's door without fear of waking him up. Placing the original file in his jacket pocket and the copies back in the potions book, which he returns to the shelf, he heads for the front door where he puts his shoes on before exiting the house, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Blaise's front door opens almost instantly after Draco knocks, making him step back in surprise.

"Draco?"

"Blaise?"

"Hi!" Blaise chuckles, throwing his arms around his neck and pulling him into a quick, tight hug. "I was literally just on my way to your house." He laughs, pulling him through the front door and into his living room.

"Really? What did you want?" Draco wonders, taking a seat on his couch.

"I'm bored!" Blaise cries, throwing himself down next to him, laying his legs over his lap.

Draco pushes his legs off but he just replaces them so he leaves them where they are.

"Luna's only been gone for two days and I'm already bored out of my mind." He sighs, arms dangling over the side of the couch. "I'm actually looking forward to Monday, just so I have something to do." He states.

"What's happening on Monday?" He asks.

"My translating job starts." He answers.

"Are you nervous?" Draco asks.

"Nah! It's not as if it's gonna be hard." He shrugs. "I do have to be in the Minister's office at six o'clock in the morning though. That's gonna be hard." He adds.

"That's it." He announces, pushing his friend's legs off his lap as he stands up. "I'm not going to watch you mope on this couch all day, complaining about your job. Get up. We're going out." He states, grabbing hold of Blaise's hand and pulling him off the couch.

"Where we going?" He asks, eager to get out of the house.

"Hermione's taken me to this Muggle shopping centre a few times. You might like it." He suggests as Blaise grabs a jacket and they head to the front door. "I'll introduce you to Gordon." He adds.

"Who's Gordon?" He asks as he locks the front door.

"My new best friend." He jokes.

Blaise gasps overdramatically, dropping his key on the floor. "I thought we had something special." He fake sobs as he bends to pick his keys up.

Draco rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore his best friend's antics.

"Speaking of Hermione, how is she?" He asks.

"Great, she's gone to visit a friend for the day." He says.

"You know, I actually think she fixed my hearing a little too well the other day. Everything sounds clearer." He tells him.

"I always said you were a little hard of hearing." He points out, taking his hand as they exit the gate to the estate.

Draco disapparates them to the alleyway at the back of the shopping centre. Blaise gazes up at the building in awe.

"Wow, it's massive." He mutters to himself.

"Come on," He grabs hold of his arm and drags him towards the street.

When they enter the shopping centre, Blaise stops in the middle of the floor, glancing up at the different floors.

"Yeah, just stand there and hold everyone else up." A man says as he pushes past them.

"Come look at some of the clothes Muggles wear." Draco starts walking over towards the clothes shop but Blaise has already set off towards the car shop.

Draco, predicting his question, says, "That back wall is actually a massive door which they press a button to open." Blaise stares at him confused. "That's how they get the cars inside." He adds.

"That's amazing." He says. "Did you say something about Muggle clothes?" He asks.

After a couple of hours of Blaise dragging him into nearly every shop, they finally make it to Gordon's record shop where the old man is sat at his desk reading a newspaper.

"Hello, Gordon!" Draco greets him as they walk in.

The old man looks over the top of his paper looking in shock for a few seconds before seemingly recognising him.

"Draco Malfoy, back so soon." He climbs off his chair, placing the paper on his desk. "You brought a friend." He glances nervously at Blaise who's stood staring with a wide grin at a record player with lights that are flashing in time to the music.

"Draco, have you seen this?" He calls.

"I was hoping you would recommend me a new record. Something different from the last ones." He tells him.

"Didn't like the Beatles and Elvis." Gordon chuckles.

"I don't think I've listened to them yet. I quite liked some of the songs on the Bon Jovi record you gave me." He mentions.

"Alright, something different from Elvis, Bon Jovi, the Beatles and Elton." He glances around his shop. "You're young. Maybe something from the new releases will take your fancy." He mumbles to himself, walking over to the shelf when a ringing noise comes from his desk. "Ah, I've been expecting a call. Why don't you take a look yourself?" He suggests as he shuffles back over to his desk.

Draco makes his way over to the shelf that had a sign labelling it as the new releases but before he can begin to search through them all, a large picture on the wall above the shelf catches his eyes. The black and white picture is of two men back to back and staring at each other but one standing and the other is sitting partially on a stool. There's something about their faces that look so familiar but they shouldn't. Draco has never seen any pictures of Muggle bands before. Maybe they look similar to someone from the wizarding world.

"Hey, Blaise!" He calls his friend over. "Do these two look familiar to you?" He asks, pointing at the picture.

Blaise wanders over to his side. "Yeah, they do." He says after a few seconds of staring at them.

"All the kids are into Pulp at the moment. I think I read in a magazine that they've self-classified themselves as 'Art Rock meets Indie Britpop'." He scoffs. "What does that even mean?" He shakes his head. "I've got one of theirs around here somewhere." He mutters as he rummages around a few shelves. "Here we go. Different Class, 1995. Number three was their biggest hit." Gordon explains, handing the record over to them.

"I'll take it." He passes it back to Gordon who shuffles over to his desk to price it up. "Maybe Hermione will recognise them." He tells Blaise.

After struggling for a while to find a five pence, Draco hands over £3.30 for the record, telling Gordon that he can keep the five pence change, which he thanks him for as they leave. Since Blaise had already dragged them into nearly every shop, they make their way down the stairs of the shopping centre and out of the doors onto the street. They make a quick right onto a deserted street to shrink the record down until it fits inside his jacket pocket.

"Where now then?" Blaise asks as they walk back towards the main street. "Do you even know where we are?"

"No, not really. We could apparate to the Leaky Cauldron?" Draco suggests.

"Or," Blaise smirks. "We could go there." Pointing to a pub on the other side of the road.

"You want to go to a Muggle pub?" He asks, feeling unsure.

"Come on, Draco." He wraps his arm around his shoulders. "Let's live the Muggle life." He says, guiding him to a road crossing Hermione had D shown him how to use once by pressing the button and waiting for the green man to show.

Draco follows a confident looking Blaise into the pub, still feeling unsure himself. Blaise walks straight up to the bar, gazing up at the blackboard with a list of drinks.

"What can I get you, mate?" The bartender asks, leaning on the bar.

"I'll have a beer please, mate." He orders.

The bartender glances at Draco.

"I'll have the same."

"Right, which beer do you want?" The bartender smirks, holding back a laugh.

"Oh, I don't know." Blaise looks back up at the blackboard. "Just give us whatever."

The bartender chuckles, shaking his head. "I'm gonna have to ask for ID boys."

Blaise turns to look worriedly at Draco. "ID?" He questions and Draco shrugs his shoulders.

"Yes, identification. Do you have a driving licence?" The bartender looks between them both.

Draco frowns. "No, I don't know why anyone would want to drive?"

"Where are you from?" He crosses his arms.

"Originally from Italy, then France and nowhere." Blaise smiles.

"So you must have a passport. Do you have it on you?" He asks.

"Erm… A passport?" Blaise looks back at Draco looking increasingly more nervous.

The bartender looks confusedly at them both for a long few seconds before shaking his head.

"Unless you can prove you're over eighteen, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave boys." He tells them.

"Oh right, well I'm eighteen and he's just had his nineteenth birthday," Blaise explains.

"Without proof, I can't serve you. Sorry." The bartender shrugs at them unapologetically.

"Right," Blaise mutters. "Come on, Draco, let's hit the Leaky Cauldron." He states as they exit.

They set off walking down the street, trying to find a secluded place to disapparate from when they come across another pub.

"Should we try one more Muggle pub before we head back?" Blaise suggests.

"We might as well give it a try."

Draco enters first this time, eyeing the bar up for a drinks name. He spots a blue and gold sign that says 'Fosters'.

"Alright lads, what can I do you for?" He deeply asks.

"We'll have two Fosters." Draco orders, hoping that's what he was asking.

"Right up." He mutters, grabbing two glasses and filling them up with golden liquid. "That's £3.50, mate."

Draco hands over the correct amount and carries the two glasses over to the booth near the back of the pub where Blaise is sat waiting.

"Thanks, mate." He laughs, taking one of the pint glasses off him and taking a sip. "It's alright." He hums appreciatively.

Draco takes a sip of his own and has to hold in a shudder. "This is disgusting." He mutters, placing it on the table.

"It's an acquired taste," Blaise tells him, taking a couple of gulps then shuddering.

"One that you haven't acquired." He raises an eyebrow.

"Muggle alcohol is stronger than anything we have. We just have to get used to it." He explains before downing the rest of his pint.

Draco watches as he slams the empty glass on the table then presses his fists into his eyes. "Oh, Merlin." He complains.

"I'm going to assume that wasn't a good idea." Draco laughs, taking a few sips from his own glass.

"No, not at all." He groans, throwing his head into his arms, resting on the table. "I would not recommend that." He mutters into his arms.

"Maybe you should take it easy with the next one. You know how easily our alcohol affects you." He snipes.

"Ouch, you got me." He sits up, covering his heart with his hand. "I'll get the next round. I want that downed by the time I get back." He makes his way halfway to the bar before turning around and coming back. "I haven't got any Muggle money." He states.

"Here." Draco sighs, handing him a crisp five-pound note.

"Thanks, mate." He laughs, rushing back over to the bar.

"Shut up." He calls after him, picking up his glass to try to down it but he can only manage half by the time Blaise has returned a few minutes later with two pints that are a weaker golden colour. "What's that?" He asks, still sipping at his first drink.

"Apple cider. I thought you might like it with your love of apples." He says, placing them both down on the table.

"Thanks." Draco reaches over to grab one but Blaise swats his hand away.

"Nope, not until you finish that." He smirks at him.

Draco groans in annoyance as he struggles to drink the rest of his drink.

"Keep going." Blaise encourages him.

"And your mother thought _I_ was a bad influence." He glares at his friend when he's finished.

"Here you go, have a drink." He pushes the apple cider towards him.

Draco takes a cautious sip, humming approvingly. "This is actually quite nice." He admits.

"Good, here's your change." He hands over a fifty pence. "So, Draco, how are you?" He asks, leaning across the table on his elbows.

"Why?" Draco narrows his eyes suspiciously at his friend.

"Since we graduated, I don't see you much anymore. I barely know what's happening in your life." He pouts. "So, what's new?" He questions.

Hyperion is the first thing that comes to mind but he shakes that away.

"I got a haircut." He states with a shrug.

"Really?" Blaise stares at his hair for a moment. "It doesn't look much different."

"It's shorter." He says. "Mitty did it the yesterday."

"So the highlight of your life at the moment is getting a haircut." Blaise shakes his head. "I'm feeling very sorry for you right now."

"I'm bearing witness tomorrow at Rabastan Lestrange's trial." He admits.

Blaise's eyes widen. "What? Why? You were pretty adamant you would only ever testify against your father."

"A little bit of bribery goes a long way." He smirks, quirking an eyebrow.

"Draco," Blaise leans closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You bribed the Minister. What did you get in return?"

Draco looks him in the eye for a moment trying to decide whether or not to tell him. He knows he can trust his friend.

"You can't tell anyone this, alright." He leans closer to the table.

Blaise nods. "Never, I promise."

"I got access to the record archives." He whispers.

"Are you joking? You have access to the records of everyone." Blaise stares at him in awe.

"Every wizard and witch, alive or dead." He tells him, drinking the rest of his apple cider. "You want another cider, it was nice." He asks, sliding out of the booth.

"Yeah, go on." Blaise downs the rest of his. "We're not finished on this though." He points at him.

When Draco returns with four more pints of cider, Blaise resumes their conversations straight away.

"Why do you need to see the records?" He asks.

"One of Hermione's ancestors was called Karina Rowle. She wanted to know if Karina was related to the sacred or it was just a muggle coincidence." He starts to explain.

"And?"

"She was. Her mother was a muggle and her father was Thule Rowle, a pureblood. She herself was a squib." He answers, Hyperion coming to the forefront of his mind again.

"So you risked imprisonment with your father to find out whether Hermione is distantly related to the Rowle family," Blaise repeats disapprovingly.

"Having that access has been an advantage or more than one occasion. One of Hermione's cousins is a witch." He explains, defending his decision.

"Two Muggleborns in one family!" He exclaims.

"No, she's half-blood." He smiles. "Three guesses which famous witch is her mother that abandoned her at six weeks old."

"Really? Who is it?" He asks excitedly.

"Gwenog Jones." He announces.

"No way!" He gasps. "Why'd she abandon her daughter?

Draco nods, finishing one of his pints. "Apparently she was threatened by a group of Death Eaters to abandon her daughter and focus on her career so she could vote for the World Cup to stay in England." He explains.

"I don't remember there being a vote." Blaise frowns as he tries to think.

"There wasn't one. She lied. Hermione's talking with her today to try and find out the truth." He tells him.

Blaise suddenly narrows his eyes at him as he leans back in his seat, crossing his arms.

"What?"

"You love Hermione." He sings with a smirk.

Draco laughs. "No, I don't. I like her and maybe I'm starting to fall for her but I'm not in love her."

"You risked imprisonment for her. You bribed the Minister so Hermione could find out if she was a long descendent of the Rowles and so Hermione could find out that Gwenog is her kind of aunt." Blaise shakes his head. "You're definitely falling in love with her."

"Shut up." He scoffs. "It wasn't just for Hermione, I found out I have an uncle." He admits, eyes widening in shock as he realises what he's saying.

"You have an uncle?" Blaise questions him.

"Yeah, he's a squib. My grandparents sent him to live in a Muggle orphanage on his ninth birthday." Draco tells him.

Blaise shakes his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you sat there and told me that the most exciting thing in your life was your haircut."

"Well, that's everything. What's exciting in your life?" Draco throws the question back at him, drinking his cider.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily. What's this uncle called? Where does he live now? Wait, does your father know?" Blaise rattles off questions after questions.

"He's called Hyperion, the last record the Ministry has is of him living in that orphanage in London but it closed down in 1964 when he was seventeen and I have no idea if Lucius knew of his existence. He was two when they sent Hyperion away." He sighs, leaning back in his chair. "I tried asking my mother but she told me to never bring him up again and to forget he ever existed but I can't. I have an uncle out there somewhere and I want to find him." He admits to himself for the first time.

"Why don't you just ask your father?" Blaise suggests.

Draco's eyes harden as he glares at his best friend. "No!" He states simply.

"Come on, Draco. He's your father. Just talk to him." He tries to convince him.

"I said no," Draco tells him warningly.

"Why not?" Blaise pushes him but he just glares back at him. "Think about it."

"I've told you no." Draco snaps, slamming his empty glass on the table. "I was the one who put him Azkaban. I was the one who stood up at his trial. I exposed every little criminal detail about him. I begged the Wizengamot to imprison him for life. I was the one he shouted after as he was dragged away from the stand like a deranged animal. I did that to him. I did that to my own father. I'm surprised my mother didn't disown me. I turned my back on my family. I may feel guilty but I haven't looked back. I don't regret a single thing. If I go visit him in there, I don't know what he's going to be like. Bellatrix went insane in there and no matter how much I hate Lucius, I never want to see him like that." He sighs. "Sorry, I'll shut up" He mutters, shaking his head.

"Draco, have you talked to your mother about how you feel?" He asks.

"Of course not," He scoffs. "You've met her if I so much as express a negative emotion she'll think I'm weak."

"What about Hermione? She won't think you're weak." He suggests.

"No, I can't talk about my family. She already knows we're all messed up. Why do you think I haven't told her about Hyperion yet?" He admits.

"Well, you know I'm always here to listen to you but telling Hermione can only bring you closer together. She'll appreciate your honesty. Trust me, go tell her now." Blaise leans back trying to look sophistically.

"I can't, she's with Gwenog." Draco reminds him.

"Oh yeah, well shall we get another round." Blaise stands up, wobbling slightly on his feet.

"I think we've had enough." Draco shakes his head, following his friend up.

"I'm not drunk." He states as he stumbles out of the bar.

"Of course not, and neither am I." He rolls his eyes, knowing himself that he's slightly inebriated. "Let's grab some dinner and head back to mine." He throws his arm around Blaise's shoulders.

"At least by me dinner first." He slaps his shoulder.

Draco stares at him. "I am, I literally just offered."

"Oh, what are we having?" He asks as they walk down the alleyway at the back of the pub.

"Fish and chips. It's Hermione's favourite dinner, I might get her some for her dinner when she gets back." He glances around the alleyway to ensure no one is watching before taking Blaise's hand and disapparating them to the alleyway behind the Granger's house.

"Where are we?" Blaise asks, glancing around.

"Hermione's parent's house. There's a fish and chip shop not far away from here. Chris, her dad, took me there, I think I can remember the way." He says, guiding his friend through a few streets until they reach Howard's Fish and Chips.

"Well, if it isn't the posh twat." Howard greets him as soon as he enters. "And you brought a friend. Are you a posh bastard too?" The man asks.

"I've had a few posh step-dads. The one before Alberic was Prince Carl of Norway or Sweden or somewhere. It only lasted a few months. Apparently, mother didn't tell him she was thirty-seven or that she had a son who was only a few months younger than him." Blaise laughs. "It was a nasty shock for him. We're still friends though. He was definitely the hottest step-dad I've ever had. Alberic is bald." He pouts. "Not that bald people can't be hot. Do you remember Joseph, Draco? He was a close runner-up to Prince Carl." He adds.

"He's just all kinds of messed up, isn't he?" Howard comments, shaking his head. "What d'ya want, mate?" He asks.

Blaise chuckles to himself. "Mate." He mutters.

"Three fish and chips and three… of those bread." He orders, not remembering what Chris had called them.

"Baps?" Howard offers.

"Yeah, three baps." He nods.

"Coming up." He smiles at him, writing the order down. "You posh twat." He mutters under his breath as he walks away.

Draco takes Blaise over to sit on the large ledge under the window.

"Carl was Prince of Sweden." Draco reminds him. "The first thing you asked him was if he liked meatballs."

"Yeah, my mother was briefly Princess of Sweden," Blaise announces proudly.

A few minutes later, Howard rings a bell to gain their attention. "Orders up, are you actually paying yourself tonight?" He asks snidely.

"Yes, I exchanged some money." He takes some notes out of his pocket. "How much is it?"

"£8 for everything."

Draco hands over a ten-pound note and tells him to put the change in the tip jar on the counter. He has to drag Blaise back to the Granger's alleyway because he's dragging his feet with every step. Once there, Draco, being the least drunk of the two, takes Blaise's hand and disapparates them back to the estate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	52. Chapter 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 52.
> 
> For the first time since August 2016, I had this chapter ready to upload before today and I'm already halfway through the next chapter.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

"Let's go to mine instead, its closer." Blaise starts pulling him towards his house.

"No, I've gotta be home for Hermione coming in. I've gotta tell her straight away or I'll back out." Draco reminds him, pulling him towards his house.

"Fine." He groans, letting himself be pulled.

Blaise slips his shoes off as soon as he steps foot inside the house then walks straight into the living room, throwing himself over the back of the couch.

"How come your couch is more comfortable than ours?" He complains, shuffling around.

"It's the same couch, Blaise." He tells him as he heads into the kitchen to grab some plates and cutlery.

"Hey Athena, how are you?" Blaise shouts.

"She's blind, not deaf." He calls into the living room.

"Hey Athena, how are you?" He repeats in a loud whispering tone.

Draco laughs to himself as he plates up the fish and chips and the bap. He grabs two glasses of water and levitates them with the plates into the living room where Blaise has now sat on the carpet with Athena nestling in his hair.

"I love her," Blaise mentions, grabbing a chip from a levitating plate.

"That's yours then," Draco tells him, placing the plate down in front of him.

"When's Hermione due home?" He asks picking another chip up.

"She didn't say. I told her I would probably be out most the night." He says, lowering the glasses of water and his plate onto the coffee table. "I'll put that new record on." He announces, taking it out of his pocket and returning it back to its original size with a flick of his wand.

He removes the record from the album sleeve, placing it on the player and flicks the switch. The record spins, Draco turns the volume knob up then takes a seat on the edge of the couch as the first song begins to play.

'Misshapes, mistakes, misfits  
Raised on a diet of broken biscuits, oh  
We don't look the same as you  
And we don't do the things you do  
But we live around here too, oh really  
Misshapes, mistakes, misfits…'

"Draco!" Blaise gasps, jumping up, waking Athena up in the process, as he restarts the song from the beginning. "Listen, it's about us." He stares at him as the song repeats.

"I wouldn't exactly call us misfits and we certainly weren't raised on a diet of broken biscuits." Draco frowns in confusion.

"Not us," He waves his hand between them both. "Us as in the wizarding world and how we're misfits in the muggle world," Blaise explains. "Think about it. We don't look the same as you and we don't do the things you do but we live around here too. It makes sense." He stares at him wide eyed.

"It vaguely makes sense because you're searching for meanings within the lyrics. You wouldn't do look this far into Do the Hippogriff." Draco points out.

"It's pretty obvious what that song is about." He rolls his eyes as he cuts up a piece of fish.

They eat quietly for a few minutes until another song comes on that sends Blaise gasping again at the lyrics.

"Swap common with muggle and it really speaks to me." He admits.

"Blaise, you're married. Why do you want to sleep with muggle people?" Draco questions him.

"Not that part obviously, I want to live like muggle people and I want to do whatever muggle people do. I find them fascinating. I thought I already knew a lot about them but after today, I barely know anything. Have you ever heard of having an ID before and what's a passport?" He questions.

"You want to stop calling them 'muggle people' then." Draco points out, making a chip butty then taking a bite as Blaise continues to listen deeply to the song.

"Oh," He sighs, placing his fork back on his nearly empty plate.

"What?" Draco questions.

"The song's right. I'll never live like muggle people, I'll never do whatever muggle people do. No matter how much I learn about them and integrate into their society, I'll always be a wizard in disguise." Blaise points out, lying down on the carpet.

Athena flies back over to him, landing on his chest. Blaise gently strokes the top of her head.

"Where's all this coming from, Blaise?" Draco asks him seriously.

"I don't know," He sighs. "I've just been thinking recently that I want to do something different with my life."

"Blaise, how can you do something different if you haven't actually done anything with your life yet?" He asks rhetorically.

"I've got this translator job for a week starting on Monday and I can already see where it's going to lead. I'm going to end up in the Department of International Magical Cooperation." He says with a posh accent before sighing. "I don't want to be a ministry worker, Draco. I can't think of anything more boring than that." He states.

"If you could do anything, what would you do?" Draco asks him.

"That's my problem. I don't know. I don't have a clue. I'd love to go travelling." He shrugs.

"Okay, that sounds perfect for you and Luna. She like travelling to find those creatures of hers. Maybe you could write some sort of article for the Daily Prophet on the places you visit."

"A journalist for the Daily Prophet?" Blaise asks with a quirked eyebrow.

"Since the war ended, we're becoming more interested in muggle life. It could be the perfect opportunity for you to travel whilst also working." Draco suggests.

"I'll think about it but I'm not much of a writer." He shrugs.

"You never know until you try." He points out.

"Yeah, I'll think about it when I'm sober." He sits up to resume eating his dinner.

"Don't forget to talk to Luna about it."

Blaise scoffs. "You're one to talk, keeping your uncle a secret from Hermione."

"I'm telling her when she gets back." He reminds him. "It's why we're here waiting for her and not back at yours."

Hermione disapparates straight from the gates of Azkaban to the gates of the estate. She wonders if Draco will be back from his day out with Blaise but she doubts it since it's only half past six. However, when she attempts to turn her key in the lock, she finds the door is already open. She was hoping for a few hours to plan how she's going to confess to Draco that she's gone behind his back and visited his father. She enters into the hallway where she slips out of her shoes before heading into the living room where sat either side of the coffee table, she finds Draco and Blaise sat eating fish and chips.

"Hermione!" Blaise cheers as she enters the room.

"Hi Blaise," She greets him with a smile. "It looks like you're having fun."

She glances around the room. The boys' shoes are scattered around the floor along with their jackets. On the coffee table, were two plates with a few chips and some batter from the fish, two untouched glasses of water and a half drunk bottle of firewhisky and two shot glasses. On the record player was a record which has just finished playing on one side. Suddenly, the needle arm lifts up and the record flips itself over onto the other side. She's impressed.

"I'll just grab something for my dinner then I'll go upstairs and get out of your hair," Hermione tells them setting off for the kitchen, deciding that it would be best to tell Draco tomorrow when he's sober.

Blaise burst out in a drunken giggle. "My hair's a nest." He points at his head where Hermione notices Athena asleep.

She chuckles, shaking her head in amusement as she heads into the couch.

"Tell her now." She hears Blaise whisper loudly to Draco who shushes him.

"Tell me what?" Hermione asks, turning to look at them.

Draco glares accusingly at Blaise who jerks his head towards her whilst raising his eyebrows.

"It's…" Draco pauses, staring up at her. She raises a questioning eyebrow. "You're dinner is in the oven keeping warm." He announces suddenly.

Hermione stares at him with her arms crossed for a few seconds.

"Okay, thank you, Draco." She heads into the kitchen where she finds her own portion of fish and chips.

She plates them up and grabs her own glass of water before walking past the boys and up the stairs into their bedroom. Grabbing her book from her bedside table, she lies on the bed eating as she reads. However, the words aren't registering in her head. Draco knows something. Something he needs to tell her but doesn't want to. Maybe he already knows that she visited Lucius. Did Kingsley tell him? Or maybe it was Davies, the guard at Azkaban who was dismissed for the day. Did he put one and one together and started a rumour? She can't take it anymore. She needs to go downstairs and ask Draco what he knows.

She's just climbing off the bed when she hears two pairs of footsteps climbing the staircase. She perches on the edge of the bed waiting. A few seconds later, there's a soft rap at the door and Draco calls her name quietly.

"You can come in Draco, this is your room too." She reminds him.

The slowly creaks open to reveal Draco stood at the threshold with a smirking Blaise stood not far behind him.

"We need to talk." He mutters, staring at a spot on the carpet near her feet.

Hermione swallows nervously. He can't even look at her. He knows and he hates her for it.

"Okay." Hermione nods, moving over so Draco has space to sit next to her. "Come sit down." She pats the bed but Draco doesn't move.

"For Merlin's sake," Blaise curses. "Get in there Draco." He pushes his friend inside then slams the door shut behind him. "Talk to her or I'm not letting you out." He shouts through the door.

Draco sighs, turning the chair at their dressing table around and sitting down. Hermione's eyes prickles with tears as she watches him, staring down at his own clasped hands on his lap.

"What is it you need to tell me?" Hermione asks, trying to hide the emotion in her voice.

"When I went to visit my mother for my birthday, she told me I could take some books from the attic as my presents." He starts, finally looking her in the eye.

Hermione frowns in confusion not understanding what that has to do with her visiting Lucius. Maybe it has nothing to do with it, she hopes.

"I chose one entitled 'The Black's Family Tree'." He continues. "I was reading it at the Manor on Tuesday when I went for my haircut. I was reading it but she took it from me and told me I couldn't have that book. I'd already seen a name I didn't recognise though. Someone called Hyperion Malfoy."

Hermione's eyes widen surprised. "Who's Hyperion Malfoy?"

"That's what I asked." He smiles at her. "She set the book on fire." He scoffs.

"What did you do?" Hermione gasps.

"I put it out and took the book straight to Percy who tried to repair it but the only page I wanted to read had been incinerated." He sighs. "I went to the archives." He admits in a whisper. "And I have a feeling we won't be welcomed back." He adds.

"Oh Draco, what happened?" She sighs, standing up.

"We don't know how Mr Vyner knows which cabinets we open so I charmed fifty filing cabinets all around the archives to open including the Malfoy's. It didn't take long for him to come down to the archives but I disguised myself, I'd already found Hyperion's file so I made a few scuffling noises in the corner near the book vault and then charmed it open. Vyner fell for it and I made my escape." Draco explains.

Hermione kneels on the carpet in front of him, taking his hands in her and smiling up at him impressed. "So who's...? Wait, did you steal the file?" She asks but Draco avoids her stare. "Draco," She sighs. "Mr Vyner's explicitly told us not to take or copy any documents."

"I'll take them back tomorrow after Rabastan's trail." He rolls his eyes at her before making eye contact. "He's my uncle."

"Your uncle?" She repeats.

"I have an uncle. He's a squib and when my grandparents found out they sent him to live in a muggle orphanage in London. The Ministry lost track of him in 1964 when the orphanage closed down. He was seventeen." Draco explains.

"Oh my-" Hermione gasps. "And your father never told you?" She asks.

Draco's eyes narrow at the mention of his father. "Lucius was only two years old when his parents sent Hyperion away. My mother says he doesn't know so I assume he doesn't remember or my grandparents obliviated all memories of his brother." He shrugs.

"What else does your mother say?" She asks.

"I should forget Hyperion exists. He's a squib and admitting he exists will just further damage our reputation." He says.

Hermione stiffens in her position in front of Draco knowing he isn't going to like her suggestion.

"What is it?" He asks, knowing that something is on her mind.

"Have you thought about asking Lucius himself whether he remembers?" She asks.

"No!" Draco stands up. "Don't even go there, Hermione." He warns as he starts pacing around their room.

"At least think about it." She stands up after him.

"No!" He exasperatedly runs his fingers through his hair

"Draco, if your father remembers him, he might have gone looking for him in his youth." She tries to explain but Draco just shakes his head. "He might know where Hyperion lives now." She adds.

"Hermione!" He shouts, stopping mid-step and spinning to face her. She takes a nervous step away from his glaring eyes. "I sent him to Azkaban to get away from him. To protect what is remaining of my family. I've seen first-hand what happens to the people who spend too long in there and I never want to see him like that. I-I never want to see him again."

"I just thought it might be the easiest way to find your uncle." She mentions. "You do want to find him, don't you?"

He laughs as he shakes his head, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he walks away from her. "He-he has this way of speaking." He spits, becoming increasingly angry. "You don't know what he does to a person. You don't realise until it's too late that he's been controlling every action you've taken since you met him. You-you, don't realise. You just don't realise what it's like. Eighteen years I lived with him, was raised by him and I've spent the past thirteen months trying to change, trying to move on from his control, trying to become a better person. It wasn't easy." He shouts, sounding exhausted.

Hermione takes a few cautious steps towards him, hoping he'll let her comfort and calm him but before she can reach him, he turns his back on her, coming face to face with his reflection in the dressing table mirror. He stands there staring at himself for a while, wiping the tears that dare spill from his cheek.

"I know if I visit him in there, all the hard work I've put into becoming someone I can be proud of will just disappear." He mutters. Hermione takes a few steps closer and Draco's eyes shift to watch her approach in the mirror. "And you," He spins around and her heart breaks at the fear and anger in his watery eyes. "You want me to visit him. You want me to risk who I've become. I know I won't be strong enough to disobey him. I was never strong enough."

"Draco, I'm so-" She tries to apologise but she's interrupted by a soft knock at their bedroom door.

"Hey guys, is everything alright in there? I heard some shouting." Blaise's worried voice calls through the door.

Draco walks over, throwing the door open making Blaise stumble a little as he tries to keep his balance. He walks straight past his friend into the bathroom where he locks the door. Blaise turns to stare at Hermione concernedly as she can no longer hold in her tears.

"Oh no, Hermione." Blaise's eyes widen as he rushes over to hug her. "Please don't cry. I hate it when people cry." He tells her, smoothing her hair at the back of her head down.

"I shouldn't have pushed him." She sobs onto his shoulder. "I know he hates Lucius and he's told me before that he never wants to see him again but I kept telling him to visit him. He might know something about Hyperion." She explains.

"It's okay, Hermione." He comforts her. "I told him to do the same thing." He admits. "I just know when to stop pushing him. Don't worry, it'll come with time. You'll learn."

Hermione pulls away from Blaise, drying her eyes. "I think he needs some time alone." She announces, heading over to her wardrobe.

"See, you're already learning. You know when to give him spa-" He pauses. "What are you doing?" He asks, watching as she fills a bag with some pyjamas, clothes, shoes, her toiletries.

"I'm giving him some space. I'm going to go stay with my parents for the night." She tells him as she grabs her book and shoves it into her bag which she then shrinks and places into her pocket. "Can you tell him I'm sorry and I'll be back tomorrow?" She asks Blaise who simply nods. "Please stay here with him, don't leave him alone." She adds before walking down the stairs where she pulls on her shoes and leaves their house, eyes starting to water again.

At the gates of the estate, Hermione disapparates to the alleyway behind her parents' garden. She's about to enter when she hears giggles coming from the other side of the garden fence. Peering through the fence, she finds her cousins Lauren and Craig running around. She checks her watch which tells her it's almost half seven. She assumes that her parents have decided to give her grandparents a break from the children for a few night but they should really be getting ready for bed soon, not running around the garden.

Quietly, Hermione opens the gate to the garden and enters. Her cousins are crouched near the back door staring at something on the doorstep so she sneaks up behinds them and tickles their neck. They both scream then giggle when they realise who it is stood behind them.

"Hermione!" Lauren shouts, throwing herself at her cousin. "You scared us. I nearly died." She says staring at her, eyes wide.

"No you didn't, you're just being over dramatic." She teases, picking her up and tickling her again.

Lauren squeals for her to stop so she does, carrying her inside with Craig holding onto her jacket sleeve.

"Why aren't you in bed yet?" She asks, closing the kitchen door behind her.

"Aunt Sarah said we can stay up a little later." She whispers. "It's a secret. We're not allowed to tell Grandma." She giggles.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Her dad asks as he comes into the kitchen.

She stares at her dad for a moment too long and her lip wobbles as tears fall down her cheeks.

"Oh dear." He mutters, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Kids, I think Aunt Sarah needs you upstairs. Go have a look." He tells them and they run off upstairs. "What did he do?" He asks, opening his arms for her.

Hermione runs straight into her father arms, burying her head in the crook of his neck as she incoherently mumbles an answer.

"Do you want a cuppa?" He asks and she nods against his neck. "You're going to have to let go of me so I can make it then." He chuckles, trying to cheer her up.

With a sniffle, she lets go of her dad, taking a seat at the kitchen table whilst her he makes three cups of tea.

"It's all my fault dad." She sniffs.

"I'll be the decision of that." He tells her, placing two of the cups on the table in front of them.

Hermione takes a calming sip of her cup before launching into an explanation.

"He found out that he has an uncle that lives in the muggle world. He never heard of him before the other day and I suggested he visit his father in Azkaban to find out if he knew he has a squib brother." She starts.

"A squib?" Her dad questions.

"Someone born to a wizarding family that doesn't have any magic." She explains.

"Alright." He nods at her to carry on.

"He's told me before that he never wants to see his father again but I kept pushing the idea and I pushed him too far. There was some shouting and I think he just needs some space to himself to calm down. We both do." She finishes explaining.

"Ah, that's why you came here." He says and she nods. "I'm afraid your bedroom is going to be a little preoccupied for a while."

"A while?" She asks confused.

"Your Uncle David called social services on your Aunt. They don't think your grandparents are up to the job of frequently taking care of two children under five and they think your uncle has enough on his hands being a single parent with a full-time job so we've got temporary custody of Lauren and Craig." Her dad explains.

"Oh, wow. I know David said he was going to call them but I didn't think he actually would." She comments.

"Neither did your grandparents so they're understandably angry at him. They'll get over it though. They know that this is what's best for the kids." Her dad nods. "So, unless you want to sleep on the couch, you might want to ask your grandparents or uncle if you can sleep in their spare bedroom." He suggests.

"I think I'll ask David. I'm not in the mood to listen to Grandma complain about David all night." She says and he dad laughs.

Hermione hears her mum coming down the stairs. She sighs deeply when she reaches the landing.

"Hermione, darling, are you alright? Lauren said you were crying." She says, pulling her daughter into a tightly hug.

"I'm fine now, Mum. Draco and I got into an argument. I wanted to give him some space to calm down for the night but I see there's no room at the inn." She jokes.

"Oh, I know. It's been thirteen years since I've had to bathe a child and my back's killing me." Her mum laughs. "But what we're we going to do, let them get split up in foster care." She scoffs. "I don't think so."

"Well if you need me to help out, let me know." Hermione offers.

"And how exactly do we do that?" He mum raises her eyebrow. "We have no way of getting into contact with you."

"I'll buy a mobile phone tomorrow." She sighs.

"Good, I'm tired of having to wait for you to send us an owl before we can contact you. It'll be much easier to just phone you up." Her mum yawns. "I'm shattered Chris, I think I'm going to have a quick shower then go to bed." She tells him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and Hermione a hug before heading upstairs.

"I better get going too. I don't want to get to Uncle David's too late." She tells her dad as she stands up to hug him goodbye.

"Pop around tomorrow if you have time, once you've bought yourself a phone." He hugs her back.

Hermione leaves out of the back door, her dad locking it behind her. From the alleyway, she disapparates to the garden path beside her Uncle David's house. Despite it being the middle of June, there are dark clouds hanging overhead as she knocks on the front door.

Through the glass windows of the front door, she sees her uncle running down the stairs. He throws the door open in a pair of shorts and t-shirt.

"Hermione!" He stares at her for a moment before stepping aside to let her in. "What are you doing here?" He asks, closing the door and following her into the kitchen.

"I was wondering if I could stay the night. Draco and I had an argument and the kids are at my parents' house." She asks him.

"Of course, are you alright?" He questions, sitting down opposite her at the table.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She reassures him. "We just need some space to calm down. It's only for the night." She tells him.

"You can stay here as long as you want. I'm sure Sophie will love having another girl in the house. Especially you, she hasn't shut up about you all week. I wanted to thank you actually." He smiles.

"Thank me? What for?" She asks, confused.

"Sophie's been going through a dark patch recently. She hid in her room, away from me. All she would do is read. I tried talking to her but… nothing. She wouldn't talk to me. I thought maybe something was happening at school. I don't know what you said to her the other day but she's been so much happier. She even comes into my office to read in my armchair whilst I'm marking. She hasn't done that since she was seven." He sighs. "They grow up too fast." He chuckles to himself. "Do you want a cuppa?" He asks after a moment, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, thanks?" Hermione mutters, watching her uncle as he pops the kettle on and grabs two cups. "I think she just needed someone to talk to."

"I wish she would have talked to me about whatever's going on in her head." He admits, leaning against the countertop.

"She didn't want to tell me. I had to persuade her that I wouldn't tell anyone. She tried to pass it off as nothing but it was obviously something if it was making her that upset." She explains. "She was quite angry at me for speaking so sharply with her but like you, I was worried about her."

"She still hasn't told me." He hints with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione shakes her head. "I promised her I wouldn't tell you without her." She tells him as the kettle pops up and David turns around to make their teas. "Where is Sophie?" She asks.

"She's in the bath." He says. "Actually she's been in for a while now." He checks his watch. "I bet she's reading in there again." He shakes his head. "As long as she doesn't come complaining to me if she drops it in the water again." He laughs.

"Do you want me to check on her?" She offers.

"Yeah, if you don't mind." David nods.

Hermione makes her way upstairs and knocks on the bathroom door.

"I'm fine, dad," Sophie calls from inside.

"It's Hermione." She tells her.

"What are you doing here?" She asks as the bath water sloshes around the tub.

"I'm spending the night here. I've just been speaking to your dad." She states.

There's silent pause from inside the bathroom. "About me?" A quiet voice asks.

"He's still worried about you. Do think you're ready to tell him?" She asks.

"Maybe." She answers after another pause. "He won't believe us."

"I'll explain everything to him and if I need to, I can show him," Hermione tells her.

"Can you do all the talking?" Sophie asks.

"Of course I will." She reassures her. "Are you going to get out the bath now?"

"Yes, I'll be down in five minutes."

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen." She says then heads back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Is she alright?" David asks from his seat at the kitchen table.

Hermione sits back down, picking up her cup of tea and taking a drink.

"Yeah, she said she'll be down in five minutes and she's ready to tell you," Hermione tells him.

David arches an eyebrow. "Really?"

"She wants me to do all the talking but she wants to be here when I tell you." She explains.

"I'll get her a glass of milk then." He stands up heading to the fridge.

"Have you noticed Sophie behaving strangely?" Hermione asks. "Besides avoiding you."

David pauses at the fridge for a second before taking the milk carton out.

"What is it?" She questions curious as to what accidental magic Sophie's been doing.

"It's just a few little things. She's started telling these strange lies. A red m&m turning into a ladybird." David mutters as he pours Sophie a glass of milk. "A cup falling from the top cupboard and hitting her on the head. I asked her if she was climbing on the counter and she denied it. There's no way she could even open the cupboard door without climbing up." He taps the door handle of the cupboard. "I wasn't even mad about her climbing up, just that she was lying about it."

He returns to the table, placing the glass of milk next to Hermione. They sit in silence, drinking their cups of teas as they wait for Sophie to join them. After another couple of minutes, they hear her running down the stairs.

"Did you have a nice bath, Sophie?" David asks, putting on a smile.

Sophie gazes between them both before nodding and taking a seat next to Hermione. She pulls her glass of milk towards her but doesn't drink any.

"Hermione's told me that you're ready to tell me what's been on your mind recently." He mentions smiling encouragingly at his daughter.

She looks up at Hermione who nods down at her.

"Yes." She mutters, looking down at her clasped hands on her lap.

David looks from his daughter to his niece, waiting for her to speak.

"How shall we start then?" He asks.

Hermione stares at her uncle, mouth open, ready to speak but no words come out. She doesn't know how to start.

"There's no need to be sensitive about it, just tell me," David says, the smile he put on for his daughter starting to fall as the worry in his voice increases.

She nods and decides to follow in the footsteps of Titan, the ministry official who came to tell her own parents all those years ago and just get straight to the point.

"You might not believe what I'm about to say but please try to keep an open mind for Sophie's sake and I will explain everything." She starts.

David's smile all but disappear in favour for a confused and worried frown. He nods for her to carry on.

"Sophie's a witch, someone with magical capabilities, which explains those strange behaviours you were talking about earlier," Hermione explains.

Her uncle's expression doesn't change, if anything he looks more confused and worried. He looks down at his daughter who stares back with a hopeful gaze.

"I'm… not entirely sure… What's going on right now? Is this some kind of joke?" He asks, looking between Sophie and Hermione.

Sophie shakes her head vigorously.

"It's not a joke, David," Hermione tells him seriously.

"Right… so my daughter thinks she's a witch." He says looking at Sophie. "…and you're encouraging her?" He questions, turning to face Hermione is disbelief.

"I know this is hard to believe but it is true and I can explain-"

"You can explain what? I'm a history teacher, Hermione. I know all about witches and I know we stopped believing in them around the end of the eighteenth century. I can understand Sophie believing she's a witch. Most kids go through phases and it probably doesn't help that she's been reading the history books at school over the holidays. What I can't understand is why you're playing along with this." David frowns at her.

"It's the truth, dad. I'm a witch." Sophie speaks for the first time.

"Sophie, I'm glad you have such an active imagination but you must know that there's no such thing as witches and magic," David tells her sounding slightly condescending.

Sophie glares up at her dad. "There is, Hermione's a witch too. She'll show you." She looks up at her cousin.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea right now, Sophie," Hermione tells her.

"Why not, he doesn't believe us. Please, just show him and he'll stop saying I'm making it up." Sophie begs, pulling on her hand. "Please, Hermione."

"Sophie, I don't want to scare your dad." She explains.

"Stop that right now." David snaps. "I've heard enough about all this witch nonsense. I think you should leave, Hermione, you're upsetting Sophie." He stands up, waiting for her to follow.

"I'm sorry, Sophie." She squeezes her cousin's hand and tries to stand up but Sophie won't let her.

"NO!" She screams. "I don't want her to go. She's telling the truth." She shouts.

"That's it," David shouts. "Sophie, its bedtime. Go brush your teeth and get into bed. I'll be up once Hermione's left." He orders, trying to speak calmly.

Sophie glares angrily at her dad, not making a move.

"Sophie!" He says warningly.

That's when it starts. The milk in Sophie's glass starts bubbling as if being brought to boil but there's no heat or steam emitting from the liquid. David stares, eyes wide, at the glass in utter confusion.

"Sophie, you need to calm down." Hermione tries to comfort her cousin, rubbing circle on her back.

As Sophie whips her head around to face Hermione, the glass shatters into tiny pieces all over the kitchen table, sending milk flying all over the table and floor. David scampers as far away from the table as he can get, his back pushing into the kitchen counter.

"I-Wh-Umm-" He mutters at a loss for words.

"Magical children are prone to using magic accidentally when feeling angry, scared, or confused, as a form of self-defence. They typically have no control over this magic." Hermione quotes from a book she once read as she takes her wand out from her pocket. "That red m&m that turned into a ladybird. The cup falling from the cupboard. The glass of milk." She nods at the mess on the table. "Both examples of accidental magic and strong ones at that." She casts her eyes to her cousin. "I'll expect you to be a very powerful witch once you're older." She adds with a smile. "I should probably tidy up this mess." She winks at her cousin.

Pointing her wand at the broken glass and milk that's dripping onto the floor, she says clearly, "Reparo."

Hermione watches her uncle as his eyes flitter widely across the table as the broken pieces seal themselves back together and the milk swoops through the air like a flock of starlings back into the glass. David shakes his head as he stares at the glass of milk unblinkingly.

"That was awesome." Sophie cheers. "Can you do something else?"

"Not right now Sophie, I think you should go to bed whilst your dad and I talk a little more." She announces, placing her wand back into her pocket.

"What are you going to talk about?" She asks, frowning at the thought of being left out of further conversations on magic.

"I'm just going to explain some of the wizarding world to him. Don't worry though, I'll tell you all about it later." Hermione assures her. "Now go to bed and I'll come see you before you go to sleep." She urges her.

"Do you promise?" She asks, climbing off her chair.

"Yes, I promise." Hermione nods.

As soon as she hears Sophie's bedroom door close, Hermione stands up but the action makes her uncle flinch as his eyes flicker to the back door and then back to her again, so she sits back down, hand clasped on the table.

"For the past eight years, I have been attending a school in Scotland for witches and wizards. It's where I met Draco. He's a wizard. I suppose if I'm telling you the truth about who I am, I should probably tell you everything." She sighs. "Four years ago, a very powerful, dangerous and evil wizard started terrorising the wizarding world and there was a war. It ended last May with his death but we'd lost a lot of people so the Prime Minister of the wizarding world in Britain and Ireland enforced a marriage law. Due to the law, Draco and I were married and we have two years to have a child to boost the population or be sent to prison." Hermione explains then waits for her uncle's response.

"I-I-" He continues to mutter as he shakes his head and shuffles slowly towards the back door.

"I know this is a lot for you to take in and you're not going to like what else I have to say but-" She starts but David Scoffs.

"I haven't like anything you've said." He mutters as his back reaches the door and presses against the door handle.

"I have to tell you this. Sophie's mother, Gwenog Jones-" She tries to explain.

"Stop! Just stop! You- You promised you'd never bring her name up again." He glares at her. "This is insane." He shakes his head. "Magic, witches, wizards." He scoffs again, pacing back and forth in front of the back door.

"I know I promised but-" She tries to explain again.

"You promised." He shouts, turning to glare at her.

Apparently, his hatred of Gwenog can overpower his feelings of confusion and terror of the unknown wizarding world. If he's not going to stop interrupting her of his own accord then she'll just have to stop him herself again.

"Do I need to take your voice away again?" She threatens him, reaching for her wand.

David's hand flies up to his throat. "You did that, " He asks, eyes wide in fear, backing further into the door.

"Yes, and I'm very sorry but you were trying to kick me out of your house. I needed to find out everything you knew about Sophie's mother and you wouldn't talk." Hermione tries to defend herself but she knows it's going to take more than a simple apology before he can trust her again.

"What's so important about her?" He asks angrily.

"Gwenog Jones is a witch." She states and David stares at her in complete shock.

"Gw- Gwen's a-" He mumbles, shaking his head.

"She is. She's actually quite a famous sports person in our world." Hermione mentions.

"This… this is all too much." He breathes heavily as he opens the back door behind him. "I need some air." He gasps breathlessly, running out the door into his garden.

Hermione decides to leave him for a few minutes to process everything. She flicks her wand and watches as their cups and Sophie's glass along with the dirty dinner dishes already in the sink wash themselves. Whilst she waits for her uncle to return, she dries the dishes and places them back in their cupboard. Suddenly, she hears David's car start up and she rushes to the front door wondering where he got his car keys from. She throws the front door open in time to see David reversing out of the drive. She chases after him but he speeds off down the street. Hermione watches until she can no longer see his car then returns to his house, locking the door behind her with a wave of her wand. Unsure of what to do next, she locks the back door with another flick of her wand then heads upstairs to check on Sophie.

When she reaches Sophie's door, she finds it already open and Sophie is sat on her window ledge, leaning out of her window.

"I thought I told you to go to bed," Hermione says, announcing her presence and making Sophie jump.

"Where's my dad gone?" She asks, eyes watering and she looks up at Hermione stood at her door.

"I don't know, Sophie. I'm sorry." Hermione admits truthfully."

"Has he left me too? You said he wouldn't stop loving me." She starts to cry, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Hey, Sophie, your dad still loves you." She rushes over to her cousin, pulling her into a hug. "He's just scared and confused at the moment. He's just found out that something he thought he knew didn't exist, does and it's going to take some time for him to get used to the idea of witches and magic." She explains, stroking the back of Sophie's hair, calming her down. "Come on, you need to go to bed now or you'll be tired for school in the morning." She pulls away from the hug, throwing Sophie's bedsheets back and allowing her to climb under before tucking her in.

"Will you stay with me?" Sophie asks in a small voice as she shuffles further down the bed so only her eyes are peeking over the top of her quilt.

"Of course, Sophie, I'll stay until you fall asleep." She reassures her as she sits on the bed, leaning against the headboard and stroking Sophie's hair until she falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	53. Chapter 53

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 53.
> 
> I wanted to do something a little different this chapter by changing the POV from Hermione and Draco to somebody else. Tel me what you think and I might do more chapters from different people's POV.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

"This… this is all too much." David breathes heavily as he opens the back door behind him. "I need some air." He gasps breathlessly, running out the door into his garden, hoping Hermione doesn't follow him.

He stumbles over the grass, which is dire need of a cut, to his garden bench where he duly collapses, head in his hands. What is going on? He replays the past five minutes back in his head. He bursts out laughing, pushing his dark hair out of his face. Obviously, he's going crazy. He's hallucinating.

"This isn't real." He mutters to himself, shaking his head again. "It can't be.

He stands up, then sits back down. What if it is real? He can't deny the strange things Sophie's been doing recently. It wasn't even ladybird season when she apparently turned an m&m into one. Now he really is going crazy. He can't actually be considering the possibility that witches are real or that his daughter, niece and ex-girlfriend are one. No, that ladybird just came out of hibernation early. He makes his mind up with a stern nod as he stands up once more and makes his way back over to the back door. However, through the kitchen window, he can see Hermione stood next to the sink watching as a dinner plate washes itself with the sponge. David stares at it wide eyed for a prolonged moment.

Nope. This isn't happening. He swiftly turns on his heal, running away from the garden down the side path. He pulls his car door open glad that he never bothers to lock it. Unfortunately, he isn't stupid enough to leave the car keys inside but like riding a bike, you never forget how to hotwire a car. After a minute or so, he's reversing out of his driveway. As he puts the car into gear, he sees Hermione in his peripheral vision running towards him but he presses his foot down hard on the accelerator and speeds off down the street.

David's not sure how long he drives for before he pulls up outside of the park that he sometimes takes Sophie to after school. He doesn't get out of the car though. He just sits in the driver's seat, parked at the side of the road, with his hands gripping the steering so tight his knuckles are white. He stares straight ahead out of the windshield at the lights of cars in the distance as he tries to get his head around everything.

So, not only do witches and wizards exist but they apparently have their own school, government, prison and sport. For some reason, he finds it difficult to believe that they are enough magical people in the world for them to need schooling, governing and imprisoning. How many of them can there be? He scoffs to himself as he loosens his grip on the steering wheel but then suddenly tightens it. Is he actually believing this? Does he actually believe magic exists?

He quickly opens the car door, stumbling out onto the road. He slams the door shut before running through the nearest entrance to the park and just running as fast as he can. He doesn't stop until he can no longer breathe and has to lie down on the grass to catch his breath. Then, when he's breathing at a steadier rate, he just lies there on the grass, staring up at the white clouds in the sky and suddenly feeling so very small in the world. A world that apparently has magic in it now.

For David, it happened suddenly. One second he's staring up at the pink, late afternoon sky, then he blinks and the sky is pitch black with millions upon millions of stars twinkling down at him. He sits up slowly, glancing around the park. He can hear the bantering laughs of a group of teenagers probably sat in the playpark smoking and drinking, and the barks of a couple dogs somewhere nearby. He stands up, brushing some grass from his legs and heads for the nearest exit to the park, not wanting to stay in the dark, secluded area for very long in fear of being attacked. Unfortunately for him, the teenagers in the playpark decide it's time to make their leave at the same time and they meet under the streetlight near the exit. David tries to walk away but one of the teenagers calls after him.

"Hey, Mr Adair, what you doing roaming the park this time of night?" He asks.

David turns around. He already knows which one of his delightful students he's about to come face to face with.

"I could ask you the same thing, Sammy." He smiles at the sixteen-year-old boy.

"Take a wild guess, sir." Sammy laughs motioning to the cigarette in his hand and the bottle of cheap cider that one of his friends was holding.

"Well, I would hope you would be putting the finishing touches on your GCSE History coursework you need to hand in tomorrow," David mentions.

"Dream on, sir." He laughs and his friends join in.

"Didn't think so." David shakes his head disappointedly. "You're a smart lad, Sammy-"

"Thanks, sir." He jokes, interrupting him midsentence.

"I wasn't finished. You're a smart lad but you have no respect for anybody other than yourself. If you put your mind to it and actually tried, you could have gotten an A in my class and probably all your other classes too. You could have made something good of your life but to be honest, I'll be surprised if you don't end up in prison before your eighteenth birthday." He angrily snaps at the boy.

Sammy's face seems to have fallen slightly during his speech but he soon pulls his mask back up as he laughs.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir. Come on lads, let's get going. Don't want nobody to see us hanging around with the elderly." He glares at him before leading his friends across the road and down another street.

David knows that he probably shouldn't have done that. Sammy Jones will just make his life in class a living hell for the remaining five weeks of the school year but right now, he doesn't have time to think about school. He needs to get back to his car and decide what to do next.

David must have run halfway around the park because it takes him nearly twenty minutes to walk back to his car. He's surprised to still find his car parked at the side of the road since he left it unlocked and it had already been hotwired. He climbs inside and just sits in the driver's seat for a while wondering where he can go. He needs to talk to someone about this but who can he talk to who isn't going to think he's crazy.

"Of course!" He mutters to himself as he starts the car. "Sarah must know."

He pulls out in front of another car, earning himself a honk of their car horn but he doesn't care. He drives towards his sister's house at a much steadier speed than on the way to the park when his thoughts had been speeding around his head. Sarah only lives a few streets away from him so it shouldn't take him too long to get to her house. He just hopes it isn't too late. Since the clock on the dashboard wasn't working when he bought the car second-hand six years ago, he doesn't know what time it is.

David manages to find a parking space a few cars away from theirs. He slams his car door shut and a dog starts barking in a back garden nearby as he runs down the street towards the Granger's house. He stares up at the house when he reaches it. There are no lights on at the front of the house but he knows that's Hermione's bedroom and the bathroom. He walks up the short path to their front door and starts continuously knocking as he stares through the glass windows of the door.

After about thirty seconds of knocking the landing light at the top of the stairs turns on but he doesn't stop knocking until Chris reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns on the hallway light.

Chris frowns at him through the glass window as he fumbles around with his house keys and unlocks the front door.

"Do you know what bloody time it is, David?" He asks him once he's opened the front door. "The kids are awake now and crying." He scolds him.

"Who is it, Chris?" Sarah shouts down the stairs.

"It's David." He calls back.

"What does he want at half twelve at night?" She asks.

"What do you want?" Chris asks him.

"Hermione's a witch," David states simply, staring intently at his brother-in-law.

Chris's mouth drops open as he stares back at him for a long few seconds before swallowing and laughing. He shakes his head.

"What? No. What are you on about David? Witches aren't real. Have you been drinking too much?" He chuckles awkwardly.

"Hermione told me," David mentions and Chris's face falls.

"Oh," His face falls slightly. "Well, she's feeling quite emotional at the moment. Did she tell you she and Draco had an argument?" He tries to explain.

"She told me that Draco is a wizard and is actually her husband," David says.

Chris doesn't respond. He just stares at him, trying to come up with an excuse.

"It's true, isn't it?" He asks, his adrenaline levels suddenly dropping.

"Erm... Sarah!" He calls up the stairs. "I think you better come down here." He smiles awkwardly at David.

"What's is it?" Sarah asks as she joins them at the front door.

"Hermione's a witch." He states again.

Sarah's eyes widen as she looks very worriedly at her husband then back to her brother. "I don't know what you mean. Have you been drinking?" She asks.

David stares between Sarah and Chris, shaking his head. "I don't drink on a school night." He tells them.

"Well, where's all this witch nonsense coming from then?" She asks with an awkward laugh.

"For some reason, Hermione's told David that she's a witch and Draco's a wizard and they're married," Chris explains, eyes wide as if trying to convey a secret message to his wife.

Sarah's eyes flitter between her husband and her brother before landing cautiously on her husband's.

"Why would she tell him?" Sarah tries to whisper to Chris but David's only stood a foot or so away from them.

"Because she thinks Sophie's a witch." He states, earning him two shocked expressions.

"Sophie's a witch," Sarah mutters.

"According to Hermione." He nods but then he remembers the way Sophie was looking at him when the glass of milk exploded all over the table. "Oh God!" He mutters as the realisation hits him and he lowers himself to the ground before he collapses. "It's real, isn't it? All of it is real. Sophie's a witch. What am I going to do?" He cries into his hands.

He feels a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's all going to fine, David. I promise you that. We've been through it with Hermione so we'll help you and Hermione will be there to help Sophie through it all. Is Hermione still with Sophie now?" She asks.

"I hope so, I just left." He mumbles through his hands.

"I'll call your house and make sure they're alright," Chris announces, heading into their living room.

Sarah takes a seat on her doorstep, still rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. "I can't believe Sophie's a witch too." She chuckles. "From what Hermione's told us, it's very rare for two Muggleborns who aren't siblings to be born to the same bloodline."

David sighs in annoyance. "What's a Muggleborn?" He can already tell that asking for magic clarification is going to becoming commonplace in his life from now on.

"A magic person born to two non-magic parents." She explains.

"She's not a Muggleborn then." He admits, having almost forgotten that Hermione told him that Sophie's mother's also a witch. "Her mother's a witch."

"Gwen!" Sarah gasps as David represses the urge to snarl at her name. "How do you know?" She asks.

"Hermione said she's a famous sports person. I can't believe they have sports." He chuckles, feeling defeated all of a sudden.

"That'll be Quidditch. They fly around on broomsticks with balls. It's how Draco got that wound on his forehead." She explains.

Chris opens the front door and steps out into the cool night air to join his wife on the doorstep.

"Hermione said Sophie's in bed asleep but she was upset when she saw you leave. She said she'll look after Sophie until you get home and find somewhere else to spend the night unless you want to talk to her or ask her anything." Chris tells them.

David nods. He should go home. He needs to reassure Sophie that he didn't run away from her. He just needed time to think it all through. He still needs time to think it all through. He doesn't want to kick Hermione out either but if he goes home, she'll want to talk to him about everything and he doesn't think he's ready yet. He's not ready to go home. If Sophie's asleep then he can wait until morning. He can go somewhere and just think until morning. He quickly rubs his face dry from his tears and stands up abruptly.

"I need to go." He announces heading down their short garden path.

"David!" Sarah calls after him, making him stop and turns around to face her. "It's all going to be fine. Trust me. Being a part of the magical world, even as muggles, is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us." His sister smiles at him which he forcefully returns before heading towards his car.

He starts his car and drives half an hour into London city centre, trying to find a carpark where he can leave his car for a few hours. He ends up find parking his car in the carpark of a pub and then decides that he might as well have a few drinks there as he sorts through everything he's learnt in the past couple of hours. He takes the twenty-pound note from the glove compartment that he keeps there for emergencies, then heads into the pub.

He orders a Coca-Cola then finds himself a secluded booth at the back of the bar where he can sit and think. His thoughts aren't any clear after an hour and another bottle of coke later so he decides to hell with not drinking on a school night and orders a pint of whatever's on tap. Over the hours, as the alcohol dulls his mind and his thoughts become less coherent, he understands more and starts to truly believe in everything.

At some point during the early morning hours, he stops returning to his booth and just sits on the bar stool at the end of the bar, muttering nonsense to himself and anyone else who cares to listen, which at five o'clock in the morning, is nobody. Not even the bartender is interested as he yawns deeply whilst drying glass after glass and piling them under the bar.

Just before Big Ben rings out six times for six o'clock, the pub door opens for the first time in a couple of hours and a man in his early twenties enters, shrugging out of his coat.

"How's the early shift treated you, Andy?" He asks as he makes his way behind the bar.

"Never again, Mike. I don't know how Joey puts up with it. I'm shattered and the punters are all alcoholics or crazies." He yawns, throwing the towel on the bar.

"What's this one?" Mike nods towards David sat staring at them both.

"Definitely a crazy. He's been here since half one this morning and has just started wittering on about his daughter who's a witch." He chuckles and Mike laughs alone. "Anyway, I'm out of here. I need to get myself some beauty sleep." He jokes as he grabs his own jacket.

"Maybe set the alarm clock a little longer this time." Mike jokes as he grabs an apron and wraps ties it around himself.

Andy laughs as he leaves the pub, letting the door swing shut behind him.

"Right mate, what's your name?" Mike glances at him as he washes his hands in a sink behind the bar.

"David." He mutters, staring down at his half empty pint.

"What do you want for breakfast, David?" He asks, drying his hands on his apron. "Full English?" He offers.

"I have £2." He states, rummaging around in his pocket and slamming two-pound coins on the bar.

Mike slides the coins towards him and places them in the till. "That'll pay for the coffee. Breakfast is on the house." He tells him, heading through a door behind the bar into what David assumes is the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, David's finished the rest of his pint and Mike returns with two plates of full English breakfasts, setting them both on the bar. Mike hands David his cutlery as he makes them both a fancy cup of coffee from the machine on the back wall behind the bar.

"So is your daughter in a play or something?" Mike asks him.

David looks at him suspiciously, wondering how he knew his daughter had been in a school play.

"Yeah, she was Nala." He tells him, eating some bacon.

"The Lion King?" He frowns. "I thought you said she was a witch."

"Oh," He realises what's happening but isn't sure if he should be telling anyone about magic. It's been kept a secret for God knows how many years. "Maybe I was just making it up." He shrugs, digging back into his breakfast.

Mike laughs, shaking his head. "What's your wife going to say when you get home?" He asks.

"I'm not married." He tells him. "Never have been."

"What about your girlfriend then?" He asks.

David frowns at him. "I don't have one."

"What about your daughter's mother?" Mike asks.

"Oh, she's a witch too. She left us years ago." He shrugs.

Mike laughs at him. "Are you making that up as well? Or are you insulting her because I have a few exes that are witches too."

"Calling her a witch is near the bottom of the list of words I'd like to call her," David admits, stabbing a sausage with his fork.

"How old is this daughter of yours then?" He asks.

"She's nearly seven." He smiles proudly.

"Who's looking after her?" Mike questions him sounding worried.

"My niece. She's nearly twenty." He explains. "I should be getting home soon." He admits but doesn't make a move to stand.

"I hope you're not planning on driving home." Mike stares at him pointedly.

"How else would I get home? I gave you my last £2 and it'll take me two hours to walk home." He tells him.

"I don't care. Give me your keys." He holds his hand out.

"I left them at home." He admits.

"How'd you drive her then?" Mike raises a questioning eyebrow, not believing him.

"I hotwired the car. I couldn't go back in the house to get them. I had to get away quick." He explained.

Mike's hand drops back down to his side. "Right," he sighs, going over to the till and taking a pound out. He gives it to David "Here, that'll get you the bus home. You can come back for the car. I'll keep an eye on it. Is it the silver one?" He turns a computer monitor around to show him the security video of the carpark.

"Yeah, that one." He points at his car.

"I'd recommend you staying here for at least another hour to sober up a bit more. I don't think they'll let you on the bus in your state." He smiles, taking their empty plates away to the kitchen. "Do you want a coffee refill?" He asks as he returns. "It'll sober you up quicker."

"Alright." David nods just as Big Ben rings on the half past. "Is that half six?" He questions.

"Yeah, why? You got somewhere to be?"

"I'm supposed to be at work in half an hour but that isn't going to happen." He sighs. He only has two lessons today. They'll sort something out.

"Where'd you work?" Mike asks, placing the refilled coffee cup in front of him.

"St Gordon's. I'm a history teacher." He answers.

"Woah, a teacher! You're not really setting a good example for them are you?"

"I can't find it within myself to care right now. I've got worse things on my mind." He mutters.

As the alcohol leaves his system and the coffee wakes up his mind, he's reminded of how easier it was to believe everything once drunk because right now, he's starting to doubt it again.

"Do you believe in magic, Mike?" He asks suddenly, making him pause in his wiping down of the bar.

"Like card tricks and sawing girls in half?" He questions.

"No, like turning one thing into another thing or waving a wand and fixing a broken glass."

"It's all sleight of hand, isn't it? Whilst you're focused on the wand waving, they're doing something else with their other hand that you don't notice." Mike explains.

David sighs to himself. That wasn't exactly what he meant. He sits up straight and sips his coffee. He's a historian. He needs to think about the facts.

He knows his daughter exploded a glass of milk. He watched as his niece fixed it with her wand. He watched as she made the dishes wash themselves.

Those are all things he knows. Things he witnessed himself.

Apparently, Sophie also turned a chocolate m&m into a ladybird. She made a cup fall from the top cupboard. Also, thinking back to a few months ago. Sophie had been convinced she'd put a hole in her wall after falling off her bed but it had disappeared the next morning. He'd told her it was a dream but now he wasn't so sure.

Those are all things he suspects. Things Sophie witnessed and told him about. A child isn't the most believable source but he knows his daughter and she rarely lies to him. She lies so little that when these strange things started happening, he thought she was going through a lying phase.

He also knows that a few hundred years ago, people did believe in witches and wizards and magic but then they stopped. The Catholic Church deemed magic impossible and of course, due to the religious belief of the majority of Europeans, they followed the churches belief. Who's to say that witches and wizards didn't have a say in that. Convinced the pope that magic is impossible to keep their world a secret and stop the persecution of their people. He doesn't know the extent to their magical abilities. There could be a spell to convince people to do their bidding. If so, what's stopped them from taking over the world? David can't deny that if witches and wizards are real, which he is starting to believe they are, that they would be a far more powerful race and it wouldn't take much for them to overtake the world if they so wish. What could non-magical people, or muggles as they apparently called them, do to stop them?

He remembers how Hermione had taken his voice away when she needed answers about Sophie's mother. His hand instinctively covers his throat, not that it would do any good if his niece were to take his voice away again. He wouldn't be able to do anything to stop her. None of the non-magical people would be able to do anything to stop them.

David shakes his head. Just because they're the far superior race and so much more powerful than muggles, doesn't mean they would use their magic for evil. Besides that one wizard Hermione had mentioned but she told him he was dead and his army were either dead as well or in prison.

He thinks about Hermione. She's always had magic and yet she's one of the most loving and caring people he knows. She's always willing to help other people with anything they ask. If anything, she's become a kinder and more understanding person since she went off to her magical boarding school.

He thinks about Sophie. She's always had magic too and according to Hermione, she's showing accidental magic which is something magical children do when they are angry, scared and confused. He can't even begin to understand how confused and scared she's been the past couple of months that she's been acting strangely. She's been angry at him too for not believing her but how was he supposed to believe her when logically speaking, magic didn't exist. Before all this happened, she was a cheerful child. Always happy. He hopes with this new understanding, she'll be able to go back to her old self.

He thinks about Gwen. She was twenty-three when he met her during the summer of 1991. She was a free spirit and very carefree. She was so beautiful, always in a rush to get nowhere, in particular, just loving the feeling of the wind in her hair as she ran through life. He thought himself so lucky that such a young, amazing woman would want to be with an old, history teacher. Then again, she never made him feel old. She made him feel as though anything was possible. Now, he supposes anything is possible and for the first time since she left him and Sophie alone all those years ago, he misses her.

He frowns at himself. No, he doesn't miss her. He misses the times he spent with her. He misses having that constant feeling of love surrounding him. He misses how spontaneous life felt back then but he doesn't miss her.

"Are you alright there, David?" Mike interrupts his thoughts. "You've been sat staring into space for about half an hour. I didn't want to interrupt you but you mentioned that you were supposed to be at work now. Do you want to call them and tell them you'll be late?" He offers the pubs phone to him.

"No, I've only got two classes today. They'll figure something out." He shrugs, sliding off the bar stool that he had been sitting on for the past three hours. "I should get going though, I'll come get the car later."

"I'm here until midday but I'll tell Kelly to keep an eye on your car if you come for it after twelve," Mike tells him.

David thanks him for breakfast and the coffees before stepping out onto the street. The early morning sun shines brightly in the sky, blinding him for a few seconds as his eyes adjust to the brightness. It takes him forty minutes to walk to his bus stop near St James's Park where he has to wait twenty minutes for a bus that will take another forty minutes to get him home. He sighs deeply as he sits down at the bus stop. By the time he gets home, Hermione will have already taken Sophie to school and he doesn't feel like sitting at home by himself until he needs to pick Sophie up at half past three.

Across the road, a London tour bus pulls up. Without much thought, David jumps up and weaves his way through the early morning traffic towards the bus. He climbs on through the back doors and sneaks upstairs to the top deck where he takes a seat at the front of the bus. He spends fifteen minutes staring at Westminster Abbey whilst the other passengers enter through the front door, flashing their tickets to the driver before finding a seat.

At St. Paul's Cathedral, ninety minutes later, a woman with three children ask if he would mind moving so her children can look out of the window whilst they travel to the London Eye. David gladly obliges, moving to the very back of the bus where he leans against the window, staring out over the River Thames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> What did you think of the change of POV?
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	54. Chapter 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 54.
> 
> The POV change last episode seemed to go down pretty well so I decided to give you another little POV change for half this chapter.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

Blaise sits at the top of the staircase after watching a teary Hermione pull on her shoes and leave her house. He'd knocked on the bathroom door and tried to talk to Draco but after five minutes of no answer, he assumes his friend has either cast a privacy charm or is just ignoring him. Athena had joined him after half an hour and she must be able to sense the emotions in the atmosphere as she won't settle. She keeps flying around then landing on Blaise's shoulder or head before flying around again and chirping nervously.

About an hour after Draco has locked himself in the bathroom, he exits looking exhausted. Blaise scrambles to his feet and Athena flutters over to Draco, nuzzling against his cheek.

"Draco, are you alright?" Blaise asks.

"I'm fine." He mutters, stroking Athena's head absentmindedly. "Where's Hermione?" He asks, walking towards the stairs.

Blaise steps back to let him pass. "She left." He tells him.

Draco pauses in his step, turning to face Blaise with fear in his eyes. "She left!" He repeats.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to give you space so she packed a bag and said she's going to her parents for the night," Blaise explains.

Draco rushes down the stairs, grabbing his jacket from the coat hook. Blaise follows him quickly, pulling his jacket out of his hands.

"Where are you going?" He asks, quirking an eyebrow.

"To Hermione." He frowns at him. "I need to apologise before she leaves me." He tries to tug his jacket back but Blaise keeps tight hold of it.

"Okay, that's a stupid idea." He chuckles, earning him a glare fromhis best friend. "First of all, we're very drunk so we shouldn't be apparating anywhere. Second of all, we're very drunk so you shouldn't be showing up to her parent's house and embarrassing yourself. Finally, third of all, she said she'll be back tomorrow so we should stay here, sober up and figure out how you're going to apologise to her." Blaise tells him, placing his jacket back on the coat hook, then guiding him into the living room.

Draco drops himself onto the couch. Blaise kicks his foot.

"Stop looking sorry for yourself. We're going to drink lots of coffee and lots of water so we can think clearly." He tells him, heading into the kitchen to make the coffees and pour two glasses of water.

When he returns, Draco's still lounging on the couch but now he's looking absentmindedly at Athena, who's perched on his chest, chirping at him.

"Here Draco, drink up." He orders his friend as he settles down next to him on the couch. "Where should we start?" He asks.

"I don't know." He shrugs.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Blaise suggests.

Draco sighs deeply as he sits up and turns to face his friend, leaning back on the arm of the couch as he takes a large drink of his coffee.

"I told her about Hyperion." He starts. "She suggested I visit Lucius and ask him if he knows anything about his brother." He continues.

"I suggested the same thing." Blaise reminds him.

"Yeah, but you didn't push the issue. Hermione wouldn't let it go. I told her how controlling he is, how I never want to see him again, especially not in Azkaban. Not after how deranged Bellatrix was when she escaped. She tried to make me feel guilty because he might be the only way to find Hyperion and I won't even entertain the thought of visiting him but I just can't." He admits, starting to get riled up again.

"Alright, calm down. She knows now that you never want to visit him. Hopefully, she won't bring it up again." Blaise points out.

Draco nods, not really listening to him. Blaise sighs, placing his coffee cup on the coffee table and walks over to the record player, browsing through the small collection of records they have. He pauses a gold one, pulling it out from the pile.

"Elvis, 30 number one hits." He shrugs his shoulders as he removes the record from the album and places it on the record player. He returns to the couch as the first song starts playing.

'Are you lonesome tonight,

do you miss me tonight?

Are you sorry we drifted apart?..'

Draco glares up at him. "Are you serious? Put a different song on." He tells him.

Blaise stops himself from laughing as he moves the record needle along to the next song. He waits to hear the song before sitting down in case he needs to change it again.

'Can't you see

I love you

Please don't break my heart in two…'

"Who is this?" Draco asks glaring at the record player.

"Someone called Elvis." Blaise laughs as he moves the needle up again. "I don't know who he is."

'When we kiss my heart's…'

He doesn't even wait for the first line to end before he changes the song.

"Just sit down, Blaise. I don't care." Draco tells him so he returns to the couch.

The song starts playing and this Elvis man sings about his friend who's fallen in love with a girl called Marie. He casts his eyes to his friend who doesn't seem to be listening to record anyway, so he picks up his coffee cup and leans back into the couch, closing his eyes to listen to Elvis and his love songs.

'Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you…'

Blaise glances over at Draco who's now frowning but he's still staring at the wall, seemingly lost in thought so he leaves him be, relaxing back into the couch and finishing his cup of coffee.

"Oh, Merlin," Draco mumbles, suddenly sitting straight up.

"What?" Blaise asks, glancing around the living room. "What is it?"

"I'm in love with Hermione." He mutters.

Blaise laughs as he sits up. "I told you, didn't I?"

"How did I let this happen? How did you let this happen to me? I'm in love with Hermione Granger. Oh, Merlin. What if she never loves me back?" He asks, starting to panic.

"Hey Draco, She already does, she just doesn't know it yet." He reassures him.

"No, she doesn't." Draco shakes his head. "Why would she love me? I made her life a misery at school."

Blaise sighs, sick of having this conversation with his best friend. "Draco, I'm only going to tell you this once. You've changed. I know it. Hermione knows it and I know you know it otherwise you wouldn't be so scared of visiting your father." He stares Draco straight in the eye to make sure he understands that he's being serious.

"I'm not scared of visiting Lucius." He states.

Blaise rolls his eyes. "Of course you are. You're scared he's going to get a hold of you again and everything you've worked on changing with disappear. You're scared that his time in Azkaban has changed him and despite everything, you don't want to see him like that because you're scared you'll start feeling sorry for him and do something stupid like try to decrease his sentence. It's alright to be scared, Draco. Isn't that why you testified against him in the first place?" Blaise questions him.

Draco sighs. "You're right." He admits.

"I usually am." He smirks.

"Don't push it." Draco jokingly warns him.

"Now, let's get back to a preferable topic of conversation. You love Hermione Granger.

"I love Hermione Granger." He nods with a small smile breaking through his face.

"And Hermione loves you too," Blaise adds.

"Hermione might love me." Draco corrects.

"Remember, I'm usually right and I say that she loves you too." Blaise states.

"How do you know then?" Draco asks, still doubtful.

"I can just tell. I can see it on her face. When she was crying before she left because she was scared she had pushed you too far and you were angry with her. Just ask her when she comes back tomorrow." Blaise suggests.

"I'm not going to ask her if she loves. What if she says no?" He points out.

"Well you're going to tell her, aren't you?" He asks.

"Of course not. I'm not telling her anything until I know for sure that she loves me back." He states.

"Well, that's stupid. Are you at least going to show her you love her?" He asks.

"How exactly do I do that?"

"I don't know. Cook her dinner or buy her a book." Blaise shrugs.

"I already do that."

"Aww, how cute!" Blaise reaches over to squeeze his cheek but Draco slaps his hand away. "Give her some apples like you used to do at Hogwarts." He raises a knowing eyebrow.

Draco blushes. "How do you know about that?"

"You started taking two apples from breakfast and I saw you leave one on her desk once when she went to the other side of the library." Blaise smiles.

"Well, she didn't know it was me and there's no point telling her now. She'll think it's weird." He shakes his head.

"She'll think it's cute." Blaise laughs.

"Shut up." Draco shoves him. "What time is it?" He asks as he yawns.

Blaise checks his watch. "Nearly nine o'clock, why?"

"I've got to get up early tomorrow. I've got Rabastan's trial tomorrow but I need to take a file back to the record archives first and I don't want to be too tired." He explains. "I'm going to go up to be. Are you going home?" He adds.

"No, Hermione asked me to stay here with you and not to leave you alone." He tells him. "See, she loves you. She didn't want you to be alone when you're angry and upset." He smiles at him.

"Well, I'm not angry or upset anymore so I think I'll be fine alone," Draco tells him.

"Nope, I promised Hermione and I'm not having an angry Hermione after me because I broke it." He shakes his head.

"Fine, but you can sleep on the couch," Draco tells him.

Blaise's face falls dramatically. "Just because you got married, I'm moved to the couch during our sleepovers. That's fine. I'll sleep on this lumpy couch, get a crook in my neck. Do you at least have a spare blanket for me?" He asks, bottom lip wobbling slightly.

Draco rolls his eyes. "For Merlin's sake, Blaise. Get up the stairs."

Blaise laughs as he runs up the stairs, throwing himself on Draco and Hermione's bed.

"Is your side still the right?" Blaise calls downstairs where Draco is turning off the record player.

"No, but there's no way you're sleeping on Hermione's side. You can have the left." Draco shouts back up.

"Okay." He calls back, getting undressed down to his underwear then climbing under the bed covers on the left.

When Draco comes up the stairs, he heads into the bathroom to brush his teeth, making Blaise laugh.

"What?" Draco asks with his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Hermione's got you muggle trained." He chuckles.

"Because I prefer to brush my teeth the muggle way?" He scoffs. "It leaves a cleaner feel than magic." He comments and Blaise burst out laughing. "Oh shut up." He mutters as he carries on brushing his teeth.

"What else does Hermione make you do the muggle way?" Blaise asks once his friend had gotten undressed and climbed onto his wife's side of the bed.

"Hermione doesn't make me do anything." Draco states.

"But..?" Blaise prompts him.

"But I do have to do the washing up the muggle way." He admits with a sigh. "It's such a waste of time." He adds.

Blaise chuckles, shaking his head. "What time are you getting up tomorrow?" He asks.

"Around seven o'clock. I want to be at the ministry for eight so I have time to get to the archives before the trial starts at nine o'clock." He explains.

"Alright, I'll leave with you and head home." He tells him.

Blaise and Draco continue to chat about nothing in particular for a couple more hours before they both become too tired and fall asleep.

Hermione stays with Sophie long after her cousin has fallen asleep, still comfortingly stroking her hair. She closes her own eyes, resting her head against the headboard as she thinks. It's easy enough to blame everything that's gone bad in her life the past couple of weeks on Minister Kingsley. If it hadn't been for his marriage decree, Draco would never have discovered that one of her cousins was a witch, Draco would never have found out that Gwenog Jones was Sophie's mother, she wouldn't be feeling so guilty about visiting Lucius behind her husband's back.

She sighs deeply, opening her eyes and glancing down at her softly snoring cousin. She looks to be in a deep enough sleep to risk moving. She gently removes her arm and slowly slides off the bed, sitting on the floor quietly for a few seconds as Sophie turns over. Once she's certain Sophie is not going to wake up, she leaves her bedroom, softly closing the door behind her.

Not wanting to go to bed in case David returns and wants to talk or ask more questions, she goes downstairs and makes herself a cup of coffee to keep her awake then puts the television on. The news at ten is on BBC1 but she doesn't pay attention as her mind wanders.

She wouldn't blame Minister Kingsley for everything though, because if it hadn't been for his marriage decree, she wouldn't have gotten to know the real Draco Malfoy and who knows what their life would be like. She and Ron would probably still be dancing around each other wondering if they were a couple or not. Draco had already told her how he would focus on a career in potions since nobody would have wanted him romantically since he was hated by both sides of the war. Although, by the way Narcissa was talking, she doubts his mother would have let him not bear her and Lucius an heir to the Malfoy name.

Narcissa's threat to her echoes around her head.  _'_ _I'll personally make sure that my son has nothing more to do with you or your half-blooded spawn.'_ There is no doubt in her mind that Draco will do everything in his power to protect her and their child when they have one but what worries her is that she doesn't know how powerful her mother-in-law is and she's not sure if Draco knows either. Whilst being wife and mother of Death Eaters, she infamously never took the dark mark herself but she was present at all the meetings and she was born into one of the most powerful pureblooded wizarding families. Hermione's sure that when Narcissa sets her mind to something, she follows through with it and if her mind is set on hurting her or her child then she doesn't want her or Draco to underestimate her because she wouldn't be surprised if she is capable of far more than she's let on.

Hermione wakes up, after falling asleep on the couch, to David's house phone ringing. She finds it buried behind a cushion on one of the armchairs and presses the green answer button.

"Hello?" She asks sleepily, checking the time on the television.

"Hi Hermione, it's Dad." He states.

"Why are you calling at quarter to one in the morning?" She questions him with a yawn.

"David's just shown up at our door talking about how his niece and daughter are witches. You know anything about that?" He asks and she can hear the smile on his face.

"I had to tell him, Dad, Sophie was starting to show accidental magic. Was I supposed to wait for a Ministry Official to show up on her eleventh birthday and explain everything? You know how well that turned out for you and Mum." She explains herself.

"You did the right thing." He reassures her and she sighs in relief. "How's Sophie taking it? I assume you told her too." He asks.

"I told her a few days ago once we were sure she is a witch. She already had an idea but she thought she was going crazy. She's been reading too many books on the witch trials. She thought David would stop loving her if he found out. She was really upset when she saw him leave. She thinks he's left her but I told her he just needs time to get his head around everything." She explains.

"Your Mum's talking to him now, trying to convince him to go home." He adds.

"Tell him that Sophie's in bed asleep and I'll stay and look after her until he gets back. If he wants to, I'll find somewhere else to sleep tonight unless he wants to talk or ask me anything." She tells her Dad.

"Alrighty then." He pauses and she thinks he's hung up but he starts laughing. "I can't believe we have two witches in the family. I thought you said Muggleborns were rare?" He mentions.

"Sophie's not a Muggleborn. Gwen, her mother, is a witch. She's quite a famous Quidditch player actually." She explains.

"Really? Wow, do you know her?" He asks in amazement.

"Not really, I've been talking to her recently to find out why she abandoned her family and she wants me to talk to David about her meeting Sophie." She tells him.

"I don't think he'll like that." Her Dad laughs.

"It's another reason why I had to tell David. If he knows about the wizarding world, he might be able to understand why she had to leave." She says.

"Was it a good reason?" He asks.

Hermione thinks for a moment.

"Hermione?" Her Dad asks.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Just thinking. Some Death Eaters threatened her, David and Sophie. They told her if she left them and did something for them, they would protect her family from the upcoming war so she left." Hermione answers.

"I thought the war didn't start until 1994, she left in 1992." He mentions.

"The Death Eaters were under the impression that their leader would be returning at some in the future and didn't want to been seen as sitting around doing nothing when he did return." She tells him.

"Makes sense." Her Dad sighs. "I better go and tell David that you'll stay with Sophie. Will we see you tomorrow still?" He asks.

"Probably, I'll let you know." She says before they both hand up.

Knowing that David's safe with her parents and will probably on his way home soon, she turns the television off and carries her cup of untouched coffee into the kitchen where she sets it off washing itself.

The house phone rings again five minutes later and she assumes it's her dad.

"Hello?" She answers.

"It's me again, Hermione." Her Dad states. "David's just left. It sounded like he's going home. Your Mum told me to call you again to let you know." He tells her.

"Okay, thanks. Sorry, I've caused all this commotion. You're going to be tired for work in the morning." She apologises.

"Don't worry yourself about it. It's only a half day tomorrow, we'll catch up on some sleep tomorrow night." He tells her. "Although I do want  _some_  sleep tonight so I better go. Bye." He adds.

"Goodnight, Dad." She tells him then hangs up again.

Hermione puts the kettle back on, hoping that when David returns, he'll want to sit down and talk more about the wizarding world and what this all means for Sophie. She sits down at the kitchen table, waiting for him to return. It only takes ten minutes to drive from her parents' house to David's so when she's still sat at the kitchen table with the kettle boiling for the third time twenty minutes later, she starts to worry. She stands up and checks the driveway for the fourth time but there's still no car sat in the driveway. She checks the clock in the kitchen. There aren't many places he could have gone at half one in the morning.

She doesn't want to call her parents back up when they have to be up early to take Lauren and Craig to school before they go to work but she doesn't know who else to call. She can't call her grandparents, they aren't too happy with David at the moment after he called social services and she can't exactly tell them why he ran off so late at night.

She decides to wait a little while longer before making a decision on calling her parents. For all she knows, he's parked just up the street trying to convince himself to go home and face her. He's probably still scared. She saw his face when she fixed Sophie's glass of milk. She saw the fear in his eyes.

When David still hasn't returned by two o'clock, she unlocks the front door, making sure to lock it with a flick of her wand behind her, then walks to the end of the drive, glancing up and down the street for David's silver car but she doesn't see it. She reluctantly decides it's time to call her parent's again.

"I hope that's you Hermione or I'm going to be really annoyed." Her Dad grumbles tiredly down the phone.

"Yeah, it's me, Dad. David hasn't come back yet and I'm really starting to worry. What did he say when he left your house?" She asks him urgently.

"I don't know," He mutters. "Something about needing to go. I assumed he meant home." He adds after thinking.

"What if he meant go as in going away? Away from me, Sophie and all the magic." She asks, starting to panic that her uncle has abandoned his daughter. "What if he's left her for good?" She questions as she starts to pace up and down the hallway.

"Hermione," Her Dad sighs on the other end of the phone. "David loves Sophie more than anything else in the world. He wouldn't have abandoned her. Especially after everything he went through after Gwen left." He tries to reassure her.

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" She asks.

"He's probably just driving around the block thinking." He yawns.

"I have a bad feeling about this Dad. He's just witnessed magic for the first time. It's enough to trigger a person's fight or flight response and he left. He was terrified." She explains.

"Is there nothing you can do to track him down?" Her dad asks her.

"I'm not a sniffer dog, Dad."

Her Dad chuckles. "There must be some magic you can do to find him."

"There's a spell called 'Point Me' which turns my wand into a compass pointing towards what I need to find but there's nothing to tell me how far away it is. David could be a few meters away or literally miles away, there would be no way of knowing and that's before you take into account the fact that people move around a lot. It takes our Aurors weeks and months to track people down and there's a whole team of them doing it." She explains,

"Alright, alright, Hermione," He stops her before she can carry on explaining.

"The best thing you can do right now is waiting until morning, take Sophie to school and stay at his house and hope he comes home." He tells her and she knows he's shrugging on the other end of the phone.

"That's your grand idea, Dad." She scoffs, annoyed that he isn't more concerned by David's disappearance. "And what if he doesn't come home. What am I supposed to do then?" She asks.

"Look, Hermione, I'm shattered, I can't think straight. He'll probably be home tomorrow morning before Sophie even wakes up. Set some of those wards around the house so you know if he returns during the night and tries to get some sleep." He suggests.

Hermione frowns at her father even though he can't see her face.

"I know you're angry or annoyed with me but David's a fifty-five-year-old man. I'm sure he can take care of himself. You just need to concentrate on looking after yourself and Sophie for the night. Take Sophie to school in the morning then do whatever you want. I think your Grandma usually picks her up on a Friday and I'm sure if David doesn't show up to pick her up after work she'll just sleep there. They've got a spare bed now." He tells her. "Now I really must be getting to bed. Try not to worry, try to get some sleep and please, don't call back until at least half six." He adds then hangs up without saying goodbye.

Hermione hangs up the phone then sits down at the bottom of the stairs. Maybe she is over thinking things. David is an adult. A fifty-five-year-old man who just found out something that's most likely forcing him to think about the world as he knows it. He's probably parked his car up in a carpark somewhere and is sat thinking about everything. He probably didn't want to do it with Sophie and herself around watching and constantly wondering what he's thinking. She smiles to herself. David will be fine.

She makes sure the back door and the front door is locked before casting a few human detection wards and heading upstairs to the spare bedroom where she climbs under the covers and falls into a shallow sleep.

Around quarter past six in the morning, an alarm rings sharply throughout the whole house signalling that a human has entered onto the grounds of David's property. Hermione jumps out of bed and runs towards the stairs.

"What's that noise?" Sophie asks, peering nervously from behind her bedroom door.

"I set a spell to tell me when somebody comes down the drive of your house," Hermione explains as she runs down the stairs.

"Is it my dad?" She asks, following her down the stairs but stopping halfway.

"I hope so," Hermione mutters, tapping the door with her wand to unlock it then throwing it open.

There's no one there. Suspiciously, Hermione grips her wand and steps outside, glancing around the driveway and towards the bushes at the side of the house. She takes a step towards the path towards their garden and knocks something over. Looking down at her feet, she finds two glass bottle of milk and sighs in relief.

"It was just the milkman," Hermione calls into the house as she picks them up.

She passes them to Sophie who takes them into the kitchen whilst Hermione locks the front door again. She makes herself a cup of tea and Sophie a hot chocolate.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Hermione asks her cousin as she places the drinks on the kitchen table.

"I'm not hungry." She shakes her head, staring down at the mug of hot chocolate in front of her. "Is my dad coming home?" She asks, her voice a soft whisper.

"Of course he is, he just needs time to think. He'll probably come pick you up from Grandma's tonight after he's finished work." Hermione tries to reassure her the same way her father did to her.

"I don't want to go to Grandma's. I want to stay with you." She looks up at her, eyes watering.

"You can't stay with me, you have to go to school." She reminds her.

"Please don't make me go to school. I won't be able to concentrate." She pleads.

It might help to keep her off school for the day. She won't be herself at school with everything that happened last night and the teachers might ask too many questions that Sophie won't know how to answer to avoid suspicion and Hermione's already got enough on her plate at the moment with David. It would be easier to keep her at home.

Although, she was going to go home and explain everything to Draco. Hopefully, he'll be able to reassure her. She can't leave Sophie home alone all day, her parents are at work for most of the day and her grandparents will ask too many questions. She's going to have to come with her to the estate and she'll figure something out there.

"Okay, you don't have to go to school but I need to go home to Draco and tell him what happened last night so you'll have to come with me." She explains.

"Where do you live?" Sophie's eyes widened excitedly.

"I'm not actually sure. We live on a large estate with lots of other witches and wizards. We have to disapparate there which is a bit like teleporting from one place to another in a second." Hermione tells her, seeing the flaw in her plan. "It feels very weird the first time you do it and it might make you feel sick or dizzy but that's normal." She reassures her.

"Can we go now?" She asks, jiggling around in her seat.

"Not yet, we have to wait until at least eight o'clock so I can call your school's office and tell them you're too sick to go to school. Then we'll go." She reminds her.

"Okay," She sighs. "What time is it now?" She asks, drinking her hot chocolate and getting whipped cream on her nose.

"It's just gone half past six." Hermione chuckles, wiping the cream off her nose.

Sophie groans. "Eight o'clock is ages away."

"Do you want some breakfast to pass the time?" She asks, wanting Sophie to eat something.

"Okay, can I have toast and chocolate spread?" She asks.

"Do you usually have chocolate spread on a school day?" Hermione asks her, looking at her cousin suspiciously.

"No, but I'm not going to school today so it's not a school day." She reminds her.

Hermione can't help but laugh at Sophie's logic. "Fine, toast and chocolate spread coming straight up."

"Can you do it with magic?" She asks hopefully.

"Come here then." She beckons her over to the counter where she lifts her up and sits her down. "Now, watch carefully."

Hermione takes out her wand, pointing it at the bread bin. The lids slowly lifts itself off and out comes the loaf of bread. She makes it fly around the room, much to Sophie's amusement before setting it down on the chopping board. With a flick of her wand, two slices fly out and start dancing across the countertop before jumping over Sophie and landing in the toaster. Her cousin giggles, clapping her hands excitedly. Hermione sends the loaf of bread back to the bread bin then silently summons the chocolate spread from its cupboard and a knife from the draw whilst they wait for the toast to pop up. Sophie leans forward, watching carefully as the knife dips itself in the chocolate spread jar then spreads itself across the two slices of toast. Once it's done, it throws itself into the sink with a splash. With a final flick of her wand, a plate flies out of a cupboard and the two slices of toast jump onto it before slowly levitating onto the kitchen table. Hermione lifts her cousin down off the counter, placing her back on her chair at the kitchen table.

"What do you think?" She asks as Sophie takes a bite.

"That was so cool. It tastes better with magic." She says. "When will I learn to do things like that?" She asks with a mouthful of chocolatey toast.

"Not until you go to Hogwarts, our school."

"Tell me about Hogwarts."

Hermione smiles, knowing the excitement first hand of wanting to learn as much as possible about the magical school.

"Okay, are you listening?" Hermione asks, leaning closer, trying to make it sound mysterious.

Sophie's eyes widen. "Yes, I'm listening." Her hand stop halfway to her mouth.

"Well, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the wizarding school for all magical children from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the tenth century, around the year 990, two wizards and two witches founded the school in the Highlands of Scotland surrounded by mountains and a beautiful loch. The four founders were called Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. From them, we get the four houses of Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. On your first night in the castle, a magical talking hat sorts you into one of the houses."

"What house are you in?" Sophie asks, her toast forgotten as she listens intently to Hermione.

"I was a Gryffindor and Draco was a Slytherin." She answers her questions.

"How does the hat know where to put you?" She wonders.

"It's based on who you are as a person. Gryffindors are brave, courageous, daring and chivalrous people. Hufflepuffs are dedicated, hardworking, patient, kind and most of all, loyal. Ravenclaws are usually thought to intelligent and they are but that's not all they are. They're creative, wise, accepting and they value individuality. Slytherin's value ambition, determination, self-preservation and cleverness." Hermione explains.

"Where do you think I'll be sorted?" She asks curiously.

"I don't know. You'll have to wait."

"I hope I'm that one that is intelligent and creative." She admits.

"A Ravenclaw." Hermione smiles. She would do well as a Ravenclaw but they'll have to wait and see.

"Do you want to know how you get to Hogwarts?" She asks.

"How?"

"By a train called the Hogwarts Express."

"A train," Sophie repeats sounding unimpressed.

"Yes, you catch it from platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross. To get onto the platform, you have to walk through a brick wall." She explains.

"A brick wall. What if it doesn't work?" She questions.

"That happened once to my friends Harry and Ron. They crashed into the wall and missed the train. They ended up driving a flying car to school. They got in a lot of trouble for that." Hermione smiles as she remembers. "That's the only time it's ever not worked, so you'll be fine. If you do miss the train though, don't worry. I'll apparate you to the castle. Now, you should finish your breakfast whilst I have a quick shower." Hermione stands up, moving her cup to the sink and setting it off to clean itself.

It takes Hermione a couple of minutes to figure out how David's shower works since there are five knobs and seven buttons but she does figure it out and enjoys a relaxing hot shower. When she climbs out fifteen minutes later, she charms herself dry and charms her clothes clean before pulling them back on. Her hair has never like being dried by magic and with the humidity of the bathroom, her hair is starting to frizz. She tries to charm it straight but after five attempts, the best she can get is wavy so she leaves it as it is.

She makes her way back downstairs to find Sophie sat on the couch dressed in a pair of jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a pair of black boots watching a children's TV show.

"Is it eight o'clock yet?" She asks when Hermione joins her on the couch.

She checks the time on the television. "Nearly, twenty more minutes." She answers.

They watch a cartoon together until it finishes at eight o'clock and Hermione gets up to call Sophie's school. However, just as she reaches for the phone, it starts ringing. She pauses confused for a moment before picking it up.

"Hello?" She asks curiously.

"Hi, is that David?" A cheerful woman on the other end asks.

"No, it's not." She answers wondering if she sounds like a fifty-five-year-old man.

"Is that Sophie then?" The woman asks, voice turning childish. "Can you put your Daddy on the phone?"

"I'm David's niece. He's not in at the moment." Hermione explains.

"Is he on his way to work?" She questions.

"I don't know. Who is this?" Hermione frowns.

"It's Jackie from St Gordon's. David was supposed to be at work an hour ago. He's got his tutor group in fifteen minutes and he hasn't signed in yet or called to say if he's running late or not coming in." Jackie explains.

"Right, well David had some upsetting news last night and he been missing all night so I don't know where he is or if he's going into work. Since he's not there right now, I'd assume that he isn't so you should probably organise a substitute." Hermione explains as vaguely as possible.

"It must have been pretty upsetting news. This is his first day off in thirty years. He didn't even miss a day when his daughter was born." She comments.

"It is, should I have David call you if he comes home?" Hermione asks.

"Yeah, you could do. Just so I can write an official explanation as to why he's not here." Jackie agrees.

"I'll tell him then, thanks. Bye." Hermione hangs up the phone.

"What did they say?" Sophie asks, appearing at the living room door.

"That was someone from St Gordon's. I'll call St Stephen's now." She says, picking up the phone again to call the number listed under Sophie's School in David's address book.

"Hello, Miss Roberts speaking from the front desk, how may I help you?" Miss Roberts answers the phone professionally.

"Hello, I'm calling about Sophie Adair in year two, I'm not sure which class, she's been throwing up all night so I'm going to keep her off and let her rest and hopefully she'll be better for Monday." Hermione makes up an explanation.

"Of course, it's best that she isn't here. Thanks for letting us know." Miss Roberts says then hangs up the phone.

"What did St Gordon's want?" Sophie asks, looking worried.

"Apparently your Dad hasn't shown up for work today." She tells her.

"Where is he?" She questions.

"I don't know, Sophie but he'll be fine." She answers.

"You don't know that. What if he's hurt?" Sophie asks, tearing up.

"When we get to my house, I'll ask Draco to go find him. There's a spell to help find people." Hermione explains, trying to reassure her. "Go pack a bag for the day and we'll leave." She tells her and Sophie runs up the stairs to her room and packs herself a bag.

Whilst she waits, Hermione makes sure all the dirty dishes are washed and that the house looks tidy before checking the back door is locked. When Sophie's stood at the door with her backpack on her back ready, they leave the house and Hermione locks the door behind her. She leads her cousin down the path at the side of her house.

"Remember what I said about disapparating. It can make you feel sick and dizzy but you'll be fine after a couple of minutes." She reminds her then takes tight hold of her hand and turns on the spot.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	55. Chapter 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 55.
> 
> I've got some exciting personal news. I got given that full-time job that I told some of you about on Instagram. I'm so excited but it doesn't start until September. On the downside, this means I'm not going to have much time to write, especially with university assignments, so I'm not sure what this is going to mean for this fan fiction. I will try my hardest to upload on the 1st, 11th and 21st of every month. As some of you know, I tend to take part in NaNoWriMo
> 
> On the downside, this means I'm not going to have much time to write, especially with university assignments, so I'm not sure what this is going to mean for this fan fiction. I will try my hardest to upload on the 1st, 11th and 21st of every month.
> 
> As some of you know, I tend to take part in NaNoWriMo in November, which I will still do but probably fail this year. As a result of me writing at least 1,667 words a day, I usually upload every five days in November which I might be unable to do this year. Also, in December, I usually upload the 24th, 25th, 26th and 31st to celebrate Christmas which I also may be unable to do.
> 
> Also, in December, I usually upload the 24th, 25th, 26th and 31st to celebrate Christmas, on top of the usual dates, which I also may be unable to do.
> 
> I'll keep you posted in my Author's Notes and on Instagram (bigdswisdom).
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

They apparate in front of the estate's gates. Sophie almost collapses as soon as her feet touch the ground but Hermione grabs hold of her, steadying her. She looks physically sick.

"I want to sit down," Sophie mutters stumbling towards the wall of the estate.

Hermione lowers her to the ground where her cousin sits, resting her head against the wall. She reaches into her pocket for an empty bottle which he fills with water before handing it over to Sophie and ordering her to drink. After a few minutes, the colour returns to her cheeks and she stands up, a lot steadier on her feet.

"Do we have to do that again?" She asks with a frown.

"We'll have to do it again to get back to your house. It does get easier each time you do it, though." Hermione mentions as they set off through the gates.

She watches as her cousin stares wide-eyed at everything they walk past, including a woman who Hermione doesn't recognise. She tells Sophie it's rude to stare at people but she can't blame her. She remembers her first trip to Diagon Alley. The first time she was surrounded by witches and wizards. It is exciting. Thankfully, they reach her house without seeing anyone else. Hermione unlocks the front door, letting Sophie enter first.

Sophie nervously follows Hermione into the living room where she's surprised to find the room tidy. She had expected to find all the dishes from the previous night still scattered over the coffee table. From her cage, Athena chirps excitedly at their arrival.

"Hello, Athena. How are you today? Did Draco feed you last night before he went to bed?" She asks and Athena chirps in reply. "Good, shall I let you out to stretch?" She asks, opening the cage for the owl to flutter around the living room.

She lands on Sophie's shoulder. Sophie giggles, stroking her gently.

"She's very cute." She mentions, earning a chirp of agreement from Athena.

Hermione grabs the owl food from the kitchen and passes it to Sophie.

"Can you feed her some for me whilst I wake Draco up?" She asks her cousin who sits on the couch with her new friend and feeds her a pellet.

Hermione climbs the stairs hoping Draco's not as angry with her as he was last night. She'll apologise and explain what happened with David. Hopefully, he'll agree to go search for him. Although, with a number of bottles she saw in the kitchen, he might need a hangover potion. She knocks on their bedroom door, announcing herself before slowly creaking the door open. However, she's confused to find their bed empty, although the bed covers and pillows are still ruffled up so the boys obviously spent the night here. She's not sure why they left the house so early. It's barely half past eight.

She makes her way back downstairs to where Sophie Is running around the living room giggling as Athena chases after her. When the owl lands on the top her head, Sophie laughs, feeding her the owl pellet.

"I'm teaching her to play chase." Sophie laughs when she spots Hermione standing in the doorway. "Where's Draco?" She asks, looking behind her.

"He's probably at his friend's house. We'll go around and see if he's there." She explains. "Grab your bag."

"Can we bring Athena?" She asks hopefully.

"We won't be out long." She tells her.

"Okay," She sighs, sadly. "Does Draco's friend live around here?"

"Yeah, he lives near the gate." She mentions as they leave the house and she locks the front door behind her.

They walk in silence for a few minutes until they turn the corner onto Epsilon Street and nearly walk straight into Lisa and Theo.

"Oh, Hi Hermione, how are you?" Lisa asks after taking a quick step back.

"I'm good thank. How are you?" She returns the question, hoping the answer is quick.

"Great, we're just on our way home," Lisa tells her, looking up at Theo who nods.

"You haven't seen Draco or Blaise today, have you?" She asks hoping they maybe saw them in Diagon Alley or wherever they've come from.

"No, we haven't," Lisa says, looking curiously at Sophie. "Hello, what's your name?"

Sophie's eyes widen in shocked excitement from being addressed. She looks up at Hermione, wondering if she should reply. She nods at her cousin who smiles.

"My name's Sophie. I'm Hermione's cousin." She introduces herself, holding her hand out for Lisa to shake.

"Oh," Lisa looks confusingly at Hermione before reaching out and shaking Sophie's hand. "Nice to meet you, Sophie." She smiles at the girl. "I'm Lisa and this is my husband, Theo." Lisa introduces herself and Theo.

"Oh, yes. Hello, Sophie." Theo smiles as he shakes her hand as well. "What are you doing here?" He asks curiously.

"Looking for Draco." She answers.

"That's great." He mutters looking at Hermione.

"Well, we should get going," Hermione announces, guiding Sophie pass Lisa and Theo.

She turns around halfway down Delta Street to see them both still stood on the corner, whispering to each other and staring at them.

"Are they your friends?" Sophie asks.

"I suppose so, yes. Theo is one of Draco's friends and we sometimes see them at parties." Hermione explains as they carry on down the street turning the corner onto Epsilon Street.

At the other end of the street, she spots Blaise locking up his front door and making his way towards the gate. She quickens her step as she shouts after him. He turns around, looking confused then smiles and waves when he spots her.

"Hey, Hermione, what's up?" He asks with a carefree smile before glancing down at Sophie. "Hi." He waves at her and Sophie blushes, hiding behind Hermione slightly.

"Where's Draco?" She asks urgently.

"At the Ministry. He's got Lestrange's trial at nine." He reminds her.

Of course, how could she have forgotten? She doesn't know how long the trial will last but she needs Draco's help in finding David. The best she can do is wait for him outside the courtroom and hope he isn't still too angry to help her.

"Was he still angry with me when he left?" She asks worriedly.

Blaise chuckles. "No, quite the opposite actually." He smirks at her.

Hermione frowns, not sure what he means but decides that as long as he isn't angry at her, he'll help her.

"What wrong?" He asks, face frowning in worry.

Hermione looks down at Sophie who's been looking back and forth between them.

"This is Sophie, my cousin." She introduces her.

"Ah, Sophie the witch. I've heard all about you." Blaise kneels on the ground and stretches his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Blaise, Draco's bestest friend in the whole wide world." He smiles at her as she laughs.

"Hello." Sophie blushes as she excitedly as she shakes his hand.

"I told her Dad last night about the wizarding world," Hermione explains.

Blaise stands up taller, a serious expression on his face. "How did that go?" He asks.

"Not well, he left the house around nine o'clock last night and hasn't come home since." She tells him. "I'm worried." She mouths to Blaise so Sophie doesn't hear.

Blaise nods to confirm his understanding. "Come on into mine." He guides them over to his house.

"Weren't you just heading out?" She asks.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anything important." He tells her as he unlocks the front door.

"Are you sure?" Hermione questions him.

"Hermione, this is far more important than me walking aimlessly around Diagon Alley for a few hours." He chuckles, shaking his head. "I'll make us a cup of tea." He raises his eyebrows and jerks his head to the kitchen, hinting at privacy. "Sophie, I've heard you like reading."

Sophie nods her head. "I love reading." She corrects him.

"Why don't you choose a book from my bookshelf? You can borrow it and I'm sure you'd like to learn all you can about magic." He mentions and she instantly thanks him as she runs over to his bookshelf to start pulling books off one at a time.

"Thank you," Hermione mutters as they make their way into the kitchen.

"No problem." He smiles at her as he pops the kettle on. "So what's the plan of action?" He asks, leaning against the counter.

"I'm going to ask Draco to start tracking David down then I'm going to take Sophie to my parents once they've finished work at twelve o'clock so I can help him search." She explains her plan.

"What can I do to help?" Blaise asks.

"You don't have to help?" She shakes her head.

"Of course I do, you're my friend and you need help. I could start tracking David. I don't know what he looks like but if you give me his full name I can get a head start." He suggests.

She knows she should be, but Hermione's taken aback by Blaise's kindness and willingness to help. She pulls him into a quick hug just as the kettle finishes boiling.

"Thank you, Blaise." She tells him. "I need to go meet Draco at the Ministry after the trial though and I don't want to take Sophie with me, do you think you could look after her for a few hours?" She asks.

"Babysitting duty." He rolls his eyes. "Can't you ask Harry or Ginny to do it? I need to get out of the house." He tells her.

"Okay, I'll ask Ginny. She knows about Sophie anyway so I won't have to explain much." She nods in agreement. "We'll set off now. My uncle's full name is David Thomas Adair." She states as they leave the just boiled kettle and head back into the living room where Sophie is sat on the floor near the bookshelf reading a charms book. "We need to go, Sophie." She announces.

"Already!" She sighs. "We just got here." She complains.

"Blaise and I are going to go look for your Dad so I'm going to ask two of my best friends to look after you for a few hours," Hermione explains.

"Oh, okay. Can I still borrow this book?" She asks holding the book up for Blaise to look at.

"Of course, just give it back to Hermione when you're finished it will find its way back to me eventually." He tells her.

They all leave the house together, setting off towards the gate where Blaise waves goodbye to them before disapparating away. Hermione takes Sophie's hand, guiding her down the path opposite the gate that leads between Blaise's house and the first house of Alpha Street towards the shops, playground and playing green. She knows Harry and Ginny live at 5 Delta Street so she counts back five back gardens before opening their garden gate and leading the way down the garden path. She knocks a few times on their back door but there's no answer.

"Are they not in?" Sophie asks after a few minutes of waiting.

"I don't think so." She smiles down at her cousin, trying not to let any worry show in her face. "Let's go to the playground whilst I try to think of another plan." She states as they leave the Potter's back garden.

Sophie swings back and forth on the swing, trying to go as high as she possibly can. When she's sure she's beaten her personal best height, she calls over for Hermione to look at her. She waves back over at her cousin to show that she is watching before going back to her thoughts.

She doesn't know what to do. Her parents finish work at twelve o'clock but that's still three hours away, he could be found by then if she, Draco and Blaise are all looking for him. She needs someone she can trust to look after Sophie for a couple of hours but that list isn't very long. With Harry and Ginny out, Draco and Blaise helping her and Luna in Australia, there aren't many people left. If Ron hadn't been so prejudice and disrespectful she would consider him but she's not sure she can trust him anymore.

Suddenly, for some reason, Pansy's name pops into her head.  _Pansy?_ She questions her own thoughts. Does she really trust Pansy after everything that's happened between them? Hermione shakes her head. She has changed since they left Hogwarts. It's not as though she has much of a better idea.

"Sophie!" She calls her cousin who looks over at her. "It's time to go. Hold on tight." She tells her before pointing her wand at the swing, bringing it to a stop, level with the ground, making Sophie squeal excitedly.

"Where are we going?" She asks as she runs up to Hermione.

"We're going to another one of my friend's house." She says as they walk towards the path that leads to the gate. "She leaves two doors away from Blaise."

Hermione knocks urgently on the front door of Pansy and Ron's house, hoping that Pansy will answer the door. However, she should have known that luck hasn't been on her side today because Ron opens the door with a frown on his face before staring in confusion at Hermione.

"'Mione." He gasps.

"Is Pansy home?" She asks, glaring back at him with a stern expression.

"You're here to see Pansy?" He scoffs in disbelief.

"Yes, I need her help." She states.

"What with, maybe I can help you instead?" He offers but she shakes her head.

"No, I need somebody I can trust." Hermione snaps at him. "Is Pansy home or not?" She asks again, ignoring Ron's hurt expression.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen." Ron steps aside to let them in, looking down at his feet guiltily.

Hermione leads Sophie passed Ron, through their living room and into the Kitchen where Pansy is cooking some bacon on the cooker.

"Hermione!" Pansy frowns at her in confusion.

"I need your help, Pansy." She tells her getting straight to the point.

"You need  _my_  help?" She repeats doubtful.

"Yes, I need-" She starts to explain.

"Who's that?" Ron asks after following them into the kitchen.

Pansy rolls her eyes. "Ronald, be a dear and leave us alone." She glares at her husband who mumbles something before leaving out the back door, slamming it behind him. "How childish?" She scoffs before looking back down at the young girl half hidden behind Hermione. "So, who is she?"

"This is my cousin, Sophie." Hermione introduces her.

Pansy's eyes widen. "You brought a muggle to the estate?" She questions her as though she's crazy.

"She's not a muggle. She's a witch. I found out a few days ago." She explains.

"Wow, that's rare." Pansy comments, flicking her wand at the bacon and they flip themselves over.

"Yes, well, I told her dad last night and he didn't take the reveal of the wizarding world very well at all. He ran away so Blaise, Draco and I are going to track him down." She explains.

"Alright, where do I come into this?" Pansy asks.

"I need someone to look after Sophie for three hours until my parents finish work and can look after her." She asks hopefully.

"No, no way. I don't know how to look after kids." She shakes her head.

"Please Pansy, Blaise gave her a book that she'll sit and read. Just make sure she has something to eat and drink. It'll be good to practise for the future." She tries to convince her.

Pansy stares at her for a long moment before shifting her gaze down to Sophie. "She'll just sit and read. I don't have to entertain her or anything."

"No, just answer any questions she has and leave her to the book." Hermione answers.

"Fine," Pansy sighs. "But you owe me one." She points at Hermione fiercely.

"Okay, agreed." Hermione smiles.

Pansy looks down at Sophie. "Do you like bacon?"

Sophie nods.

"Right, you can sit at the kitchen table and read your book whilst I make us a bacon sandwich. You can have Ron's since he's an idiot and left without breakfast." She mutters, going back to the pan on the cooker.

Sophie places her backpack next to the chair before climbing up and starting the book Blaise had lent her.

"Thank you, Pansy." Hermione quickly hugs her, catching her off guard.

"Never hug me again." She warns, pointing her spatula at her.

"Sorry, I'll be back just after twelve o'clock." She lets her know.

"Yeah, whatever." Pansy shrugs, a small smile gracing her face.

Hermione rushes out of her house, running towards the gate where she disapparates straight to the Ministry."

"I, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, hereby sentence you, Mr Rabastan Lestrange, to Azkaban for a total of fifty-five years effective immediately. This includes the remaining fifteen years of your first sentence, ten years for escaping Azkaban in 1982 and thirty years for your crime during the second war." The Minister announces to the courtroom before nodding to three Ministry Officials.

Rabastan Lestrange watches with a poised expression as two Officials hold him still whilst the third unlocks the shackles from around his wrists and ankles. They guide him to his feet where he rolls his shoulder to stand up straight, flicks his head to move his long hair out of his eyes then smirks down his nose at the row of witnesses sat at the front of the court rooms as he's lead pass them all towards the door to the holding cells.

When he reaches Draco, sat at the end after being the last to testify, he abruptly stops, turning his head to glare at his brother's nephew. With a sneer, he spits at the younger man then burst out into manic laughter as he's dragged away.

"TRAITOR! BLOOD TRAITOR! I'LL TELL YOUR FATHER! I'LL TELL EVERYONE! WE'LL COME FOR YOU! WE'LL COME FOR YOUR MUDBLOOD! WE'LL COME FOR YOUR SPAWN! I'LL TELL LUCIUS! TRAITOR! TRAITOR! TRAITOR!" Rabastan continues to scream even after the door to the holding cells has slammed shut.

The majority of the courtroom disperses quickly after the Lestrange's outbreak but Draco remains behind, needing to talk to the Minister who is currently discussing something with another member of the Wizengamot.

It cannot wait. Draco walks up to the Minister. "A word, Kingsley." He stares up at him.

"Excuse me, Eloise." He nods to the woman he had been talking to. "My office." He suggests, motioning towards the door.

"No, here is fine," Draco states, not moving.

Kingsley frowns, glancing around the courtroom as the final few people leave the courtroom. As soon as the door closes, he flicks his wand towards the door, locking it.

"Mr Malfoy, I am aware that due to my position in the Order during the war that I am on a first name basis with many people, including your wife. However, I don't recall ever referring to you as Draco so I would appreciate if you didn't refer to me as Kingsley, especially whilst I am talking to a colleague." The Minister states.

Draco raises his eyebrows. "Are you afraid that having an Ex-Death Eater call you by your first name will lessen the amount of power you have over people?" He smirks for a second before remembering why needed to talk to the Minister. "You heard what Rabastan said on his way out."

"There's no need to be worried about Lestrange. He'll be ninety-four by the time he's finished serving his time." He mentions.

"It's not him I'm worried about. There are Death Eaters in Azkaban who are still serving their twenty-five-year sentences from the first war. By the time I've finished, they'll be twenty-three Death Eaters in Azkaban telling those with only fifteen years left on their sentences how much of a traitor I am." Draco explains.

"Twenty-four if you include your father." Kingsley points out.

"Why would I, he is in the highest security cell with no contact with the outside world?" Draco stares pointedly at the Minister whose eyes flicker away for a split second.

"Of course." He nods.

"In fifteen years' time, I don't know if I'll still be married to Hermione but even if I'm not, I don't want her life and the life of our children to be put at risk because I did the right thing for once in my life. I want your guarantee that the Minister will do everything in their power to protect them from whoever should come after them." Draco explains.

"I may not be Minister of Magic in fifteen years' time. There might not be a lot I can do to protect your family." The Minister starts and Draco frowns at him. "Although, I can pass on this information to the next Minister, whom I'm sure will do everything in their power to protect you."

"Don't make me sound so self-centered." Draco scoffs. "I don't care about my own well-being and I'm sure not many others do either. Just ensure that Hermione Granger and her children are protected and I'll take whatever I deserve from whoever comes after me." Draco tells him.

The Minister stares at him for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Hermione was right about you." He comments with a small smile.

"What did she say about me?" He questions, eyes softening at the mention of his wife.

"She quite adamantly told me that you've changed since the war and I have to agree with her." He states.

Draco doesn't know what to say in reply to that so he simply nods, turns on his heel and quickly walks out of the room, unlocking the door with a quick flick of his wand. There's something about what Kingsley told him that doesn't make sense. When had Hermione told him that he'd changed? They weren't exactly on speaking term when they were back at Hogwarts so he doubts she would have told him then. She only really got to know him properly after they were paired together. Has she been going to see him privately about the archives without him? Did Gwenog tell her something yesterday that she needed to check? Does she not trust him enough to tell him whatever it is that took her to Kingsley? He's too lost in his thoughts that he doesn't realise someone's trying to get his attention until they grab his hand, bring him to a sudden stop. He turns around to find Hermione still holding his hand, smiling nervously up at him.

Draco's heart stutters in his chest. It's the first time he's seen her since he's realised that he's in love with her. Without a second thought, he pulls her by their entwined hand into a tight hug. She can't have been expecting it as it takes her a few seconds to respond and hug him back.

"I'm sorry, Hermione." He whispers sincerely. "I shouldn't have shouted at you." He adds as they pull apart, keeping each other at arm's length.

"No, it's my fault. I brought him up and kept pushing you." She shakes her head. "I'm sorry." She tells him staring earnestly into his eyes.

He takes a deep breath. Now would be the perfect time to tell her how he feels but he can't. It's too public, even if there isn't anyone else in the corridor. It's not just that though, what if she doesn't feel the same about him yet. She's told him before that she could fall for him but he doesn't know how long it could take for Hermione to fall in love with him.

"Draco, are you listening to me?" She says, interrupting his thoughts once again.

"Hmm?" He hums questioningly, looking her in the eyes again.

"Is there something on your mind?" She asks him with a slight frown creasing her brow.

He reaches up, smoothing the frown away with as wipe of his thumb before slowly caressing her face as he lifts her chin up. Her eyes watch his own intently, mouth opening slightly in shocked confusion.

"Draco, what are you doing?" She asks breathily.

Without answering, Draco leans forward, capturing her lips with his own in a soft, gentle kiss and pulling her closer by her hips. Hermione kisses him back for a few seconds before breaking away.

"I need you." She mutters, forehead resting against his chest as she hugs him.

Draco freezes, eye wide, wondering what exactly she needs from him.

"W-what?" He replies.

"I told David about Sophie and the wizarding world last night." She explains, still hugging him tightly.

"Oh," He sighs disappointedly before realising the many ways David could have reacted. "How did he react?" He asks her.

"Not well, he ran away and hasn't come home. It's been twelve hours. I'm worried. He didn't show up for work this morning and nobody's seen him since half one this morning." She explains, pulling away from him.

He can see the concern in her eyes.

"I found Blaise and he offered to help so he's out tracking David now and I left Sophie with Pansy until twelve so you and I can help track him. I thought about asking Harry and Ginny but I don't actually know where they are and I don't really want too many people to know about Sophie just yet. Not until I sort out the whole mess between David and Gwenog." Hermione starts rambling.

"Hey, it'll be fine. We'll find him in no time. Do you have any idea of where he could be?" He asks as they set off towards the apparation floor of the Ministry, hand in hand.

"He took his car with him so he could be anywhere by now. Although, I don't think he would have driven for nine hours straight. He probably stopped off somewhere in the morning to rest, either a café, a restaurant or a pub so I'm hoping he's still in London somewhere." She explains.

"Alright, we'll go to opposite ends of London and hopefully one of us will find him before we meet in the middle. Shall I take the East or West of London?" He asks since Hermione knows Muggle London much better than he does.

Hermione chuckles. "I think you better take the West End of London. You'll fit in better there than the East End." She casts her eyes down his body, at the robes he had worn for the trial. "Start in Notting Hill and I'll start in Whitechapel. I need to head back to the estate to pick Sophie up around twelve and drop her off at my parents' house. I'll send you a note if I need to get into contact with you." She tells him.

"Did you really leave Sophie with Pansy?" He asks with a laugh.

"Yeah, it took some begging but she finally agreed. I owe her a favour now though which is something I never wanted to do." She admits.

"Trust me, it isn't something you want. You'll live to regret it." He jokes.

"If I don't hear from you, I'll meet you back home at nine o'clock for dinner. I'll send a note to Blaise to let him know as well." She tells him. "Good luck." She adds, reaching up to peck him on his lips quickly before disapparating away.

Draco follows shortly behind her, leaving a few bystanders staring after them.

Blaise apparates into the alcove opposite the fountains of Trafalgar Square, the centre of London. With hundreds of tourists milling around the square and minding their own business, Blaise discreetly takes his wand out of his pocket, laying it on the palm of his hand.

"Point me, David Thomas Adair." He whispers then waits for his wand to stop spinning around. "East." He mutters when it finally stops spinning.

He returns his wand to his pocket and sets off east towards the River Thames. Every hundred metres or so, he finds a secluded alleyway, side street or doorway to repeat the spell to make sure he's still heading in the same direction. With his wand pointing him over the River Thames, he makes his way toward the closest bridge which happens to be near the London Eye. He hides beneath a tree to cast the spell again only to find his wand pointing south-west. The direction he had just come from.

Confused, he glances around before disapparating to an alleyway he had stopped in earlier to check the direction. His wand's now pointing south. Thankfully, the alley he's stood in leads south so he follows it, keeping an eye on his wand. He's halfway down the alley when his wand suddenly spins around, pointing north. Blaise frowns as he spins around, heading back up the way he came. He's near the entrance to the alley when his wand abruptly spins to the left pointing west again.

A thought comes suddenly to Blaise. What if David's in his car? He doesn't know how he's expected to track a man down who's driving his car in every direction around London. With a sigh, he tries to think what he knows is in West London. The only thing he can remember is Hyde Park. He apparates straight there, his wand telling him that David is east of him. Blaise sets off across the park towards the main road.

In the centre of Hyde Park is a large lake with surrounding trees and shrubbery on the north side keeping people away from the water edge. Blaise sticks to hiding behind the bushes as he watches his wand move a few millimetres from side to side. When he makes it to the main road, he pauses as his wand points north again.

"Where is he going?" Blaise mumbles in annoyance to his wand.

He glances at his watch for the time. Just after eleven o'clock. He's starting to feel hungry since he hadn't had breakfast yet. Maybe he could grab a quick burger for lunch from one of the stalls he saw in the centre of London. He's trying to decide whether or not to abandon his post when the wind blows something into his chest. He glances down, picking it up from where it fell to the floor and laughs as he reads the note.

_**Blaise,** _

_**Draco and I have started tracking David. Draco's starting in Notting Hill and I in Whitechapel. We're planning on meeting back at our house around nine o'clock tonight for dinner if unsuccessful and you're welcome to join us. Please keep us both updated with any information. Have you had any luck yet?** _

_**Hermione** _

Blaise takes a muggle pen, that he's started carrying around with him, from his jacket pocket and scribbles a quick reply on the back before sending it, with a flick of his wand, back to Hermione.

"Nine o'clock." He mutters to himself as he sets off heading north, where his wand is still pointing. "Don't know how she expects us to survive another ten hours without food. I'm already starving." He continues to grumbles as he walks. "Oh look, going west again, oh, nope, back to the east, ah, wait, no, back north. Make your bloody mind up David." He provides himself with commentary.

He's staring down at his wand, which hasn't moved for ten minutes when it suddenly spins around, pointing south. Blaise whips his head up, wondering if David has just gone past in his car, but the only vehicle close enough is a bus. A smile quickly appears on Blaise's face as he comes to the realisation. David's on that bus.

He glances down the length of the main road. There doesn't seem to be that many people around so he apparates behind a tree near the entrance to Hyde Park and waits for the bus to pass him again. Whilst the bottom deck looks full, the top desk is almost empty. There's a man sat at the top of the back bus who looks to be sleeping against the window so he takes his opportunity and disapparates onto the back of the bus, next to the sleeping man.

However, it turns out the man wasn't sleeping as he screams at Blaise's sudden appearance beside him. The four other passengers of the top deck turn to glare at the man who's now pressed himself back against the window staring in terror at Blaise.

"Sorry everyone, he was sleeping and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Think I scared him a little." Blaise lies with a chuckle before turning to the man next to him. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." He smiles at him before shuffling to the other end of the back seats and subtly glancing down at his wand wondering which of the passengers on the bus David Adair is.

"A-are you a wizard?" The man next to him whispers, still backed up against the window.

A smile beams from Blaise's face as he slides back along the back seat towards the man.

"You must be David Adair. I'm Blaise." He introduces himself, holding his hand out politely but David's eyes widen in horror as he stares from his face to his hand then back again as if he's crazy so Blaise retracts his hand.

"Well, David, it's nice to meet you. I'm one of Hermione's friends. She's very worried about your disappearing act last night." He explains.

"Did she send you?" He asks, voice breaking in fear.

"Yeah, Hermione, Draco and I are out and about in London tracking you down." He tells him with a smile and a gesture to his wand, hoping the friendly expression will relax him. "Actually, I should probably tell them that I've found you. Blaise rummages around in his jacket pocket, looking for a piece of parchment but he can't find one. "You don't happen to have any paper on you, do you?" He asks and David shakes his head.

"I'm going to have to leave you here to find them. Please stay on the bus." Blaise tells him and the man nods quickly. "Good, it was nice meeting you, David. See you around." He bids him goodbye as he checks that none of the other passengers aboard the bus is watching before disapparating back to the alcove in Trafalgar Square.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	56. Chapter 56

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 56.
> 
> I know it's a day late but as I mentioned on my Instagram (bigdswisdom), I was at an end of year party with everyone from work. We all had a great time and I didn't get home until 2:45 am.
> 
> Since it's officially the school holiday, I'm planning on writing at least 2,000 words a day so I'm prepared for September when I have Uni, work and BSL.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

For the first twenty minutes, Pansy and Sophie have a lovely time sitting at the kitchen table, eating their bacon sandwiches and reading their books. However, Pansy has fallen under the false pretence that the whole morning would be like this. As soon as Sophie has finished her sandwich, she places her book down on the table and stares at Pansy until she sighs placing her own book down.

"Yes, do you need something?" Pansy asks, hoping it's just a question about the book.

"You're a witch?" She states but it comes out as a question.

"Yes, and so are you." Pansy nods.

Sophie shakes her head. "I'm not a real witch. I can't do any spells or anything. You can." She points out.

"Of course you're a real witch. My parents' taught me the incantations of some spells before I went to Hogwarts but you nobody's allowed to cast a spell until they've got a wand which you don't get until you go to school." She explains.

"Your parents know magic too," Sophie asks, seemingly shocked at the news.

"Well, yeah, most of us have magical parents. You're like Hermione though. You're a Muggle-born."

"What's that mean?" Sophie frowns.

"It means both your parents are Muggles. Have no magical blood." Pansy explains, starting to get a headache.

"I don't have a mum." The girl states.

Pansy stares at her. "You must do. You didn't just appear out of thin air."

"I had one but she left us when I was a baby so now I only have a dad." She explains. "Now he's left me too." She stares up at Pansy with teary eyes.

"Of course he hasn't." Pansy answers quickly. "He's a muggle. He's probably just scared of magic. There's a long history of muggles being scared of us." She explains.

"The witch trials?" Sophie questions. "My dad's a history teacher." She adds.

"Ergh, I hate history." Pansy groans in complaint. "At Hogwarts, it's taught by a ghost. He used to be a professor but he died one night. The next day, he got up to teach and left his body behind and he's been there ever since." She explains.

Sophie's eyes widened excitedly. "Ghosts are real. That sounds cool. He must know tonnes of stuff about history."

"It's not, trust me. He's got such a boring voice. Most people use his class to catch up on sleep." She laughs.

"That's not very nice." Sophie frowns. "He liked teaching history so much that he became a ghost to carry on but nobody listens to him anymore. I'll listen to him when I got to school." She says adamantly.

"Alright, I'll remember that?" Pansy laughs.

"What are the other professors like?" Sophie asks her, eyes bright with fascination. "Wait, what classes do you have?"

"My favourite lesson was transfiguration, even though Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor and we were in a bitter rivalry with them," Pansy explains.

"What house were you in?" She asks.

"I was a Slytherin." She admits proudly.

"Like Draco," Sophie says. "I want to be a Ravenclaw."

"You don't choose. You have to wear the sorting hat and he decides where you go." Pansy tells her.

"I know that. Hermione told me." Sophie rolls her eyes. "What other classes do you have?

"You have to take seven core subjects until at least fifth year. They're transfiguration, charms, potions, history of magic, defence against the dark arts, astronomy and herbology. In third years you can choose to take some other classes like Arithmancy, care of magical creatures, divination, muggle studies and study of ancient runes. Then in the sixth year, you can take Alchemy if enough people want to and once your seventeen, you learn how to apparate." Pansy drawls on in explanation, boring herself but Sophie's staring at her in interest even though she probably can't even remember everything she just told her.

"I don't like that one. It made me feel sick." Sophie frowns, scrunching her nose up.

"Nobody likes it at first but you'll get used to it." She tells her.

Sophie nods and asks, "Do you not have to do maths or English?"

"No, you should know all that stuff before you go?"

"I do it at school now," Sophie tells her.

"What school do you go to?" Pansy asks confused.

"St Stephen's Primary School." She answers. "Do you not have to go to primary school?"

"I don't even know what primary school is." She states. "What do you learn there?"

"We learn Maths and English every day on the morning then on the afternoon we learn either science, geography, history, RE, PE, PSHE or IT," Sophie explains.

"What do all those letters mean?" Pansy frowns, still confused.

"Oh, RE is Religious Education, PE is Physical Education, I don't know what PSHE means but we learn about how to look after ourselves and IT is Information Technology where we learn about computers." She explains. "I hate PE. I'm not very good at sports." She adds.

"In your first year, you learn how to fly a broomstick but after that, we don't do any sports unless you want to play Quidditch." She explains.

"What's that?"

"A game played on broomsticks. Quite exciting to watch but I was never particularly interested in playing myself." She shrugs.

"Hermione told me broomsticks are dangerous." She states.

"Of course she would, Draco crashed into a goal post and split his head open. Although, I don't suppose she liked them very much at school either. Probably because she's Muggleborn and not used to them. Most magical children have a toy broomstick which they can fly a few feet off the ground." Pansy tells her.

"Do you have a broomstick?"

"No, Ronald has one somewhere." She answers with a roll of her eyes. "My husband." She adds to clarify.

"Why don't you like your husband?" Sophie suddenly asks after a couple of seconds' silence.

Pansy laughs. "What? Who said I didn't like him?"

"You called him an idiot." Sophie points out. "And you don't look like you love him."

"How am I supposed to look then?" She questions her.

"My dad says that my grandma has love in her eyes when somebody mentions my grandad's name or when she sees him." She explains.

Pansy's face scrunches up in disgust at the thought of looking lovingly at Ronald Weasley.

"Why did you marry him if you don't love him?"

Pansy's confident that Hermione wouldn't want her to tell Sophie about the marriage law and how they were forced to marry people they didn't like or in some cases know. She could tell her as payback for leaving this inquisitive child in her care all morning. She told Hermione she didn't know how to look after children. Although, Hermione has been kind to her, treating her as a friend and trusting her with this obviously important person in her life.

So Pansy laughs. "You asks a lot of questions for a… how old are you, five?" She asks.

Sophie scowls at her, puffing her chest out proudly. "No, I'm six years old, nearly seven. It's my birthday next month." She announces.

"Well, you still ask a lot of questions." Glancing at her watch hoping it would be nearly twelve o'clock but it's barely past ten o'clock. "Let's go for a walk to the shops. If you stop asking questions I might buy you some wizard's sweets." She bribes as she stands up, flicking her wand so their dirty dishes find their way to the sink and wash themselves.

Sophie stands at the sink, watching in amazement whilst Pansy pulls on a jacket and a pair of boots. She stands at the back door waiting for the last cup to place itself on the drying rack before calling Sophie.

"What shops are there?" Sophie asks as Pansy shuts the garden gate behind them.

"What did I say about asking questions?" Pansy warns her.

"I thought you meant about your husband." She shrugs.

"There's a couple of food shops, cafés, a restaurant, a book shop, a robes shop and then the sweet shop." She answers.

"Can we go in all the shops?" Sophie asks, jumping up and down excitedly and pulling on her hand.

Pansy doesn't ever remember being this excitable as a child. Although she supposes she never got taken to a completely different world or community to the one she had grown up in. She'll have to ask Hermione if she was this excited about a robe shop on her first visit to Diagon Alley or if it's just Sophie.

"Yeah, we'll look in all of them." She sighs feeling defeated.

"Yes." Sophie cheers trying to pull her ahead quicker.

"I'm not running but you can go ahead if you want," Pansy tells her, releasing her hand from the child's grasp.

Sophie sets off running towards the first shop which is the greengrocers. Pansy follows behind at a brisk walk. Thankfully, the girl waits at the door for her to catch up before entering. She not sure what Sophie expected to see but she doesn't seem impressed by the fruit and vegetables on sale.

"They're just normal." She states, looking disappointed.

"What did you expect?" Pansy laughs and Sophie just shrugs. "Come on, let's go to the book shop." She suggests, leading her out of the grocers.

Pansy groans, rolling her eyes when they enter the book shop to find Ronald at the counter with his brother who works there. They must hear her as they both look towards them. Ron sighs whilst Percy smiles politely.

"Hello, Pansy and…" Percy looks down at a wide-eyed Sophie who's staring around the room at the rows upon rows of bookshelves.

"None of your business, Weasley." Pansy snaps, guiding the girl to the back of the shop.

"Hermione brought her round this morning," Ron explains. "Wouldn't tell me who she is." He adds.

"Can you blame her for not wanting to talk to you?" Percy asks him as he piles some new books that need shelving. "After everything you've done and said." He adds.

"I didn't come here for a lecture, Percy." Ron snaps at his brother.

"Well, you didn't come to see me either," Percy mutters, picking up one of the piles and making his way to the potions section where, with a flick of his wand, they all fly into the correct place on the shelf.

"No, I came to get away from my wife. Look how well that turned out." Ron complains as he follows after his brother.

"Yes, well, I'm busy actually working because some of us have jobs so if you don't mind, either help shelve the books or leave," Percy tells him, heading back to the counter to pick up another pile.

"I'll leave then." Ron scoffs, heading out the door, slamming it behind him.

Percy shakes his head at how childish his youngest brother still is, then chuckles when he hears Pansy mutter, "Idiot." He heads over to the history section where his sister-in-law and the young girl are browsing.

"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for, Pansy?" He asks with a friendly smile.

She stares at him for a long moment before rolling her eyes.

"Not really, she's just interested in the history of the wizarding world." She explains.

"My Dad's a history teacher." The girl states from where she's crouched down, browsing the bottom shelf.

Percy frowns in confusion at Pansy who seems to be having a debate with herself inside her head before sighing and turning to face him.

"She's Hermione's cousin." She explains.

"A muggle. On the estate." Percy says, shocked Hermione would do something as stupid as revealing the wizarding world to a muggle. Even if she is her cousin.

"A Muggle-born." Pansy corrects him, staring up at him with a smirk and wide eyes.

"A Muggle-born?" Percy repeats with a frown.

"Yeah, she just found out a few days ago. I'm not sure if she wants anyone on the estate to know yet. She's only told a few select people she can trust." She explains.

"And you're one of them?" He glances down at her.

"Obviously. She's entrusted her cousin's safety to me for three hours. We've become sort of friend these last couple of weeks." She nods proudly and Percy laughs. "What? Is that so unbelievable?" She snaps at him.

"Of course not, I'm just surprised that you seem proud to be Hermione's friend." He states.

Pansy frowns at him before turning away from him. "Whatever." She tells him, walking over to the Quidditch section where Sophie is now stood.

"What's her name?" He asks, following after her.

"Sophie."

"Why are you looking after her?" He questions her.

"Her dad didn't take the reveal of us very well." She whispers. "Ran away or something." She shrugs. "Hermione, Draco and Blaise are trying to track him down as we speak. Sophie's going to Hermione's parents' house at twelve so I'm trying to keep her preoccupied." She explains with a small laugh.

Percy nods, heading over to the children's sections, where he grabs a book that, in his opinion, every wizarding child should own growing up. He walks back over to Pansy and Sophie.

"Hey Sophie, I've got a book here for you." He calls her over.

Sophie stands up quickly and rushes over to him. "What is it?" She asks curiously, trying to see the book held behind his back.

"This book is one that every person in the wizarding world has read at some point in their childhood and most of us still have the copies on our bookshelves to this day." He explains before handing the book to her.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard." Sophie reads the title. "What's it about?" She asks, opening the book.

"It's a collection of five tales. My favourite is 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune'." Pansy explains. "I'll pay for it." She reaches into her pocket for some coins.

Percy reaches over, placing a hand on her arm. "No need. It's a present from me." He smiles at Sophie. "I'm Percy, one of Hermione's friends." He adds as an explanation.

"Thank you, Percy." He smiles at him sincerely.

"You're welcome."

"We better get going if you want to look in all the shops before Hermione comes to get you," Pansy announces, smiling politely at Percy.

"Bye, Percy," Sophie shouts as they leave the shop.

"Goodbye, Sophie." He calls after her with a small smile.

Hermione hadn't had any luck in finding her uncle before she needed to pick Sophie up. Her wand continued to point west no matter how far west she disapparated. She made a note of which street she was on before disapparating back to the estate. She knocks on Pansy's front door, ten minutes late, hoping that she doesn't complain and that Sophie has been good.

Once again, Ron answers the front door and Hermione stiffens slightly, opening her mouth to ask for Pansy but before she can say anything, Ron turns on his heel and heads up his stairs, leaving the front door open. Hermione enters, closing the door behind her before making her way through the living room and into the kitchen. She finds the back door open and her cousin and Pansy lying on a blanket in the garden, both reading books.

"Have you had a nice morning, Sophie?" Hermione asks as she walks over to them.

Sophie sits up excitedly. "Yeah. Pansy took me to the shops and I met Percy and he gave me this book as a present because he's your friend and then we went to the robes shop, which was funny, and then we went to the sweet shop and she bought me Fizzing Whizzbees and they made me fly for ten whole seconds but Pansy said I can't eat them at home so I ate them all now and my belly hurts but it was fun and I gave Pansy two." She rambles on waving her hands around as she speaks.

"Well, it certainly sounds like you've had lots of fun." Hermione comments, chuckling when Pansy glares at her pointedly. "Go put your book in your bag and get your shoes on then I'll take you to my parents' house." She tells Sophie who runs back into the house.

"Thank you so much, Pansy." Hermione offers her a hand up which she accepts.

"You have a very… inquisitive cousin." She states. "She was a delight to look after but never again. Or at least not for a while." She smiles.

"Blaise is coming over to our house for dinner tonight at nine o'clock. You're more than welcome to join us as a thank you. We'll probably end up getting a takeaway from The Pentagon." She offers.

"Thanks for the offer but I'm having dinner with my parents tonight." She rolls her eyes.

"Sounds like fun," Hermione comments sarcastically.

"Oh, it will be. A few hours away from the grump upstairs." She jokes.

Hermione smiles as they make their way back into the house where Sophie's pulling her shoes on with her backpack on her back.

"Are you ready to go?" She asks her cousin who nods, jumping up off the couch. "Thank you again, Pansy. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Just remember. You owe me a favour." She reminds her.

"I'll probably live to regret it but of course. Anytime." Hermione laughs as they leave, heading towards the gate.

"Do we have to do that thing again?" Sophie asks, sounding nervous.

"We do, but it should be a little easier this time. You know what to expect now." She reminds her, taking hold of her hand as they exit the estate. "Are you ready?" She asks, getting a curt nod in return so she disapparates them both to her parents' house.

Draco's wand points him south east through a large, beautiful park called Kensington Gardens. He gets distracted a few times by some of the flowers and a couple of swans that start following him around the pond. He hides behind a bush to recast the spell and his wand points further east than earlier so he changes his direction and sets off again.

After twenty minutes of continuously walking east, Draco comes across a road where on the other side is another park. He's waiting with a large group of Muggles to cross the road when he hears somebody shouting his name from behind him. Confused, he turns around looking around for a familiar face who could be trying to gain his attention. Peering from behind a tree, he spots Blaise jumping and waving his arms at him.

Draco waves back at him to show that he's seen him before pushing his way through the crowd of people waiting to cross the road.

"I found him." His friend shouts as he nears the tree.

Draco looks behind Blaise looking for David, surprised that it only took them two and a half hours to find him. He had thought that it would take them until at least after five o'clock before they got near to finding him.

"Where is he?" Draco asks still looking around.

"On a bus." He explains. "It was quite genius of me, to be honest. I realised he was moving too fast to be walking so I originally thought he was in his car so I stuck to the roads in case he drove past me and he did. Although it wasn't a car, it was a bus. He was quite scared when I apparated next to him. I suppose that's to be expected though, he is a muggle." Blaise rambles on.

"You apparated onto a bus full of muggles?" He asks, hoping he misunderstood what his friend had just told him.

"Yeah, the top deck wasn't very full. There was just David at the back and about four people sat at the very front. They didn't suspect anything." He shrugs with a bright smile.

"Where's David now?" He asks.

"On the bus. He looked like he was absolutely terrified of me. I didn't want to force him into disapparating with me. I did ask him to stay on the bus until I returned with you and he agreed." Blaise defends himself.

"Okay, take me to where the bus was heading. I'll buy a ticket instead of terrifying a bus full of muggles." Draco jokingly quips at him.

Blaise rolls his eyes as he takes his hand, pulling him over towards a secluded bush. "It was one Muggle and the Muggle we happened to be searching for so I'll take that witty remark as a thank you." He smirks at him before disapparating them both to a quiet side road leading towards a much busier main road.

Draco takes his wand out, casting the Point Me spell and watching as his wand spins to point north. Together, they walk to the main road and follow it north until they come to a bus stop.

"That's the type of bus he was on." Blaise comments, pointing at a picture of red, double decker bus.

"Why is he on a tourist bus?" Draco wonders aloud as he checks the times of the tourist buses. "There's one coming in three minutes." He adds.

"It should be the one David was on," Blaise tells him, glancing down at Draco's wand which was moving slightly from left to right. "I think it's coming," Blaise adds.

They both look up the road and watch as a red double decker bus comes around the corner and heads towards them then pulls into their bus stop.

"I'll go find Hermione and tell her that we've found him," Blaise tells him as he's about to step aboard.

He glances down at his watch. "It's just after twelve so she'll either be at Pansy's or her parents' house. Do you remember where it is? We apparated to the alleyway behind their house last night for the fish and chips." Draco reminds him.

"Why would she be at Pansy's?" His friend asks in confusion.

"Are you getting on mate?" The bus driver calls out to him.

"She took Sophie there. She couldn't find the Potters." He quickly tells him as he climbs onto the bus.

"Alright, am I still invited to yours for dinner tonight?" He asks as the bus door closes.

Draco chuckles to himself as he takes a few notes of money out of his pocket.

"How much is it?" He asks the bus driver.

"Depends where you want to go." He answers. "You can get a Central London ticket, a whole route ticket or a day ticket." He explains.

"I'll have a Central London ticket."

"That's five pounds then." The bus driver presses some buttons on the machine in front of him and a small piece of parchment comes out.

Draco looks at the notes in his hands hoping one of them is a five pound.

"It's the bluey green one there." The bus driver points out to him. "Not from around here?" He asks.

"No, I'm not." He smiles politely as he hands over the bluey green five-pound note.

"I could tell, you don't look like you're from around here. Where you from?" He asks. "The nineteenth century." He laughs as he hands over the ticket. "Don't lose it."

Draco sneers at the man as he turns on his heel and heads up the stairs towards the top deck where Blaise had found David. He spots Hermione's Uncle backed up into the corner of the back seats. He makes his way down the aisle towards, however, when David realises somebody's walking towards him, he looks up and suddenly looks terrified at his appearance. Draco stops, in the middle of the aisle, taken aback by David expression. It's been a while since somebody's shown that much fear towards him.

He puts on his most comforting smiles as he takes a seat on one of the benches two seats in front of David, not wanting to scare him any more than he already is.

"How are you, David?" He asks for lack of knowing where to start.

David scoffs at him, rolling his eyes. "How am I?" He repeats, shaking his head. "I just found out that my daughter, niece, nephew-in-law and ex-girlfriend are witches."

Draco doesn't correct him on the fact he's a wizard, not a witch. It doesn't seem like the right time.

"I hadn't really dedicated any time in the past to thinking about the possibility of there being magic in the world but had you straight out asked me if magic existed, as a history teacher I would have confidently laughed in your face and lectured at great length on the history of witchcraft, especially in Britain." He explained before suddenly bursting out in laughter. "I wrote my dissertation at university on the Vatican's response to the British Witch Craze. I got ninety-three percent."

David turns to look at him, face turning serious all of a sudden. "Why didn't Gwen tell me about magic? I would have found out eventually with Sophie."

"There's a law called the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy which forbids us from revealing the existence of the wizarding world to Muggles. However, in some cases, such as yours with Gwenog, she would have been allowed to break the statute under specific circumstances, such as Sophie's first incident of accidental magic." Draco explains.

"I'm not sure I like this government of yours," David mutters as he gazes out the window. "Why are you here?" David asks him, lounging back in his seat and crossing his arms.

"Hermione asked me to help her track you," Draco explains.

"And you'd do anything for your wife." He comments, glancing at Draco out the corner of his eyes.

"Of course, this is important to Hermi-" He pauses realising what David said. "She told you that we're married." He says and David nods.

"After she told me about your wizard school, the evil wizard terrorist, the war and the marriage law." David stares at him. "How long have you been married?" He asks.

"Sixteen days." He answers.

"A lot earlier than you were planning on," David mentions.

Draco shakes his head. "We weren't together beforehand. We were on opposite sides of the war. She sided with her best friend, who happened to be the saviour of the wizarding world, and I sided with my father, who let the evil wizard live in our house. It wasn't until our last year at school that we began to talk civilly towards each other and it wasn't until we were married that we became friends." He sighs, remembering how different his life was only seventeen days ago.

"I didn't know that. You both put on a good show." David admits.

"Not all of it's a show," Draco reassures him. "I do like her." Draco takes a deep breath. "I love her." He admits.

David raises an eyebrow at him questioningly. "You love her? After sixteen days."

"I know. I'm surprised myself." He huffs a laugh, leaning back against the window of the bus and stretching his legs out across the bus bench. "She makes it easy." He sighs.

"She is very special." David agrees. "Where is she now?" He asks.

"Taking Sophie to her parents' house. They were only working a half day today." He explains.

"Why isn't she at school?" David frowns at him.

"She was rather upset this morning so Hermione took her to one of our friends' house whilst we looked for you. Why aren't you at work? It's a Friday." He smirks at David.

"I was drunk and the bartender wouldn't let me drive. I only have two lessons on a Friday anyway. I would have missed one of them by the time I'd gotten there and I honestly can't find it within myself to care right now." David shrugged. "Draco, what am I going to do?" He asks, leaning over the back of the bus bench between them. "I don't know how to raise a witch." He stares at him wide eyed.

"Sophie's been a witch since she was born and you've done a great job so far." Draco tries to reassure him.

"I don't think I can do this by myself." He mutters.

"You don't have to. Hermione and I will help you both to understand the wizarding world. We'll take you to Diagon Alley where you can buy anything Sophie might need. I'm sure she'll want to buy some wizarding books." He mentions.

David sighs deeply, resting his head against the metal bar on the back of the bus bench in front of him. Draco leaves him to silently argue with himself for a few minutes until he suddenly starts laughing.

"I will probably come to regret this but I think Sophie needs to have her mother in her life." David admits. "Do you know where she is?" Draco nods reluctantly. "Can you take me to her?" He asks.

"It might be easier to bring her to you. I can take you home then bring her to your house." Draco suggests.

"No, I don't want her in my house." He shakes his head. "Bring her to the park near Sophie's school. I'll pick my car up and meet you there." David sits up staring out the window. "I'm not that far away from the pub I left it in." He explains, pressing a button which rings a bell.

"Right, do you want me to take you to your car?" Draco offers.

"How?" David frowns at him.

"Apparation. We can transport from one place to another in less than a second." He explains.

"Does it hurt?"

"It can make you feel nauseated the first couple of times." He admits.

"No then thanks, I'll walk. It'll only take me fifteen minutes from the next bus stop." He tells him as he stands up and heads towards the stairs.

Draco follows behind him deciding to find an alleyway or a secluded place nearby to disapparate from. He assumes that Gwenog will be at the Holyhead Harpies Stadium and he's confident he'll be able to talk his way through the gates.

The bus pulls into a bus stop and both David and Draco depart along with a few other people. David stares at him for a few seconds before politely smiling at him.

"Thank you for your help, Draco." He nods at him, then before Draco can reply, he turns around and walks off.

Not wanting to follow him, Draco turns around and walk in the opposite direction searching for a quiet area. He eventually finds an empty side street five minutes later which he takes advantage of and disapparates to the Holyhead Harpies Stadium.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated


	57. Chapter 57

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 57 for you!
> 
> It's my 22nd birthday today!
> 
> To celebrate the month of my birth, I will be uploading once a week. (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th August.)
> 
> :D
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

 

Blaise heads straight to Pansy's house after disapparating back to the estate, hoping she can catch Hermione before she takes Sophie to her parents' house. However, Pansy answers his knock with a friendly smile that she never uses for him and asks if he had forgotten something.

"Oh, it's you." Her smile falls as she leaves the door open and heads into her living room. "Hermione and Sophie have just left." She tells him as Blaise follows her, closing the door behind him.

"Where's your dear husband?" He asks, glancing through the kitchen door.

Pansy scoffs. "Upstairs somewhere." She shrugs as she throws herself onto the couch, stretching her legs out.

Blaise sits in the armchair. "How was your morning?" He asks.

"Tiring." She admits. "Have you met Sophie? She doesn't stop talking, asking question after question. I ended up taking her around all the shops to try and shut her up but to no avail." She sighs but he can see a fond smile trying to break through.

"You enjoyed yourself. I can tell." He leans back in the chair, smirking at her with his arms crossed. "Sophie's just being inquisitive. Draco took me into Muggle London yesterday and I was probably just as amazed as Sophie was to be in the wizarding world." He admits, earning himself a perplexed stare out the corner of her eye.

"Be careful, before you know it you'll be snapping your wand." She jokes.

Blaise laughs. "I don't think so. I've been on a Muggle bus today and they're insanely slow. Don't think I could live without disapparation." He stares wide-eyed at her.

Pansy rolls her eyes, shaking her head.

"We found him. Sophie's father. I'm supposed to be telling Hermione." He stands up.

"Let yourself out then." She calls after him as he leaves.

"Yeah, see you." He tells her, closing the door behind him.

Blaise apparates to where Draco had yesterday when they went to get the fish and chips. He remembers his friend pointing at the house with a red back door and telling him it was the Granger's house. Since he doesn't know which number house it is, he decides to just head down their garden path and knock on their back door.

A confused lady answers the back door. "Can I help you?" She asks curiously.

"Hello, you must be Mrs Granger. My name is Blaise Zabini." He introduces himself politely. "I'm looking for Hermione." He adds with a friendly smile.

"Oh… I guess you can come in then." She opens the door wider for him to enter.

He spots Sophie sat at the kitchen table with a little boy.

"Hi Sophie, it's nice to meet you again." He waves at her.

"Blaise, thank you for the book. I love it." She thanks him once again.

"Which book did you take?" He asks, making his way over to where she was sat reading it. "Oh, 'The standard Book of Charms, Grade 1'." He states.

"Erm Bla-" Mrs Granger tries to interrupt but Blaise keeps talking.

"I don't need that book anymore. It's the book you need for your first year of charms lessons at Hogwarts. You can keep it." He tells her.

"Blaise!" She tries again.

Sophie's face beams in delight. "Thank you." She throws her arms around his neck in a hug. "Now I have two magic books." She states excitedly.

"Sophie!" She snaps, gaining everybody's attention. "Remember what Hermione said about not using that word in front of people who don't know." Mrs Granger reminds her, staring pointedly at the little boy sat in front of Sophie eating a sandwich.

"Oh, I apologise Mrs Granger. It's completely my fault." He apologises to Hermione's mother. "Sophie, maybe it's best if you don't read this particular book in front of those who don't know. What other book do you have? Did Pansy buy you a book?" He asks.

"No, Percy gave me 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' as a present because he's Hermione's friend." She states.

"That's a great book. My favourite tale is Babbitty Rabbitty and the Cackling Stump." Blaise admits and Sophie giggles. "You can read that book around those who don't know as long as you don't read it out loud. Why don't you put this one away and read the other one?" He suggests and Sophie runs off down the hallway to her backpack.

"Hermione's in the living room with her Dad." Mrs Granger tells him.

"Thank you." He smiles politely.

Blaise makes his way down the hallway and knocks on the living room door before pushing the door open to find Mr Granger and Hermione frowning at him confused.

"Who are you?" Mr Granger asks at the same time Hermione ask, "Blaise, what are you doing here?"

"Hello, Mr Granger. My name is Blaise Zabini." He offers the man his hand to shake, which he does, still looking unsure about why there's a stranger stood in his house.

"I found David. It was a stroke genius by myself, to be honest. I discovered that he was travelling far too fast to be walking and realised he must be in his car so I stuck to the roads in the off chance that he would drive past me." He repeats his earlier explanation dramatically. "And he did. However, he wasn't in his car, but instead a bus." He chuckles. "He was rather scared when I apparated next to him. To be expected I suppose. Anyway, I took Draco to him. He was going to talk to him and take him home I assume." He adds.

"Thank you so much, Blaise." Hermione hugs him tightly. "Thank you." She repeats as she unwraps her arms from his neck. "I should head back to David's house ready for him coming home. He'll probably have some questions. Can Sophie stay here for dinner and I'll pick her up later?" She asks her father.

"Yeah, we're having sausage and mash. Do you want some saving?" He offers.

"No thank you. Draco, Blaise and I are getting a takeaway tonight." She declines. "We should get going." She pulls Blaise by the elbow into the kitchen.

Hermione quickly hugs her cousins and her mother goodbye before dragging him down the garden path and out into the alleyway.

"You can come with me until Draco shows up with David then you can head back to ours with Draco," Hermione explains, taking hold of his hand and disapparating to David's house.

"Sounds like a plan." He laughs. "I think Draco and I have a bit of tidying up to do. We woke up a lot later than we expected." He explains as Hermione taps her wand against the front door, unlocking it.

"Come on in, I'll put the kettle on and whilst you figure out how to put the television on." Hermione jokes, motioning to the living room as she heads into the kitchen.

Blaise scoffs. "I know how to put a tellyvisin on." He shouts as he heads into the living room, picking up the thingy with the buttons on.

"You just don't know how to pronounce it." She laughs back at him.

Blaise lets the comment slide as he looks at the many buttons, trying to find one that says, 'On'. However, there isn't any writing on the buttons. They must have worn off. Instead, Blaise decides to just use trial and error and press every button. Eventually, he presses the correct one and the tellyvisin, or whatever it's called, clicks on.

"Ha," Blaise laughs loudly. "I've got it on." He calls.

"Congratulations!" She calls back with a chuckle. "Try and change the channel now." She suggests.

He studies the buttons carefully, trying to figure out logically which buttons would change the channel but ends up turning the volume up and down, then turning the noise off and back on. Hermione places their mugs of teas on the coffee table as she joins him on the couch and watches him trying to figure out the buttons.

"You know, instead of laughing at me, you could actually help me." He tells her, after struggling for a couple of minutes.

"Here, press that button there to go down the channels and the one above it to go up." She points at the correct buttons.

Blaise flicks through the channels for a few minutes until he finds a show with lots of people laughing.

"My Mam loves this. She watches it every week. This must be a repeat of last weeks' episode." She explains.

"What's it about?" He asks as people burst out laughing again.

"As far as I know, it's about a group of six friends in New York who go about their life. It follows them as they work, socialise, date and hang around each other's houses and the local coffee shop." She explains.

"It doesn't sound that interesting." He shrugs. "Where is that laughing coming from?" He asks.

"They invite people to come and watch whilst they're filming the show. Although, it sounds like it's a laughter record being played at the funny parts." Hermione explains.

"I'm bored." He complains, pressing the button Hermione showed him to go down the channels.

They flick through a few other shows whilst they wait for David and Draco to return.

The last time Draco had been at the Holyhead Harpies was for a match with Lucius near the end of the summer holidays in 1996. He doesn't remember the final score or even who won. He had just been happy to finally be spending time with his father after barely seeing him for the first four weeks of the holidays. He found out later that the whole outing had been a way for Lucius to meet with Yaxley in a public place.

He reaches out to open the gate when somebody shouts at him.

"Hey! Sir! You can't go in there."

Draco turns around to find a young woman sticking her head out of a booth. She's wearing her Holyhead Harpies Quidditch robes and a thick cloak draped over her shoulders. He walks the short distance from the gate to the woman's booth. She watches him intently until he's a few metres away when she must recognise him because she abruptly sits up, reaching for her wand next to a magazine on her desk.

"Are you Mr Malfoy, sir?" She asks him for confirmation.

"Yes, I need to speak with Gwenog Jones." He announces.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, sir. She's training at the moment." The woman explains as she stands up from her chair, wand hidden beneath her heavy cloak.

"Well, I'm afraid that this is of the utmost importance and if she knew the reason as to why I am here she would want to see me at once." He explains, staring down at her.

The young woman stares back at him for a few minutes, looking intimidated and unsure of how she should proceed.

"What's your name?" He asks her.

She seems to be debating whether or not she should tell him before finally answering, "Dana Jordon, sir."

"Well, Dana, I need to you to send a note to Gwenog Jones, telling her that I wish to speak to her on behalf of Hermione Granger." He tells her.

"No offence, sir, but why would Hermione Granger ask you for help with her friend's birthday party?" She asks him with a suspicious frown.

"Are you not aware that Hermione and I are married?" Draco asks her confused. He was under the impression that the whole wizarding world would be aware of the new Marriage Decree within the British Wizarding Community.

Dana laughs. "Why would Hermione Granger marry you?" She realises what she just said and adds, "No offence, sir."

"There really is no need to call me sir. I'm probably only a year or two older than you." Draco mentions, walking towards Dana in the hopes that she'll hurry up with writing a note to Gwenog for him.

"I'm sixteen, s… Mr Malfoy." She tells him, walking backwards away from him as he walks closer.

"Three years older then. Could you quickly write that note to Gwenog?" He asks her. "As I mentioned, it's of the utmost importance."

Dana doesn't make a move to write the note so with a sigh, Draco steps foot into her booth, making her back up against the wall.

"I apologise, Dana, but you really are wasting my time." He mutters as he picks up her quill and a piece of parchment.

He quickly scribbles a note to Gwenog before stepping back out of the booth. With a flick of his wand, the note flies between he metal bars of the gate and into the stadium. He nods his thanks to Dana then sets off back up to the gate to wait for Gwenog's arrival.

He doesn't have to wait long as three minutes later, she's running from around the side of the club house, dressed in her Quidditch robes and still carrying her broomstick. She races down the path towards where he's waiting patiently behind the gate. When she reaches him, she shouts for Dana to open the gate, which she does with a flick of her wand, then drag Draco through before it shuts behind him.

"Mr Malfoy, I wasn't aware that Hermione had told anyone about… our situation." She whispers as she leads him over to a small house at the back of the stadium, surrounded by trees and bushes.

Draco glares at the back of her head. "Which situation are we talking about? You abandoning your daughter and ex-boyfriend? Or you wanting to rebuild a relationship with them?" He asks with a sneer.

Gwenog stops in her track, glancing around to make sure that there's nobody listening before glaring at him.

"That's not fair, Malfoy." She snaps at him.

"Do you want to know what's not fair? The fact that Sophie's grown up not knowing that she's a witch or who her mother is." He smirks at her.

"Did Hermione tell you why I had to leave?" Gwenog hisses at him but before he can answer she carries on. "Because of your father. Nobody tells your father 'no'. He needed me to cast my vote to keep the Quidditch World Cup. He told me to leave my family and never return. He said he'd protect my family from the impending war. They're still alive now so in mind, he kept his promise and I kept mine until the war was over and he was sent to Azkaban."

Hermione had told him that Gwenog had been threatened by some Death Eaters but she never specified that one of those Death Eaters had been his own father. He doesn't know why she would hide the fact from him. It's not like he doesn't know what Lucius is capable of. He testified against him for a reason.

"I tried to go back to them once I knew that I wouldn't be putting their lives at risk but David… He was so angry. He threatened me. Told me if I ever went anywhere near him or our daughter ever again, nowhere would be safe for me. I've tried moving on but… Sophie. She's my daughter… And I really did love David. I still do when I allow myself to think back to them days... Leaving them was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." She whimpers, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths.

"Hermione had to tell David about the wizarding world last night," Draco admits.

Gwen gasps, opening her eyes to stare at him.

"Sophie has started showing some accidental magic." He carries on. "She had to explain. He knows Sophie, Hermione, me and you have magic. He didn't take it very well. He ran away but we managed to track him down. He seems to be under the impression that he can't raise a witch by himself and," Draco sighs, not agreeing with what he's about to say. "He wants to talk to you about possibly being involved in Sophie's life." He finishes.

Gwen falls to her knees, hand clutching her chest. "Are you being serious, Malfoy? Please tell me you're being serious?" She questions him breathlessly, tears filling her eyes.

"David asked me to bring you to him. He wants to speak with you now." He tells her. "As long as you want to." He adds in the off chance that she'll decline the offer.

"N-now. Of course. I- I definitely want to." She scrambles to her feet.

Draco walks at a quick pace back towards the gate with Gwenog jogging to catch up. He glances back at her and realises that she's still in her Quidditch robes and holding her broomstick. He stops suddenly bring Gwen to abrupt stop too.

"You can't wear that. He wants to meet you in a park." He explains.

Gwenog nods, unfastening her Quidditch robes to reveal a tight-fitting, long sleeve shirt underneath, tucked into her tight-fitting Quidditch trousers. Folding up her robe, she places it behind a bush with her broomstick before giving herself the once over.

"Should be alright. I haven't been in the Muggle World for a prolonged period of time since 1992. What do you think?" She asks, holding her arms up.

"I don't care." He answers honestly, turning on his heel and carrying on towards the gate.

Gwenog shouts for Dana to open the gate again, which she does, and they exit onto the country road that leads up to the stadium. He grabs hold of her wrist and, without warning, apparates to a large wooded area within the park he and Hermione had taken Sophie, Lauren and Craig a few days ago after picking them up from school.

"Where are we?" She asks nervously, glancing around at the trees.

"A Muggle park within London. I don't know what it's called." He tells her as he takes his wand out of his pocket and cast the Point Me spell for David Thomas Adair.

His wand points towards the play park he had taken Lauren and Craig to whilst Hermione had taken Sophie to the supermarket. They follow his wand north-east until they reach the edge of the wooded area. Draco pockets his wand and carries on in the general direction it had been pointing. Gwenog grabs hold of his arm, suddenly stopping him in his step. He looks over at her as he pulls his arm free.

"What?" He snaps at her.

"There he is. Sat on the bench." She mutters, nodding over to a bench opposite the children's play park.

"Come on then." He sets off again but she stops him with another hand to his arm.

"I'm not ready." She shakes her head.

"Right now, Gwenog, it's not about you. It's about Sophie. David is trying to do right by his daughter. He seems to think that he can't raise Sophie by himself because he doesn't know enough about the Wizarding world. He thinks he needs your help. I completely disagree but it's not my place to say." He glares at her, pulling his arm free once again. "Now, we're going to walk over there. You're going to sit down and talk to him." Draco orders her. "If you walk away now, I'll personally make sure that you're never given this opportunity to rebuild your relationship with Sophie ever again." He threatens seriously.

Gwenog's eyes widen in fear at the similarities between his threat and Lucius' from 1992. She nods at him quickly, walking briskly towards the bench where David's sat.

As soon as David realises somebody is walking towards him, he glances up then promptly jumps to his feet as Draco and Gwen approaches.

"David!" Gwen exclaims a couple of metres away from him, hand reaching out as though she wants to pull him into a hug but afraid of the older man's reaction.

David glances her up and down before landing on her face where he stares for a full minute. Draco stands to the side of Gwen, feeling awkwardly like how he used to in September when Blaise and the Hufflepuff he was dating would be all lovey-dovey around him whilst he tried to study in the library.

"What did you tell her?" David asks, turning to face him.

"She knows that you're aware of the wizarding world and that Sophie, Hermione, myself and Gwen have magic. She also knows why you want to speak with her." He explains.

David nods, patting him on the shoulder. "Thank you, Draco. Would you please give us some privacy?" He requests.

Draco nods, "I won't go too far. I'll sit on the next bench."

David gives him a forced smile as he heads over to the bench around twenty metres away from them. Draco watches intently as David motions for Gwenog to sit down on the bench, which she does before he sits down as far away as possible from her. He can't hear what they're talking about from where he's sat but he can make out a few words through reading their lips, such as Sophie, witch, magic, Hermione and his own name.

Almost twenty minutes later, as the boredom is slowly eating away at Draco's brain, both David and Gwen stand up, making their way over to him. He scrambles to his feet, brushing the invisible dust from his robes before meeting them halfway.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Mr Malfoy." Gwenog smiles at him sincerely then she turns to face David. "I know how reluctant you are to give me this second chance but I won't let you down, David." She promises, looking like she wants to hug David again.

"I hope for Sophie's sake that you don't let us down." He holds his hand out for her to shake.

"Thank you." She repeats as she shakes his hand enthusiastically. "I need to go but I'll see you on Sunday?" She questions.

"Yes." David answers.

"Thank you so much." She tells them both before heading back into the wooded area where she can disapparate back to the Holyhead Harpies Stadium.

Draco glances up at David expectantly who looks exhausted as he rubs his eyes then runs his hand through his greying black hair.

"So?" He asks, prompting the older man.

"That was… hard." He comments as they walk towards the nearest exit. "How is it possible for her to have gotten more beautiful in the past seven years?"

Draco blinks at him in confusion.

"Is that some sort of magic?" He asks suddenly, wondering if he's being tricked by a spell.

"No, that's all Gwenog," Draco answers, shaking his head disapprovingly. "What about Sophie? What's happening on Sunday?" He questions him.

"She's taking Sophie out for the day to your world." He replies. "Under the supervision of either you or Hermione." He adds.

"Hermione and I will be more than happy to help out." Draco nods in confirmation. "Anything for Sophie. She's the person at the centre of this mess and the only reason we're here."

David nods in agreement. "I think it's time I went home. Have a nap before Sophie comes home. Did you say Hermione was bringing her back or is Sarah?" He asks.

"I'm not sure. I asked my friend Blaise to find Hermione and tell her that we found you so she might be waiting at your house now." He explains.

"You better come with me in case then. I don't want to face an angry Hermione on my own." He jokes with a laugh which doesn't quite meet his eyes.

Draco smiles in reply as they walk back to David's car. He cautiously takes a seat on the passengers' side as David fiddles with something beneath the steering wheel. Thankfully, it only takes ten minutes to drive back to David's house. Draco hastily escapes the car as soon as it's pulled into the driveway.

"I hate those things." He grumbles as he walks up to the front door, taking his wand out to unlock it only to find it already unlocked. "Hermione!" He calls into the house after opening the door.

"Draco!" She calls back, rushing into the hallway. "Is David with you?" She asks as he pulls her into a tight hug.

"Yes, he's doing something with his car." He mutters, taking joy from being wrapped in his wife's arms. "Every time I'm in one of those things I say it the last time and yet it never is." He tells her with a sigh, making her laugh.

"Group hug!" Blaise suddenly exclaims, rushing over to them and wrapping his arms around them both tightly.

"What are you doing here?" He asks him as they all break apart.

"Keeping your wife company." He winks at him.

Hermione laughs, elbowing Blaise in the ribs. "We watched some television whilst we waited for you." She tells him. "You took a while." She adds with a small frown.

"That's my fault, dear," David announces as he enters the house, shutting the front door behind him and glancing around at the three young adults in front of him. "I'd like to speak to Hermione alone, please." He states, staring down at his niece.

"Of course," Draco nods. "Do you want us to stay here or head home?" He asks Hermione.

"Both of you head back to our house and we'll have dinner when I get home." She tells them.

Draco pulls her into another quick hug before pecking a kiss on her lips and following Blaise out of the front door where they disapparate from the side path back to the estate.

"Shall I put the kettle on?" David asks as soon as Draco and Blaise have left, shutting the front door behind them.

Hermione follows her uncle into the kitchen, taking a seat in the same seat she had sat in last night. Hopefully, this conversation would go better than the previous one had. David keeps his back to her as the kettle boils and he silently sets about making the cups of teas. Once finished, he places hers on the kitchen table then returns to the counter where he leans against it, drinking his own tea.

"Where do you want to start?" Hermione asks him after a few minutes of awkwardly staring at her uncle, who's staring down into his cup.

"Draco explained the law so I understand why you couldn't tell me until Sophie did accidental magic." He states then takes a sip from his tea.

"I didn't realise she was a witch until a few days ago, otherwise, I would have told you sooner. Whether she was showing accidental magic or not, you deserved to know as soon as she was born." She tells him.

"I spoke with Gwen, she explained about her being threatened by Draco's father. There was an impending war and he promised to protect Sophie and me if she left us and voted for something. I can understand why she left but I can't forgive her for it. Not yet anyway." He explains. "I can't raise Sophie by myself anymore." He mentions.

Hermione's breath catches as her mind wonders what exactly he's planning on doing. "Of course you can, she hasn't changed, and she's still the same little girl as she was yesterday. Draco and I will help with the magic aspect of everything. We'll show you how to get into Wizarding London so you can take her shopping and she can experience the wizarding community." She tries to convince him.

"Hermione, I can't rely on you and Draco to help me raise my daughter for the next nine years when you're both going to have a family of your own soon." He tells her, staring at her over the top of his cup. "Draco told me that you weren't together before you got married sixteen days ago and that you weren't even friends until then."

"No, we weren't." She nods in confirmation. "But we're are friends now and we're definitely moving on our way to becoming something more." She admits, failing to hold back her smile.

David laughs, "I think he's already there."

Hermione frowns at him. "What do you mean 'he's already there'?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself. I'm not one for ruining the romance." He tells her, hiding his smile behind his cup as he drinks.

She sighs, tucking her hair behind her ears. "What are you planning on doing then?" She asks. "With Sophie." She clarifies.

"Every Sunday, Gwen's going to take Sophie out for the day into the… Wizarding world. Until I can trust her again, I'd like either you or Draco to supervise. Draco said you'd both be more than happy to help." He explains.

"We are happy to help." She agrees with a smile. "I'm glad you're giving Gwenog a second chance. Sophie deserves to know her mother and our world." She says.

"Draco didn't seem too happy by the idea. I get the feeling that he doesn't like Gwen." He mentions.

"Draco doesn't exactly have a great relationship with his parents. His father's in prison and his mother threatened me and our future child." Hermione starts to explain.

"What?" David frowns angrily.

"It's fine. Draco took care of it and I'm confident I can handle her myself if it comes to that." She reassures him. "Draco doesn't forgive easily and doesn't give many second chances."

"Wasn't he given a second chance? He said he was on the wrong side of your war, shouldn't he be in prison with his father." David raises a questioning eyebrow.

"It's difficult to explain. Draco certainly did some terrible things during the war but he never killed anyone or tortured anyone. He couldn't. He did force a couple of people through magic to do his bidding which should have landed him in Azkaban but he testified against his father who would have gotten away with far worse after paying off the witnesses. He was given a second chance by the Minister of Magic but Draco doesn't think he deserves it." Hermione explains as best she can.

"Do you think he deserves a second chance?" David asks.

Hermione's bear arms run cold with goose bumps. Does she think Draco deserves his second chance? He did do some terrible things during the war. Things that he regrets. They all did things during the war that they regret. Shouldn't the fact that Draco regrets what he did prove that he deserves his second chance. Lucius, at his trial, didn't regret a single thing. He denied a lot of what he did and for the things he admitted to, he said he did them for the greater good of wizardkind. Draco's not as similar to his father as he and most people think.

"Yes, I do think he deserves his second chance and I'm going to do everything I can to make him realise that he does deserve it," Hermione answers honestly.

"Do you love him?" He asks her suddenly.

Hermione laughs, taken aback by the question. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I- I don't know." She shrugs, feeling the heat rise up her neck and blushing her cheeks. "I know I'm falling for him but I don't know if I love him yet." She admits, looking down at her empty cup.

David just chuckles, shaking his head as he finishes his own cup of tea. "I'll pick Sophie up from your parents' house around half six after I've taken a nap. I'll explain everything to her. Gwen's coming over at half ten on Sunday and I've told her I want her home by five o'clock so she can have a bath before school on Monday." He explains.

Hermione nods, "Draco and I will come over for the same time." She says as she stands up, taking her cup over to the sink. "I leave you to your nap then." She tells him, heading towards the front door.

David locks his front door behind her once she gave him a quick hug and bid him goodbye. She heads over to the path beside his house and disapparates home.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	58. Chapter 58

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 58 for you!
> 
> Thank you for all your birthday wishes. I had a great day out with my family.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

When Hermione enters her living room, after taking her shoes off in the hallway, she finds Blaise and Draco lounging on the couch, laughing at something Pansy, who's sat in the armchair wearing a midnight blue evening gown, has just said. They've already gotten the remainder of the firewhisky out that hadn't been drunk last night.

"A Slytherin get together?" She asks, running her hand through Draco's hair as she stands behind him.

Draco glances up at her lovingly and she thinks she understands what David had meant when he'd said that Draco's already there. Her hand pauses in his hair at the realisation that her husband might already be in love with her. She smiles down at him before taking a seat in the other armchair.

"Yeah, and there's no Gryffindor's allowed." Blaise jokes, sticking his tongue out at her.

"I guess I won't buy you all dinner then. I'll just get myself some." She makes to stand up.

"Great, I came around here for nothing." Pansy rolls her eyes, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm glad you changed your mind, Pansy. Sophie really liked you, she wouldn't stop talking about how much fun she had with you." Hermione tells her.

"If you're trying to sweeten me up to babysit her again, it's not working. I'm shattered and I only had her for three hours. I can wait to have my own kids." She mentions.

"You can't though, can you? You've only got twenty-three months, twelve days," Blaise glances at his watch. "Seven hours and forty-three minutes to get pregnant with your weasel."

Pansy pulls a face at him and Draco when they both burst out laughing.

"Well my weasel's being an idiot at the moment so he'll be waiting twelve days, seven hours and," She checks her own watch. "thirty-nine minutes until we try again." She states.

"What's he done now?" Draco groans with a smile.

"Trying to play the husband card. 'I'm your husband, you have to tell me who she is, what has she got to do with Hermione, why does 'Mione trust you.'" She laughs. "Honey, I'm not telling you anything so stop asking." She rolls her eyes.

"You could have told him. I'm not trying to keep her a secret. Gwenog's bringing her to the wizarding world on Sunday anyway so people are going to know about her sooner or later." Hermione shrugs.

"Gwenog who? Jones? No way." Pansy sits up abruptly with a massive smile on her face. "Gwenog Jones is Sophie's mother. I can't believe it. It all makes sense. Her absence from the public eyes in 1992. Oh, Merlin." She laughs. "This is too good."

"Didn't I tell you?"

"Nope, you didn't even tell me her mother was a witch. All you said was Sophie was a witch and her father didn't take the reveal very well. I assumed she was a Muggle-born." Pansy tells her. "Did you know?" She turns to ask Blaise.

"Yeah, Draco told me yesterday. I had pretty much the same reaction just not as enthusiastically." He shrugged. "Do you think we can get free tickets out of her?" He questions.

"We are not using my connection to Gwenog to get free Quidditch match tickets," Hermione warns him.

"Yeah, Blaise, stay focused," Pansy tells him with a roll of her eyes.

"We were all thinking it." Blaise pouts, crossing his arms.

"But you were the one to ask." Draco points out.

"Wow, thanks for your support, mate." He shoves Draco's shoulder who pushes him back.

"Boys, eh?" Pansy sighs, rolling her eyes as Draco and Blaise push each other on the couch. "Shall we go get dinner?" She suggests.

"Yeah," Hermione stands up. "Hey boys, we're going for dinner, you can set the table." She tells them and they stop fighting to nod.

"Come on, Pansy." She calls Pansy into the hallway where they both pull on their shoes before walking back through the house and leaving out the back door. "Were they like this in the Slytherin common room?" She asks her.

"Oh, they were much worse. I'm glad I didn't have to share a dorm room with them." She laughs. "Goyle said they broke a bed post once whilst they were 'playfully' shoving each other."

"Well if they break anything, they better fix it before we get back," Hermione warns jokingly as they walk across the grass towards The Pentagon.

Pansy lifts her dress up so it doesn't drag across the grass. "I wish I'd gone home and changed but I didn't want to see Ronald. I hope you don't mind me changing my mind." She says.

"I told you, I'm glad you changed your mind. Did something happen at your parents' house?" She asks.

"There was an article in the Daily Prophet about the Potter's pregnancy announcement and my name was mentioned as being in attendance. Father doesn't seem to think that my being married to a Weasley is a good enough excuse to actually associate with them and the likes of them." She glances pointedly at Hermione.

"Who would he rather you associate with?" She asks.

"At the moment, nobody." She scoffs a laugh. "You've tainted Draco, he was never too keen on Blaise because of his Mother and Gregory's moved to America." She shrugs.

"Well, I'm glad you're not listening to him. It's nice to have another girl around to talk to." Hermione smiles, nudging her shoulder friendly.

Pansy rolls her eyes sarcastically before narrowing them as she smirks at Hermione. "Speaking of you tainting Draco, please tell me you've noticed the looks he was giving you back there."

Hermione feels her cheeks blush deeply. "I saw the way he looked at me when I walked in." She admits. "My Uncle David seems to think that he's already in love with me." She adds.

"Oh, Honey," Pansy stares at her sympathetically. "Of course he's in love with you."

"It's only been sixteen days, Pansy." She reminds her.

"Fine," She rolls her eyes. "He thinks he's in love with you. He's never been in love before so he's probably confusing his feeling for you as being in love but he does love you and he knows he loves you." Pansy explains. "Do you love him?" She asks, watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She mutters, making Pansy snicker. "I don't love him yet but I know I'm falling for him and it won't take long." She admits, her blush deepening.

"Is that what you tell everyone?" She asks with a smirk.

"Moving on." She says quickly, turning to face Pansy. "How are you and Ron?" She asks.

Pansy sighs. "Things have gotten better since his mother kicked him out of the Burrow and you had a talk with him that morning." She admits.

"Really?" She questions doubtfully.

"Well, he doesn't talk to me much which is better than all the shouting we used to do. He eats the food I make us instead of accusing me of trying to poison him." She barks a laugh. "Like I'd actually poison him. If I wanted to go to Azkaban I would have refused to marry him in the first place." She shakes her head and her shoulder length, black hair falls out of its clip. "I'm sick of this hair." She mutters, clipping it back into place. "I'm trying to grow it out with a potion but it's taking forever." She sighs.

"Why don't you just use the hair lengthening charm?" Hermione suggests.

"This might come as a shock to you but… I was never that good at charms. I barely scraped by with an Acceptable in my NEWT." She admits.

"I'll do it for you." Hermione offers, taking her wand out of her pocket.

"What? Now!" Pansy glances around their surroundings.

"Yeah, why not? I know the charm. I used it on Ginny after she received a terrible haircut." She tells her. "And… it might come as a shock to you but…" She smiles. "I got an O in my charms NEWT."

"Wow, I am in complete and utter shock, Miss Smartest-Witch-Of-Her-Age." Pansy jokes with a laugh.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "It's actually Miss Brightest-Witch-Of-Her-Age but I'll let you off." She corrects her jokingly as they reach The Pentagon.

Pansy pushes the door open for them. As soon as they enter, they are greeted by a very smiley waiter holding two menus in one hand and his notepad and pen in the other.

"Table for two?" He asks them.

"No, we'd like to order some food for takeout," Hermione tells him.

"And some wine," Pansy adds. "That firewhisky isn't going to last all night." She mentions when Hermione looks at her.

"Of course, have a look at the menus and I'll be back over in a minute to take your order." He hands them a menu each before leaving to refill another customer's water jug with a tap of his wand.

"What should we get then?" Hermione asks, looking at the different dishes in front of them.

The Pentagon had become famous around the estate with many people bringing their families from outside for a night out. The menus simply listed all the dishes, in order of country of origin, which the chefs specialised in but as stated at the bottom of the menu, 'For a price, our highly qualified and experienced chefs can prepare any dish that you can think of.

"I'm feeling like… Indian tonight? What about you?" Pansy glances over the top of her menu.

"Yeah, I could go for an Indian. Should we just get the Indian special for four? We get a variety of dishes that we can all just share." She suggests.

"Sounds good." Pansy agrees just as the waiter returns with his notepad and pen at the ready to take their order.

"Are you ready to order?" He asks with his smile.

"Yeah, could we have the Indian special for four?" Hermione orders.

The waiter nods as he writes their order down.

"And three bottle of whichever wine goes best with it," Pansy adds.

"That'll be thirteen galleons and fifteen sickles." The waiter announces after adding up the prices.

"This is the last time I ask for your and Blaise's help." Hermione jokes as she takes fourteen galleons out of her money bag and tells the waiter to keep the change as a tip.

"Thanks 'Mione." Pansy sings sweetly making Hermione laugh.

They sit on a bench next to the door whilst they wait for their order to be made. Hermione turns to face Pansy, taking her wand out of her pocket again.

"Do you want me to do your hair?" She asks with a slight smirk.

"Right here?" She raises a questioning eyebrow before laughing. "Okay, fine. Do it." She gives her permission as she unclips her hair and shakes it free.

"How long do you want it?"

"To around here." She points hallway between her shoulder and elbow.

Hermione nods, placing the tip of her wand in the centre of her scalp and muttering the spell for the hair lengthening charm. Pansy sits still as her hair grows slowly down her back until it reaches where she pointed to on her arm and Hermione removes her wand.

"How does that look?" Hermione asks, pointing to the mirror above the bench that they're sat on.

Pansy stands up, shaking her hair over her shoulders as she glances at herself from different angles. "I'm not sure. I look weird."

"Maybe you just have to get used to it." She suggests, pocketing her wand. "I think you look great." She adds.

"Thanks," Pansy mutters. "Does long hair always feel this heavy?" She asks, sitting back down. "I feel like my head's being weighed down." She admits as she clips half of her hair back.

"Yeah, but you'll get used to it. It's a big difference to what you had. It's bound to feel and look weird at first." She explains and Pansy nods in agreement.

Five minutes later, the waiter returns with a bag full of their food and wine then they're on their way back home. When they enter through the back door, they find the kitchen table set with four wine glasses out ready. Hermione and Pansy set the bags on the kitchen table as they place the containers on the table ready for everyone to share.

"I told you they wouldn't forget more alcohol." Blaise states as both he and Draco come in from the living room.

Blaise takes a seat whilst Draco uncorks one of the bottles of wine and sets about filling the four glasses. Pansy joins Blaise on his side of the table whilst Hermione sets the last container of chicken curry on the table.

"Before we eat, I would just like to thank you all for your help today. I would never have been able to look after Sophie and track David without all of you. I owe you all a favour." She smiles thankfully at them all before taking a seat next to Draco, who takes her hand in his own.

"You don't owe us anything, you're our friend and we're happy to help," Blaise tells her.

"I would like to confirm that you are our friend but I will be cashing in that favour at some point in the future." Pansy smiles sweetly at her. "Can we eat now? I left my parents before dinner was served." She asks.

"Yes, help yourself." Hermione chuckles as Pansy and Blaise both dig in, fighting over the bag of naan bread.

Draco squeezes her hand, bring her attention to him. He leans into her ear. "You don't owe me anything, Hermione. I'm your husband, I'd do anything you ask." He whispers making her stomach flutter and her cheeks blush again.

"I'd still like to repay you later tonight one our friend have left." She whispers back before kissing his cheek close to his ear, making him shudder.

"Do you mind?" Pansy asks.

"Yeah, some of us are trying to eat here." Blaise jokes.

Both of them blush as they quickly apologise and fill their plates with rice, curry, bhajis and naan bread.

Once everyone has finished eating, Blaise grabs the remaining bottle of wine and pulls Hermione onto the couch beside him whilst Draco and Pansy trail behind them, sitting in the free armchairs.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, what lies ahead?" He asks, refilling everyone's glasses up.

"What do you mean?" She asks with a frown.

"Well, I can't picture you sat behind a desk in the Ministry for the next fifty years." He clarifies.

"I can't imagine I'd be offered a job in the Ministry anytime soon. Especially after what we've done." She smirks, sharing a glance with Draco who chuckles.

"I highly doubt it." He mutters.

"Care to explain?" Pansy raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Has this got anything to do with you bribing Kingsley?" Blaise asks.

"Draco!" Pansy gasps in shock.

"Mr Zabini, he is aware that due to his position within the Order during the war that he is on a first name basis with many people, including our wives. However, has he ever referred to you as Blaise? He would appreciate it if you didn't refer to him as Kingsley, especially whilst he is talking to a colleague." Draco announces in what is actually a good impression of the Minister.

"Did he tell you that?" She asks him.

"Can we please go back to the part where Draco risked imprisonment to bribe the Minister of Magic?" Pansy asks, looking distressed.

"I needed access to the Department of Registration's archives and the Minister needed me to testify against a few Death Eaters. It's very much a win/win situation." He shrugs.

"Okay," Pansy stares between Draco and Hermione. "Are you going to elaborate on why you needed access to the archives?"

Draco glances at Hermione, asking for permission, to which she nods.

"Hermione needed to check the family tree of one of her distant ancestors. Although, our unlimited and unsupervised access has become useful on more than one occasion. It is how we discovered that Gwenog was Sophie's mother, that Sophie was a witch, and that I have a squib Uncle that my grandfather tried to hide from the whole wizarding world." Draco explains and Hermione thinks he might have had too much to drink since he's speaking so carelessly about Hyperion.

Pansy watched Draco for a moment as he downs the rest of his wine before refilling his glass.

"Did you know about this?" She turns to ask Blaise.

"Yeah, he told me the other day. It's wild, isn't it?" He shrugs.

"This is a lot of information to process," Pansy mutters as she leans back in the armchair, sipping at her glass of wine.

"Have you had any luck on trying to find Hyperion?" Blaise asks Draco and Pansy scoffs.

"I haven't really thought about it much. We've been busy with David." Draco explains.

Pansy sits up suddenly, wine sloshing around her glass. "You risked imprisonment, with your father, to help Hermione check her ancestry?" She asks.

Blaise rolls his eyes. "You're just jealous because your Weasel wouldn't do the same for you." He snipes at her.

"We've talked plenty about my relationship and theirs," She nods at Draco and Hermione. "What about your relationship?" She smirks at him.

"What about it?" He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Have you even heard from her since she left?" She asks, trying to sound innocent.

"No, but it's only been three days and I suppose she's busy with her father." He states.

"You've been dating for how long now? Since Halloween last year? These two have been together sixteen days. Do you think they could go even a day without sending each other little notes?" She questions him.

Blaise grumbles something intelligible as he sinks further into the couch. Hermione's not sure whether she should be offended by Pansy's claim that she and Draco couldn't spend a day apart without any contact. She glances at Draco to find him hiding a smile behind his wine glass.

The rest of the night passes quickly with more drinking, chatting and laughing. Around half past twelve, Blaise and Pansy finally leave, stumbling down the street towards their houses, laughing far too loud for the time of night.

Whilst Draco locks the door behind their friends, Hermione heads into the kitchen to tidy up. However, she is distracted by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her waist and pulling her into a tight hug. Draco rests his chin on her shoulder as he leans into her ear.

"It would be so much easier to tidy this mess with a flick of your wand." He mutters, picking her wand up off the kitchen table and holding it up for her to take.

"I've told you I like to do some things the Muggle way. I don't want to become too dependent on magic." She shakes her head and tries to pull away to continue tidying up.

"Well, it's too late for me. I've never known life without magic and I have no qualms about doing this." He mutters, simply flicking her wand.

She watches in amazement at how fluidly the dishes find their way to the sink and the rubbish to the bin. She turns around in Draco's hug, staring up at him with a soft smile.

"I have to admit, I didn't think it would work that well." He smiles down at her, placing her wand back on the table. "Do you know how intimate it is to use your partner's wand?" He asks her gently and she shakes her head. "Especially within pureblood families, the ability to use your spouse's wand as if it were your own is seen as evidence that the union is true." He explains, entwining their hands together.

"Are you trying to tell me that you view our marriage as real and not an enforcement by the Ministry?" She asks.

"I'm trying to tell you that you are my wife and I am your husband and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible." He admits.

"That's the second time you've called yourself my husband in the past five hours." She comments.

"I'm proud to be your husband and I hope one day, you'll be proud to be my wife." He says.

"Oh, Draco," She inhales sharply, brings her hands up to caress his cheek and the back of his neck. "I'm already so proud to be your wife. The past sixteen days have been some of the best I've had in a long time and that's all down to you. I hope you know that I appreciate you so much." She tells him, tears in her eyes as Draco blinks back his own.

Without giving him time to respond, she pulls him down into a passionate kiss. His hands finding their way to her hips where he can pull her closer so their whole bodies are pressed together. She can feel the wetness from his tears on her own cheek as he pushes her back until she's pressed against the table where he lifts her up so she can sit and wrap her legs around his hips, pulling him closer as their kiss deepens. Draco breaks their kiss to catch his breath but doesn't wait long before leaning her down onto her back where he has better access to her neck which he kisses, nips and licks to his heart's content, whilst Hermione drags her hands through his hair, pulling him closer.

"Draco!" She moans, guiding his lips back to her own where she licks her way into his open mouth.

"Oh, Merlin!" Draco sighs breathlessly as they break for breath once more.

Hermione pushes him away slightly, sitting back up and sliding off the table. "I think it's bedtime." She tells him with a coy smirk as she drags him through the living room and up the stairs into their bedroom.

She pulls him into a chaste kiss before pushing him down onto the bed where he leans back on his elbows, staring up at her with a mixture of shock and arousal. She climbs atop of him, straddling his lap as she sets about unbuttoning his shirt, kissing her way down his chest as she goes.

"You're so beautiful." She mutters as she pushes the shirt off his shoulders and drags her nails down his bare chest.

Draco blushes furiously, letting himself fall onto his back as he covers his face with his hands in embarrassment.

"It's true." She whispers as she kisses her way along his jawline to his ear. "I don't think ever seen anyone as beautiful as you right now." She mutters, dragging his earlobe between her teeth, eliciting a soft moan from the man beneath her.

Draco snakes his hands beneath her shirt, caressing her body affectionately before lifting her shirt up over her head. He fumbles with her bra before pulling their naked chests together and flipping her onto her back. He kisses his way from her clavicle, between her breasts, down to her navel then back up again before capturing her lips with his own.

"I love you." He gasps into her lips.

Hermione freezes at the unexpected confession. Draco seems to realise what he said as he breaks all contact, rolling off her to lie beside her on their bed.

"I apologise." He admits with a deep sigh as he rubs his face in exasperation.

"You love me," Hermione mutters, staring up at the ceiling.

"I didn't mean to say that," Draco tells her.

Hermione turns on her side, pulling his hands away from his face and clasping them in her own.

"But you did mean it, didn't you?" She asks, watching his face intently.

He closes his eyes and scrunches his face up seemingly try to decide whether to backtrack or just admit the truth and face the consequences. He opens his eyes with a sigh, turning to face Hermione. He removes one of his hands from her clasp to caress her cheek.

"Whenever you look at me or whenever I think about you, my heart feels so heavy with the love I feel for you." He admits, his face showing his raw emotions. "You don't have to say it back. I know you don't feel the same way yet." He mumbles, looking down at their enclosed hands.

"Draco, please look at me." She implores and she glances back up, making eye contact. "I may not love you yet but I know it's not going to take me much longer. We've only been together for sixteen days and I'm honestly surprised that I even like you but I do. I like you so much. I more than like you, I fancy you." She admits.

"You fancy me?" Draco chuckles. "Are you really using third-year expressions to explain your feelings to me?" He teases her.

"I'm starting to fancy you less." She jokes, rolling away from him slightly.

"No, you're not." He smiles, pulling her into a tight embrace. "You like like me." He whispers into her neck making her laugh.

"I don't know why you're teasing me, Mr I-Love-You." She teases him back.

Draco freezes for a second before relaxing again. "Please don't tell anyone I said it first."

"Why not, it's adorable." She tells him.

"I have a certain family reputation to uphold in the wizarding world. A reputation where people don't use the word 'adorable' to describe me." He explains with an air of aristocracy about him

"Speaking of family reputations being upheld…" She states, glancing away from his face. "Have you thought any more about finding Hyperion?" She asks him, feeling nervous.

Draco stiffens for a moment as he thinks. "I'm not sure what else I can do. If the Ministry doesn't have any information in their archives then I doubt anyone else will know about his existence. Especially with my grandparents. They were rather good at keeping family secrets within the family." He explains.

"You're thinking about this too much from a wizarding viewpoint. Hyperion has lived in the muggle world for the past forty-three years. If you want to find him, we need to search for him from a muggle viewpoint." She explains.

"How exactly do we do that then?" Draco wonders aloud.

"The same way my Uncle David found Katrina Rowle." She states as an idea starts to form.

"By creating a family tree?" Draco frowns. "I already know his entire family and I don't see how that's going to help us."

"You're thinking in the wizarding world again. You know his entire magical family. You don't know if he got married and had children. Maybe he has grandchildren now. If he didn't get married, he might have learnt to drive a car and therefore have a driving license. He probably bought a house and therefore has a mortgage. He might have a passport. David will know how to find all this information. He's already found all of it for our ancestors, I'm sure he'll be able to find it for Hyperion as well." She explains.

"So we ask David to help us track Hyperion down the Muggle way." He repeats in clarification.

"Yeah, after everything you did for him today with Gwenog I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help us. Although, he'll need as much information as we can to get started. Are you sure there's no evidence in the Manor? Or maybe a pureblooded family that your grandparents were close to that might remember Hyperion?" Hermione asks.

Draco stares up at the ceiling for a long time, lost in his own thoughts as he thinks. Hermione lets him think as she draws circles and patterns on his bare chest until he still her with his own hand.

"I suppose I can have another look in both attics at the Manor for anything but I'm sure my grandfather would make sure any evidence of Hyperion's existence was destroyed." He mentions.

"But you found that book that had his name in it. Your grandfather can't have done that good of a job." She points out.

Draco nods in agreement. "The Malfoy's have always been quite close to the Parkinson family. Pansy's father is a few years older than Lucius so he might remember something. There's also Professor Slughorn. He was in the year above my grandfather and in true Slughorn style, he struck up an acquaintanceship with him early on in the Hogwarts career." He suggests.

"That sounds promising." She admits. "Have you any plans tomorrow? We could start searching for information then ask David on Sunday for some help whilst I'm supervising Sophie and Gwenog's day out." She suggests.

Draco nods. "Do you want to come with me to the Manor? I understand if you don't want to."

Hermione hesitates. On the one hand she'd love to get another look in the Manor's attics and see Mitty again but on the other hand, she doesn't want to be in that close proximity to Narcissa. Although, Draco will be there with her and he doubts he'll ever leave her alone with her again. Not after what happened last time.

"Mother never goes into the kitchen. You could sneak in through the kitchen door and I'll meet you in there. We'll go up the old servants' staircase." He suggests.

"Okay." She agrees but she's still unsure.

"I'll get Mitty to keep her busy whilst we make our way up to the attic and if need be, you can cast the disillusionment charm." He adds.

"Alright, I'll come. I'm just not ready to come face to face with your mother yet." She admits.

"It'll be fine. I won't leave you alone. I'll be there to protect you." He kisses her forehead with a smile.

"I don't need protecting thank you very much." She scoffs jokingly, turning her head away from him.

"Don't I know it? Sometimes, I can still feel that punch you gave me in third year." He tries to say seriously but ends up laughing.

"You did deserve it." She mutters, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I think we should get into bed. You look tired." He tells her, unwrapping his arms from around her.

"It's been a very long and stressful day. What do you expect?" She mutters, stifling a yawn as she climbs off the bed and blushes as she realises she's still half naked.

Draco turns down the bed sheets, kicks his trousers off then climbs into bed just in his underwear. Trying not to feel embarrassed, Hermione takes off her jeans then hurriedly climbs under the quilt. Draco pulls her straight into her arms where he kisses her flushed cheeks.

"Are you embarrassed?" He asks her teasingly.

"No." She mutters, blushing deeper. "Yes," She admits.

"No need to be." He whispers, nuzzling his face in her bushy hair. "You're beautiful." He adds.

Hermione chuckles in embarrassment as she buries her head in his chest, telling him to shut up.

Draco continues to play with her hair as she drifts off into a pleasantly dreamless sleep and he falls deeper into his thoughts.

He does want to find Hyperion but he doesn't know if he's ready. His biggest worry is that his uncle will be just like Lucius. After all, they were both raised by Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy.

He may not remember much about his grandparents since his grandmother died before he was born and his grandfather died when he was just seven years old. He does know a lot about them though. Especially his grandfather, a very prejudice and hateful man who was the Dark Lord's largest monetary supporter during the first wizarding world.

His grandfather believed that Hogwarts should only teach pure-blooded and non-traitorous families to protect the future of the wizarding. He tried to convince the Dark Lord on the matter but to no avail. He explained how the wizarding world would always need half-bloods and traitorous families to do the demeaning job within the world. Even to his dying day, his grandfather always boasted about how the Dark Lord admired his unwavering commitment to his cause.

Could anyone be raised for nine years by a man like that and not be affected for the rest of their life? What if David can't track him down? What if Hyperion found a secluded part of the Muggle world he hates to live in alone and there's no one in the world who knows of his existence?

Draco thinks about the only two people he can recall who may know about his existence. He highly doubts that they'll know anything about Hyperion past his disappearance from the wizarding world. Professor Slughorn will gladly sit them down with a cup of tea and tell them stories of his grandfather and grandmother for an hour before they get anything about Hyperion out of him. Mr Parkinson, on the other hand, will want something in return for his knowledge, which will most likely be very limited. Draco will find something priceless in the attic to gift the man with. It's not as though he has any use for the, most likely illegal, artefacts up there.

He glances down at Hermione who's snoring softly against his chest. He could tell that she wanted to suggest visiting Lucius again and she grateful that she didn't because he really didn't want to have another argument with her about it. He knows that visiting Lucius could prove very useful and could potentially cut the time it will take David to track Hyperion down but he can't bring himself to actually visit him. Not after everything Lucius did and how hard Draco's worked to change himself.

He supposes he'll have to trust the David will do his best to find out as much as he can about his Uncle Hyperion and if they do end up finding him, he'll decide then whether he wants to introduce himself or not. For now, though, he tries to clear his mind so he can fall asleep and be well rested for the day ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August Uploads
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> \- 15th 
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> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
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> Thank you so much for reading.
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> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	59. Chapter 59

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 59 for you!
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

The previous day had been so very long and stressful that when Hermione is woken up at eight o'clock in the morning with the sun blaring through the window, she simply flicks her hand to wandlessly and non-verbally close the curtains before snuggling back down into Draco's side.

Two hours later, Draco wakes up annoyed at how hot he is under their quilt with Hermione clinging to his chest, legs entwined with his own. He quickly flings the quilt off them, exposing them both to the warm, stuffy air. With a groan, he grabs his wand from his bedside table and flicks it at the window, which opens, allowing a soft breeze into their room, fanning the curtains and caressing their mostly naked bodies.

He sighs contently as he nuzzles his head into his wife's thick, bushy hair which tickles his neck. Draco smiles as he presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, causing her to stir.

"Morning." He greets her when she opens her eyes, his voice rough from sleep.

"Good morning." She mutters in reply, closing her eyes again as she tries to bury closer to him. "What time is it?" She asks with a yawn.

He glances at the clock on the wall. "It's just after ten o'clock." He answers then clears his throat.

Hermione groans. "What a wasted morning?"

"We deserve to have a lazy morning." He tells her. "Yesterday was rather stressful." He reminds her.

She nods against his chest. "You make an excellent point. Maybe we should stay here for a little while longer." She mutters.

"If you're still tired, you can go back to sleep. I'll wake you in an hour for some breakfast." He suggests.

"Don't leave. You're comfortable." She nods, reaching down to pull the quilt back over them. "It's chilly." She adds.

"Do you want me to close the window?" He offers.

"No, it's alright for now." She shakes her head. "I'll just have a short nap. Half an hour at the most." She tells him.

An hour and a half later, Hermione wakes up to find herself still wrapped around Draco, who is now spread out across their bed with his right leg sticking out of their quilt.

"Draco," She sits up, wrapping herself in their quilt as she shakes his shoulder, waking him up. "We should probably get up. It's half past eleven." She tells him when he finally opens his eyes.

"What?" He glances around the room, seemingly lost.

"It's half past eleven." She repeats. "We napped for over an hour." She adds as she slips out of bed, pulling on her dressing robe, tying it around her waist. "What would you like for breakfast?" She asks him, brushing her hair back into a messy ponytail and tying it back with a bobble before opening their wardrobe.

Draco hums as he closes his eyes and stretches his limbs out across their bed. Once he's satisfyingly stretched out, he rolls onto his side, leaning on his elbow to watch as Hermione pulls a blue flowery dress out of their wardrobe.

"I was supposed to make you breakfast." He mentions, staring as she disrobes then steps into the dress, zipping it up to her mid-back.

Without Hermione needing to ask, he climbs out of bed, walks over to his wife where he brushes her ponytail to the side to allow him access to the back of her dress. He softly kisses her exposed skin before zipping the dress the rest of the way up.

"Beautiful." He mutters, kissing the back of her neck.

He watches in delight as her gaze flickers to the ground as she blushes before meeting his again.

"How long do you think we'll be at the Manor for? We could grab some lunch afterwards instead." She suggests.

"Mother never goes into the kitchen. I'm sure Mitty would be more than happy to make us some sandwiches for lunch. We can take them up to the attic with us." Draco counter-suggests, pulling a pair of robes out of his side of the wardrobe.

"Like a picnic?" Hermione questions, sitting down at the dressing table. "In the attic?"

"Sure, I can ask Mitty to acquire a picnic blanket from somewhere." He smiles, leaning over Hermione's shoulder to fix his collar.

Hermione shakes her head as she chuckles. "Okay, but I really don't want to have to spend more time in the Manor than we need too. Especially with your Mother in the house." She tells him.

"She won't know you're there." He promises her as he slicks his hair back with his hand and casting the hair gelling spell to keep it back.

She stares up at his reflection in the mirror. "That takes me back to our first year." She chuckles.

He rolls his eye as he moves away from the mirror. "I haven't used even a third of the amount of gel I used to use." He admits as he leaves their bedroom to brush his teeth in the bathroom.

Hermione chuckles as she follows to brush her teeth beside him. Once they're finished, they head downstairs. Draco lets Athena out of her cage for a fly around whilst he refills her food and Hermione refills her water. Five minutes later, they're both walking, hand in hand, towards the gate of the estate. Hermione squeezes his hand tighter than necessary as they disapparate.

Narcissa is lounging on her Versailles chaise longue, deeply invested in her book when a sharp rap echoes from the foyer. Whoever knocks upon a door in such a way must surely mean business. She places her book upon the side table as she stands up, wrapping her long, satiny robe around her waist and strolls out into the foyer.

"Gharther, be excused." She announces to her house-elf, who bows so deeply his nose is squashed to the carpeted foyer. She nods and he scurries away.

Glancing down with an air of indignation at her son, she pulls the door further open, turns on her heel and walks into the main reception room that was once used to house important visitors such as the Minister for Magic, foreign dignitaries and even the Dark Lord himself. Narcissa sits upon the edge of her dusty pink armchair, crossing her legs at the knees, leaving the mint green love seat for Draco, who frowns for the slightest moment before taking a seat.

"My Draco," She smiles lovingly at him, gently caressing the locket he had gifted her for her fortieth birthday four years earlier. She was yet to remove the pendant from its place around her neck. "Tell me why you've visited your Mother so little this past fortnight?" She questions him lightly.

"You know perfectly well, Mother, why I feel so reluctant to visit you as of recently." Her own son has the audacity to glower at her as he speaks.

Narcissa maintains eye contact with her son for a prolonged moment. She can see the change behind his eyes. She considers the thought as she smooths the skirt of her satin robe out over her knee.

"I never foresaw the day that my own son, my own flesh and blood, would place the needs of some… woman." She spits acrimoniously. "Above that of his dear Mother." She adds, hand upon her heart.

"That woman… is my wife." Draco corrects her with an air of forced calm. He must have come here for a specific reason.

Narcissa sighs as she stands up and circles around to the back of her armchair, casually leaning against the back. "Then why are you here and not with her?

"I wish to have lunch with Mitty and take another look around the attic." He admits, his back straightening with pride.

She takes a moment to examine him. No, he's not the same boy who stood in front of the Wizengamot and testified against his father. Nor is he the same boy who left for Hogwarts in September after she had begged him not to. Nor is he the same boy who returned from Hogwarts at the end of May. At each of these moments within the past year, Narcissa was able to see the different stages of change within her son. She had hoped the Marriage Decree would work out in their favour. She had hoped he would have been paired with Pansy or Daphne. She would have accepted any pure blooded, Slytherin girl who's family held the correct beliefs. Her son's pairing couldn't have been worse for their reputations. Not only was he paired with a mudblood and a Gryffindor but the mudblood, Gryffindor that worked so very closely with the Chosen One to bring about the demise of the Dark Lord. Narcissa chuckles to herself as she breaks their eye contact and makes her way around to the back of the couch. Of course, Draco was no longer a boy but a man. A man who obviously had been ensnared by the enticing body of a woman.

"Do you see the Pansy often?" She asks, placing her hands upon his shoulders and squeezing gently.

Draco glances over his shoulders up at her in slight confusion. "I see her frequently enough." He admits.

Narcissa nods, giving her son a final squeeze of the shoulder before walking around to sit beside him on the couch. The Parkinson's had once been the perfect family for them to marry Draco into. They had never strayed from the correct beliefs, even during the unfortunate fall of the Dark Lord. However, due to the enforcement of the Marriage Decree, that prospective avenue was out of the question. Although, that didn't mean that a strong friendship could not be made between the two younger members of the families. Narcissa makes a note to have Mrs Parkinson over for afternoon tea and discuss having her daughter help keep Draco on the correct path forward.

"Are you taking steps in building a strong alliance with the girl? Her family could one day make a very powerful ally." She states with a pointed nod.

Draco shakes his head as he stands up, pacing away from her.

"Mother, the world in which you know has changed. The future isn't about making allies, it's about making friends. We're no longer preparing for an impending war, we're planning for future generations. You may not like it, Mother, but the children of the 'Pure' are no longer following in your footsteps. We're making our own decisions as best we can to make a better world for our children to grow up in. A world without prejudice and discrimination." Draco states emotionally as he continues to pace in front of her.

He's further changed than she had expected. She doesn't know what that woman has done to him but she's confident it can be undone. After all, he was raised for eighteen years the correct way. It will take more than seventeen days of marriage to erase his true beliefs.

"Perhaps you shall invite Pansy over for dinner, build upon your… friendship." She suggests.

"If you must know, Mother, Hermione and I had Pansy and Blaise over for dinner last night. Our friendship is stronger than it ever has been before due to the fact that we're no longer under the watchful eye of our parents and guardians." He snaps angrily at her before realising who he's talking to.

Draco takes a deep breath to calm himself, nods at her then turns abruptly on his heel and leaves the room. Narcissa lets him go. He'll need some space to calm down and if that means eating lunch with his house-elf and then spending a few hours in their attic alone, then so be it. He might find some interesting literature in the attic that will guide him back to the correct beliefs of their family.

Draco angrily storms through the foyer towards the kitchen where he knows Hermione will be waiting for him with Mitty. He throws the door open, letting it slam against the counter, making Hermione, Mitty and Gharther jump. He apologises as he takes a seat beside Hermione at the kitchen table.

"What happened?" She asks, pulling his hand into hers on her lap to comfort him.

He laughs as he shakes his head. "Just Narcissa being Narcissa." He turns to face Gharther who's making bread at one of the counters. "Gharther, I don't need to tell you to not tell my Mother about Hermione's presence here, do I?" He asks, scowling at the house-elf.

"N-no, Master Draco." He stutters, bowing deeply to the kitchen tiles. Not as deeply as for his Mother, Draco notices but he knows the house-elf won't say anything in fear.

"Thank you, Gharther." He nods at him and he quickly goes back to kneading the dough for the bread.

"Mistress Hermione tells Mitty that Master Draco and Mistress are having picnic in attic. Mitty think attic is dusty and get onto sandwiches." Mitty states, her large eyes staring up at him.

"We'll be fine, Mitty. Could you make them quickly, please? We're very busy today." He asks her earning a smile almost as big as her eyes.

Hermione squeezes his hand. "I helped Mitty to prepare the picnic whilst you were talking to your Mother." She explains, nodding towards the counter next to the pantry door which leads to the servants' staircase.

"How very well prepared." He smiles at her. "We should head up. We don't have much time here." He mentions before glancing back down at Mitty. "I'll come visit you properly later on in the week." He promises.

"Master Draco does not need to visit Mitty. Master Draco busy and Mitty is house-elf." She nods erratically.

"Mitty is my friend and I'll come see you later on in the week." He tells her, shaking her little hand.

"Mitty is thankful to Master Draco." She continues to nod and shake his hand excitedly.

Hermione passes the picnic basket to Draco before casting the disillusionment charm on herself. She doesn't want to risk being seen by Narcissa on their way up to the attic. Not with how angry Draco was after talking to her for fifteen minutes. Since she's, for all intents and purposes, invisible, she tells Draco to go first up the staircase. It doesn't take them as long as it did the last time to walk up to the top floor. He holds his hand out for her to take as they walk towards the door to the attic staircase. Thankfully, they make it up without any incidents. They don't bother to even glance around the first attic, instead, they go straight towards the chimney breast where Draco taps an 'M' into the brick with his wand.

Once inside the secret attic and the bricks have closed behind them, Hermione takes the picnic basket out of Draco's hand.

"You start looking and I'll set up lunch." She tells him, nudging him towards the pile of books beside the chimney breast.

She lays the picnic blanket down in the cleanest part of the attic, which happens to be in front of the wardrobe with the boggart inside. She casts a few locking charms on the door to ensure it doesn't escape whilst they're enjoying their lunch. Once she's laid out the assortment of sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, cakes and chocolate biscuits that she had prepared with Mitty earlier, she goes over to where Draco is flicking through what looks like a journal.

"Anything interesting?" She questions as she wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him.

"It could be. It's Lucius' journal from 1961. He would have been seven that year." He explains, continuing to read through the seventeenth of April's entry.

"You're father journaled?" Hermione asks in surprise.

"Yes, ever since he was three years old. My grandfather ensured his family maintained records of their life. His biggest fear was losing his memory and this was a way for him to ensure that even in his old age he would be able to reread his journals and remember." Draco tells her.

Hermione's eyes widen excitedly. "Does this mean that somewhere in the Manor are young Draco's journals?" She asks teasingly, squeezing him tightly for a second.

Draco sighs. "I stopped journaling in 1996 but yes, Lucius kept everyone's journal in his office. He has an entire wall dedicated to his parents', my mother's, his own and my journals, which is why it's strange to find one of them in the second attic. I wonder what he wrote as a seven-year-old that he deemed it suspicious enough to throw in here." He says, flicking through all the pages again.

"Maybe Lucius wasn't the one to lock it in here," Hermione suggests, taking the journal out of his hands.

"What do you mean?" He asks in confusion.

"Did Lucius trust his father?" She asks as she turns each page, one at a time, skimming the pages for nothing in particular.

"More than he trusted anyone else." He answers.

"What if your grandfather read something in seven years old Lucius' journal that he could never let anyone else read, so he threw it in here? Then Lucius, as an adult, found it and wasn't sure why his father had hidden his journal for all these years but trusted that whatever the reason must have been important so kept it hidden." She suddenly stops flicking and rereads the entry properly.

"It sounds feasible." Draco nods.

"Oh my, Draco listen to this." Hermione pulls on him over to the picnic blanket where they both sit. "Journal, Mother was crying again today. I hate to watch her cry. I asked her why she was sad but she only hugged me until she stopped. Mother asked me to freshen the tulips on her dressing table before I went outside with Father. I heard Mother crying when I was supposed to be studying. I went to her room but Father was already there. Mother told father that she missed him. Father shouted at her to forget about him. I went back to the library before Father caught me listening. Mother was still crying when I went to bed. I asked her who she missed. She told me one of her friends had to go away many years ago today. I hate him for making Mother cry. Lucius." She reads out loud.

Draco snatches the journal back out of her hands.

"That must be Hyperion. Her friend that had to go away." She points out.

"It was Hyperion's birthday. The fifteenth of February. He would have been fourteen." He mentions. "My grandfather obviously knew what this was about but even now, I doubt Lucius would have any idea why his seven-year-old journal is in here unless he knows about Hyperion but from this, I don't think he did." He continues to explain.

"Lucius was seven years old then. He could have found that Black Family Tree book that got destroyed when he was older." Hermione mentions, vaguely hinting that she still thinks he should visit his father.

Draco sighs." I suppose it's possible he does know." He nods. "Shall we eat?" He suggests, changing the subject as he picks up a sandwich.

Hermione debates saying something else on the subject but decides against it, picking up a sausage roll, which she nibbles at as she thinks.

"Why did you stop journaling?" She asks after watching Draco read his father's old journal whilst they ate their picnic.

Draco glances up from the journal, looking at her curiously for a moment before setting the journal aside. "In 1996, I took the Dark Mark and was asked to begin preparations for smuggling Death Eaters into Hogwarts. I stopped journaling before we went back to Hogwarts for our sixth year because I knew that if I lived to see old age, I wouldn't want to reread my journals and remember what I did." He admits, looking guiltily at their empty picnic basket.

Hermione reaches over the basket, taking his hand in her own, calmingly rubbing her thumb over his palm. "Why didn't you start again after the war? Surely in your old age, you'll want to remember all the good you've done since then to become a better you."

He looks up from their clasped hands, making eye contact with her. "I never thought I would do anything with my life worth remembering in my old age. I was fully content with becoming a grumpy old apothecary until the Minister enforced the Marriage decree." He smiles at her making her chuckle.

"I refuse to let you become grumpy, however, you can still become an old apothecary if you wish to." She teases him.

"I only chose apothecary for a lack of any other real choice." He admits.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you were the best at potions in the school." She tells him.

"Now you're just trying to flatter me." He says with a smile.

Hermione rolls her eyes, standing up as she makes her ways over to the pile of books. "Do you think there could be any more journals in here?" She shouts over to Draco.

"I doubt it. I skimmed across the spines of all the one near the chimney breast. All the journals are black with the year and their writer's name embroidered in silver." He explains.

"What about that bookshelf back there?" She suggests, making her way over.

"Go ahead." He answers absentmindedly as he reads through Lucius' old journal day by day.

A few moments later, it finally sinks in what Hermione had asked him and he glances in her directions to find her skimming the spines of the books on the top shelf. He knows what she'll find on the second shelf and quickly jumps up.

"Hermione!" He calls her name and she turns her head in attention. "Sorry, not that bookshelf. You can't look at that bookshelf." He tells her, pulling her away by her wrist.

Hermione frowns at Draco in confusion before turning back to the bookshelf. "Why not? What's on the bookshelf?" She asks curiously.

"Books that I would rather you didn't even know existed. Remember, if they're in the secret attic, they're most likely illegal and not meant to be seen by anyone." He reminds her.

She stares at him for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. "I trust that you have my best interest at heart and if you don't want me to look then I won't." She nods at him.

"Thank you." He smiles at her. "I don't think we're going to find much else in here." He subtly changes the subject as he starts to pack up their picnic basket.

"Where are we going next?" She asks as she kneels down to help.

"I'm going to visit Mr Parkinson at his manor. I think it would be best if you don't join me." He mentions.

"That's understandable. How long will you be? Shall I wait outside for you?" She asks.

"It usually takes a drink, the pleasantries and a bribe before Mr Parkinson even starts to talk." He explains as he takes an illegal book on potions off the bookshelf and places it in his robes pocket. Lucius had two copies so he assumed he wouldn't miss one when he got home in fourteen years. "I would expect our meeting to take at least an hour." He adds.

"Shall I meet you at the Leaky Cauldron around three o'clock? We can floo to the Three Broomstick then walk to Hogwarts from there to visit Professor Slughorn." She suggests.

"Sounds like a plan. Could you write to Slughorn so he knows to be expecting us?" He asks as they make their way back through the chimney breast into the first attic and down the staircase.

"Of course," Hermione answers as she takes her wand out, casting the disillusionment charm on herself before they make their way towards the servants' staircase.

After invisibly bidding goodbye to Mitty and Gharther, Hermione exits out the back door, making her way across the Manor's grounds towards the gate where she sits on a large rock as she waits for both Draco to leave and for her disillusionment charm to wear off.

A few minutes later, she spots Draco leaving through the Manor's large front door and glances down to see that's she's almost fully opaque.

"Will you look after this for me?" He asks, holding out Lucius' journal. "I'd rather not take it to the Parkinson's Manor." He adds as an explanation.

"Of course," She says as she places it in her bag. "Are you disapparating there now?" She asks.

"Yes, the earlier I get there the earlier I can leave." He smiles at her.

"I'll see you at three o'clock then." She returns the smile, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his lips before disapparating away to Diagon Alley.

Hermione heads straight to Eeylop's Owl Emporium where she sends a short note to Professor Slughorn announcing their arrival around half three this afternoon and for him to meet them at the great hall. She doesn't write too much about the purpose of their visit in the hopes that his curiosity will get the better of him and he'll accept their company.

Five minutes later, she's sat at a secluded booth at the back of the Leaky Cauldron, drinking a cup of tea whilst reading seven-year-old Lucius Malfoy's journal, starting from the first of January 1961.

By half past two, she's finished. She sips at her tea as she tries to process what's she's just read. Hermione can see in the writing that the young boy was beginning to hold his own beliefs on the world, beliefs very similar to those of his father. He idolised his father but loved his mother more than anything else in the world. There were days where he would excitedly accompany his father to the Ministry for business and other days where he would prefer to stay with his mother in her room, both reading books as they enjoyed cups of tea, finger sandwiches and small cakes.

She wonders if Lucius remembers being this young and innocent. Before she knows it, she's on her feet, rushing out of Diagon Alley and disapparating to the island of Azkaban.

Draco stares after his wife for a moment, a smile on his just kissed lips, before disapparating to the gates of Parkinson's Manor. He pauses outside the gate, memories of playing in the gardens with Pansy as children whilst their parents enjoyed tea and cakes at the garden table. Happy memories are chased away by memories of them sitting in the library with Blaise, Gregory and Vincent trying to study over the summer holiday between their sixth and seventh year. They all knew the next year was going to be different after the death of Professor Dumbledore but nobody voiced their concerns. They barely spoke to one another, instead focusing on trying to study whilst their mind wandered to what was to come.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he pushes open the gate and follows the path down to the Manor. He forces himself to stand taller with an air of privilege. He reminds himself that he is Draco Malfoy and he has a reputation not only to uphold but to enforce. He knocks on the door, head held high, ready to stare down at whichever house-elf opens the door. However, Mr Parkinson himself opens the door. Needless to say, both men are surprised to see the other on the other side of the door.

"Mr Parkinson!" Draco states with a quirked eyebrow, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

"Draco, do we have an appointment I have forgotten about?" Mr Parkinson asks, knowing perfectly well that they didn't as he motions Draco inside.

"Have you dismissed your house-elf, Perseus?" He asks as he enters the foyer, glancing around in distaste.

"He's preparing lunch for my wife and I. Would you care to join us?" Mr Parkinson offers, leading Draco up the stairs towards his study.

"I'll politely decline. I wouldn't want to put too much on him. Perhaps you should look into getting a new house-elf that can multitask." He suggests, taking a seat opposite Mr Parkinson, who sits at his desk, eye twitching at the comment. "How is your wife?" He asks, going straight in for the pleasantries.

"Very well, thank you. How's your Mother?" He inquires, leaning forward on his elbows across his desk.

Draco smirks. "Well, I believe. I've just come from visiting her at the Manor." He mentions.

He nods as he stands up from his desk and makes his way over to his drinks cabinet. "Firewhisky?" He offers, pouring himself a glass with some ice.

"Thank you." He nods. "Has Pansy been visiting regularly?" He questions.

Mr Parkinson pauses in his action of pouring their drinks for a second. "She visited yesterday for dinner."

"It must be disappointing." He states as he passes him a glass looking confused. "To watch your only child being forced to procreate with the likes of a Weasley." He elaborates.

Mr Parkinson's jaw tightens. Draco wonders how far he can push him before he snaps.

"How has Narcissa taken your marriage to the Mudblood?" He questions in return.

Draco's eyes narrow in anger as he smirks at the man in front of him. "As well as I expected, considering." He mentions, taking a sip from his glass of firewhisky.

"How are you taking your marriage to the Mudblood?" He asks.

Draco smirks having been expecting this questions. "It couldn't have come at a more perfect time." He admits, laughing when Mr Parkinson stares at him in confusion. "As you're probably aware, the Ministry are keeping a close eye on ex-Death Eaters, especially myself due to how close the Malfoy's were to the Dark Lord. Who better than the one of the golden trio, the saviours of the wizarding world, to be paired with and show the Ministry that I've 'changed' or been 'set a good example' by my wife." He laughs at his elaborate lie and Mr Parkinson joins him.

"That is a relief. There was an article in the Daily Prophet about Mr Potter and his wife's pregnancy announcement. I was shocked to find out that both you and my daughter were in attendance." He states.

"Ah, I take full responsibility for that. If it were up to Pansy, I'm sure she would sit around her house all day, contemplating the many ways she could make her husband's death look like an accident. The Ministry needs to see that we pureblooded families are attempting to drop our prejudices and integrate ourselves more into the new wizarding world." Draco explains.

Mr Parkinson nods in agreement. "You truly are your Father's son." He says, obviously trying to compliment him.

Draco nods. "Speaking of my father," He starts, leading into his desired topic of conversation. "I was organising through some of his… restricted books and happened upon a few of interest. One of which, I thought you would enjoy." He pulls the potions book out of his pocket. "I remember my father telling me about your illicit potion making and thought this book might become useful one day." He announces calmly, handing the book over.

Mr Parkinson accepts the book with a stern expression, opening the front cover to read the title. His eye widens appreciatively before he delicately shuts it, placing it in the top drawer of his desk.

"Thank you, Draco. I'm afraid I don't have anything prepared to gift you in return. Had you sent a letter beforehand, I would have been more prepared." He says.

"There's no need, Perseus. A gift can be given without the need for something in return." He states, maintaining eye contact.

Mr Parkinson's eyes narrow as he understands his hidden meaning. Draco wants information from him. He downs his drink then heads back over to the drinks cabinet.

"Care for another drink, Draco?" He asks, pouring himself one.

"No, thank you. I've still got mine." He raises his glass to lips before pausing. "How old are you again, Perseus?" He asks, tilting his head a little as he takes a sip. "Five or six years older than my Father?" He questions.

"It is my fiftieth in November." He answers, sitting back down at his desk, taking a long sip.

"So five years older." He nods with a smirk. "As I mentioned, there were a few books that took my interest. One of which was entitled 'The Black Family Tree'." He mentions, standing up to peer at the man's bookshelf. "To my surprise, I saw a name I had never heard being mentioned before."

"I never knew the Black Family that well. I doubt I'll be any help to you on the matter." Mr Parkinson hurriedly tells him.

Draco turns his back on the other man, smiling to himself at how easy it is to make him nervous.

"You must have known my grandmother, formally known as Marcella Black, and I know you are in acquaintance with my own mother, Narcissa Black." He glances over his shoulder at the uneasy man. "Tell me, was your father in acquaintance with my grandfather?" He inquires, thumbing the spines of a few books.

"I believe they shared a dormitory at Hogwarts during their younger days." He answers.

"Did this friendship transpire into their later years?" Draco takes a book off the shelf, opens it to the first page, reads the title, and then replaces it on the shelf.

"You know full well, Draco, that the Malfoy family and the Parkinson family have been close acquaintances for many generations. I shall remind you not to get too cocky, Draco. I remember how you and my daughter used to run around my grounds as a toddler in nothing but your undergarments." The older man snaps at him and Draco turns around.

"Did you do the same with Hyperion?" He asks, face blushing in a mixture of embarrassment and growing anger.

"I-I-I…" He stops to clear his throat. "I don't know who you mean." He states.

"Say that again." Draco laughs. "But this time, try and keep your voice steady."

The man takes a deep breath. "I honestly don't-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Draco slams the palm of his hands down on top of his desk. "I've heard enough lies." He tries to calm himself. "Just tell me what you know." He asks politely, sitting back down in the seat opposite Mr Parkinson.

His friend's father stares at him for a long while but his eye contact doesn't waiver. He's serious and isn't going anywhere until he gets information from him and Mr Parkinson knows that as he lowers his head into his hands, sighing deeply.

"We were best friends until the very end." He states, looking back up at him and Draco frowns at him. "Even though there were two and half years between us. My earliest memory is of his fifth birthday party. He stole his own birthday cake from the kitchens. We hid in his wardrobe and ate the whole thing. We got into a lot of trouble that day. We were always getting into trouble together." He laughs to himself and Draco settles back into his chair. "Hyprar-, Hypera- I never could say his name. He let me call him Hypey, I was the only one. I was six and a half when he died. It was the same day of my first accidental magic. My Mother banned me from his funeral and I burnt her wrist. I never made another friend quite like Hypey." He sighs sadly before sitting up straight. "I apologise for becoming so emotional. Childhood memories." He states as an explanation, shaking his head.

Draco frowns in confusion at the older man. "Hyperion isn't dead." He tells him.

Mr Parkinson narrows his eyes as he glares at him. "What do you mean he isn't dead? He fell out of his bedroom window. He broke his neck. My parents went to his funeral."

Draco scoffs a laugh. "I'm assuming that was an elaborate lie courtesy of my grandparents to hide the truth."

"The truth being?" He leans eagerly over his desk.

"His parents were ashamed of him after discovering he was a squib on his ninth birthday. They sent him to live in a Muggle orphanage in London." He explains.

"He was a squib." Mr Parkinson repeats doubtfully.

"Yes, he lived in London until his orphanage closed down in 1964 and there have been no further records of him since then. Muggle or Wizard." He tells him.

"Have you been trying to find him?" He asks with a frown.

"Of course, he is my Uncle. Whether he is a squib or not doesn't change that fact. Hermione's uncle is currently tracking his own family tree and we're hoping he'll help us find some Muggle records of Hyperion." Draco mentions.

"You're working with a mudblood and a Muggle to find your Squib Uncle?" Mr Parkinson states, seemingly confused.

"I'm working with my wife, whom I love dearly, and her very caring Uncle, whose daughter is a witch, in order to find my uncle, who you claimed to have been best friends with as children." He corrects him. "The war is over, Perseus. The time for caring about what we label others is over too." Draco tells him as he stands up, from his chair. "Perhaps one day, once we've found him, I'll reintroduce you to your old best friend. I wonder what he'll think of you now." He says before leaving his study and letting himself out of Parkinson Manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August Uploads
> 
> \- 22nd
> 
> \- 29th
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> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
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> Thank you so much for reading.
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> Please FOLLOW, FAVOURITE and REVIEW. It will be much appreciated.


	60. Chapter 60

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 60 for you from my holiday in Tiverton, Devon, England!
> 
> I'll be answering some more questions at the end of this chapter since some of you keep asking them. :D I love answering them so if you have any other question just ask away. Or you can DM me on my Instagram since I'm usually always on it and rarely on this website but to upload and check views.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

* * *

Hermione stares up at the ominous building, finding it just as awe inspiring as she had during her first visit a few days ago. She tries to push the guilt lining her stomach away as she takes her wand out of her bag, along with Lucius' old journal. She minimises the book down to the size of a pebble, hiding it in her bra before pointing her wand at the grand gate of Azkaban. Remembering how some of the inmates reacted to the loud creaks, she cast a silencing charm before slowly pushing the gate open.

Taking a deep breath, she grips her wand tightly as she weaves her way up the path between the headstones. Once again, as she reaches for the door knocker, the wooden door opens for her. She heads straight up the staircase, wand at the ready in case there's any trouble at the top. However, as she pushes the door open, she finds the two ministry officials still sat at the table in front of the Head of Azkaban's office. Their hands hesitating by their hips where their wands are in holsters.

Davies, the official who had been dismissed during her previous visit, scoffs at her before going back to their game of wizard's chess. Lohier, the official who had replaced him, stands up and bows his head respectively to her before knocking on the Head's office door. Hermione remains where she's stood, watching Davies cautiously since he hasn't removed his hand from his wand holster.

"Ms Granger," Mr Ahmed calls her attention. "I must admit, I was not expecting to see you again so soon." He tells her as she walks into his office.

"I feel as though there's something Lucius isn't tell me." She admits, taking her jacket off and folding it over her bag, placing them both in the visitors' locker.

"You appear to be in quite a rush." He mentions, grabbing his own wand from his desk and leading her down the long, straight corridor towards the lift door where Mr Ahmed calls the lift with the touch of his hand.

When they reach the fiftieth floor, they rush past Isabelle who shouts dangerously flirtatious, towards the door to the next floor.

"I must warn you, Ms Granger," Mr Ahmed starts as they walk up the staircase to the fifty-first floor. "Since your last visit, Mr Malfoy hasn't uttered a single word. He's rarely slept or eaten and spends most of his time writing his letters and burning them. I am aware that to you, Mr Malfoy is a Death Eater, and your father-in-law but to me, he's an inmate in my prison and his well-being is my responsibility. Therefore, I ask you simply not to push him too hard." He explains as he unlocks the next door.

Hermione nods. "Last time I was here, you told me Lucius was the sanest and most dangerous inmate. I can tell that inside his head, he's the same person and I honestly wouldn't want to make him angry. I've seen the wandless magic he can do and it's impressively dangerous." She mentions.

They walk in silence until they're walking down the corridor on the fifty-fifth floor towards Lucius Malfoy's cell.

"Mr Ahmed." The two officials greet the Head as they approach.

"Ms Granger has come to visit Mr Malfoy again, please open his door." He orders.

Once again, the two officials shared a curious look as they both place their palms on the door and the locks start clicking, shifting and turning in their place.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Hermione questions. "In case he does ask." She adds.

"Today is Saturday 18th?" He asks and she nods. "Then Spaghetti Bolognese is for dinner." He tells her. "Although, I doubt he'll eat it." He adds as the door is finally unlocked.

"He might." She states before stepping over the threshold into Lucius's cell.

Draco disapparates to Diagon Alley, making his way straight to the Leaky Cauldron in the hope that Hermione will already be there and they can visit Professor Slughorn earlier. However, a quick glance around the pub shows that she hasn't arrived yet. Walking up to the bar, he buys himself a cup of coffee from the bar then takes a seat on the barstool to wait. From the way he glances at the doors every time they open, Tom must have realised that he's waiting for someone.

"Who you waiting for?" He asks as he makes three cups of teas for three witches who have just entered.

Draco glances up from his hands making the drinks to his face. "Hermione Granger." He answers.

"Shouldn't that be Hermione Malfoy?" He asks with a smirk, sending the three cups over to the correct table with a flick of his wand.

"No," He sighs. "She didn't take my name."

"Good on her," Tom says as he collects dirty glasses and cups with another flick of his wand.

Draco doesn't comment, taking a sip from his still too hot coffee.

"She was in here not that long ago." He mentions after a few minutes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He questions with a frown.

"I just did." He shrugs. "I don't know where she went. She was sat over there at the back reading a book then she just got up and left. Quite quickly actually." He explains.

"When was this?" He asks.

Tom glances at his watch. "Yeah, must have been about fifteen minutes ago."

Draco glances at his own watch. That was about half past two. Wherever she went, she can't be planning on staying there that long since they planned to meet at three o'clock. He assumes she found some more information in Lucius' journal or perhaps just something interesting that she wanted to research. He decides to wait at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron for her to return and get his mind around what he found out from Mr Parkinson.

His grandparents told the wizarding world that their eldest son, Hyperion, had fallen to his death from his bedroom window on his ninth birthday. It had been nearly half a century since then. He assumes that at the time, people didn't want to bring up such a devastating accident and over time they stopped thinking about the eldest Malfoy child who sadly passed away and now most people have probably forgotten he even existed in the first place. Only those close to the Malfoy's will most likely remember Hyperion.

He wonders if Professor Slughorn will be able to tell him much more about him. After all, Mr Parkinson was a child at the time. He still see's Hyperion as Hypey, his childhood best friend. Professor Slughorn, on the other hand, would have been around forty years old when Hyperion was sent to the Muggle orphanage.

Draco takes a long sip from his cup of coffee, checks his watch then goes back to waiting impatiently for Hermione to return, glancing at the doors every time they open.

When Hermione enters her father-in-law's cell, she finds him perched on the edge of his bed, staring at her with a perplexed look. She gives him a quick smile with a nod as she pulls out his desk chair, swinging it around to face him.

"Good afternoon, Lucius." She greets him as she crosses her leg, placing her right hand, gripping her wand, upon her lap in clear view as she waits for a bemused Lucius to speak.

"I must admit, Miss Granger, I did not expect another visit from you. Especially not so soon after your previous one." He grins at her a few minutes later.

"As it turns out, I have something else to ask you," Hermione states, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Lucius raises his eyebrow. "I told you everything I know about your Muggle uncle and cousin?" His eyes bore into her own, trying to figure out her true purpose of visiting him.

"I'm not here for my own enquiries this time." She stands up, walking towards the switch near the door, unsure of how Lucius will react. "I'm here for Draco." She admits.

Lucius' shoulders fall slightly at the mention of his son, the one who testified against him and ensured his loneliness within the prison, before stiffening as he stands up, glaring at her. "Why would  _my_  son come to  _you_  for help? He scoffs.

The man sneers as he takes a few steps towards her, obviously in an attempt to intimidate her without getting too close. He wants to know the answer to his question. He wants to know how his son has gotten on since his imprisonment but he knows that won't happen if he scares her away so he keeps his distance.

"Draco and I have come to an arrangement." Hermione begins to explain. She doesn't want to say too much as she doubts Lucius will take their marriage very well. "I needed help with something that I didn't want to worry my friends with and in return, I've been helping Draco with something that he doesn't want anyone in the wizarding world to be informed of. Our arrangement is built upon a mutual trust that neither of us will tell anyone else the other's secret." She finishes, staring Lucius straight in the eye.

He glares at her for a moment before turning on his heel and taking a seat at his desk where he takes out his quill and a piece of parchment. Hermione knows that she only has as long as it takes him to write his letter and burn it before he closes up on her. She walks over to stand beside his desk, staring down at the top of his head.

"I tried to convince Draco to come visit you about his issue, since it is very much a Malfoy family issue and Narcissa has refused to tell him anything more than to forget about him," She notices how he freezes up at the mention of his wife. "However, he refuses to. I doubt he would ever trust me again if he found out I was here." She admits. "You know Draco, once he gets something in his head, he can't just forget about it. He's been almost obsessed with finding as much as possible about him in the hopes of finding him. Draco found his records in the Ministry's registration's archives but there wasn't much. It wasn't until we were in your secret attic that we found something useful in our search for him."

Lucius pauses stiffly in his writing to stare up at her, making eye contact. She can see the shock he is trying to mask in his eyes but there's something else there. As though he's trying to decipher how much she knows about the Manor's secret attic.

"It was your journal from 1961. How old were you then?" She asks, hoping to bring him into the conversation.

He continues to stare at her for a long moment before answering, "Seven."

Hermione's surprised to find his voice soft and calm.

"Were you aware your journal was in the attic?" She questions him.

"Of course, I know where everything is within my Manor," Lucius says in a way that should have sounded snappy but was actually pleasant as if they were acquaintances discussing the weather.

"Are you aware of why it was in the attic?" She asks and Lucius places his quill down upon his piece of parchment.

"I assumed I wrote something my Father didn't want falling into the wrong hands. Before you ask, Miss Granger, I don't know which entry that would be. I've reread that journal more times than any other book trying to decipher my Father's reasoning but to no avail." He sighs, glancing back down at his parchment.

"Fifteen of February 1961." Hermione quickly states as he reaches for his quill.

Lucius' head whips up. "Draco allowed you to read my journal. A journal that was hidden away to keep out of the wrong hands?"

"As I said, Lucius, Draco and I have come to an arrangement." She grips her wand a little tighter at his sudden outburst. "Do you remember what happened on the fifteenth of February 1961?" She asks.

Lucius turns his head to face the cell wall in front of him and closes his eyes. Hermione tries not to distract him as he thinks. She glances down at his parchment and can just about make out the first two words, 'Dear Draco'. She takes the moment to study her father-in-law's face.

At a glance, Lucius looks very much like an older Draco. However, when taking the time to look, she can see the subtle difference, such as his nose. Whilst Draco has the same nose as his father, Lucius' seems rougher, most likely from having been broken at some point in his younger years. His mouth, whilst being the same shape as Draco's, is actually thinner and at the moment pulled into a thin line. She doubts, even before his imprisonment, he had much reason to smile. The most obviously similar feature has to be their hair. Both father and son have the same white blond hair that once fell the same way, framing their face. Now, however, Lucius' hair falls in knots and tangles down his back, over his shoulders and sometimes over his eyes when he hunches over his desk to write. Hermione finds herself feeling sorry for the man whose hair was once soft and silky smooth, tied with a ribbon at the nape of his neck. It isn't until Lucius opens his eyes that she realises that she was wrong. The most similar feature is their eyes. He has the same eyes as Draco, or rather Draco has the same eyes as his father. Except, Lucius' eyes are harder, sterner, older. He's been through a lot more than Draco has and all that is evidenced in his eyes.

"My Mother was crying." He states, making eye contact again. "Like every other fifteenth of February since I can remember." He adds solemnly.

"Do you want me to read the entry?" She suggests, removing the pebble sized journal from her bra and returning it to its full size.

Lucius' eyes widen for a fraction of a second. "Mr Ahmed will stop your visit if he knew you brought that in here."

"Mr Ahmed has no authority here. I have permission from Minister Kingsley to have unlimited and unsupervised visits with you." She states as she flicks through the journal to the fifteenth of February. "Although, that doesn't mean we tell Mr Ahmed that I brought this with me. I'm trying to remain in his good books." She adds as she perches on the edge of his desk.

"Why would Miss Hermione Granger want unlimited permission from the Minister to visit Lucius Malfoy?" He asks, his eyes hardening as his smirk returns to his face.

"Why is Mr Lucius Malfoy complaining when Hermione Granger is the only visitor he will ever get?" She returns, flashing him a smirk back over the top of his journal.

"I'm not complaining, simply curious." He states, smirk falling from his face slightly.

"It just so happens that you might know something about a few issues I am currently investigating so why not take advantage of the permission I have been given. Merlin knows the Minister is taking advantage of me with our deal." She explains, resting the journal open on her knee.

"Why must you read my own words to me?" He questions as she's about to start. "I am more than capable of reading them myself."

"I want you to think about what I'm reading to you. Put yourself in your seven-year-old self's shoes and try to remember this day as it happened." She tells him, clearing her throat before reading. "Journal, Mother was crying again today. I hate to watch her cry. I asked her why she was sad but she only hugged me until she stopped. Mother asked me to freshen the tulips on her dressing table before I went outside with Father. I heard Mother crying when I was supposed to be studying. I went to her room but Father was already there. Mother told father that she missed him. Father shouted at her to forget about him. I went back to the library before Father caught me listening. Mother was still crying when I went to bed. I asked her who she missed. She told me one of her friends had to go away many years ago today. I hate him for making Mother cry. Lucius." She finishes, looking at Lucius to find him leaning back against his chair with his eyes closed.

"As I got older, I began to realise that her friend was no ordinary friend. I asked her on the last fifteenth of February before her death why she still mourned the disappearance of her friend after over ten years. All she would tell me is that letting him go was her biggest regret in life." He explains. "In my teenage years, I asked my father once who her friend was. His reply was the angriest I had ever seen him. I never asked him again. I assumed he was a lover she had before my father or even had an affair with. Since my mother's death, I haven't really thought about her friend, except for a simple remembrance on the fifteenth of February." He finally opens his eyes, sitting up straight to looking her curiously in the eyes. "Is my mother's friend the Malfoy family issue that you are helping Draco to investigate?" He asks her.

"Yes, we're trying to track him down," Hermione admits, closing the journal.

Lucius quirks his eyebrow. "You know who he is then." He states with a sly smile.

"Yes, my whole reason for being here is to discover if you knew who he is?" She explains.

"Who is he?" He asks, clasping his hands on his lap.

Hermione breaks their eye contact, unsure of whether or not she should tell him. Of course, he has the right to know that he has an older brother who's a squib and was sent to a Muggle orphanage on his ninth birthday. However, it isn't exactly her decision to make and she isn't going to ask Draco if she can tell his father about Hyperion when he doesn't even know she's been visiting him. Her guilty nerves clench her stomach. She really needs to tell Draco about these visits before the nerves eat her alive.

"I'm sorry Lucius, but I'm not sure if Draco wants you to know. You're not in his good books." She tells him.

"I'm aware. I wouldn't be sitting here if I were." Lucius nods. "He doesn't know about these visits, does he?" He asks with a quiet smile.

"As I mentioned, we mutually trust that the other will keep their secret. I'll try to persuade Draco to come visit you and tell you himself." She suggests.

"No need, he'll never agree to visit me." Lucius picks his quill back up, going back to writing his letter.

Hermione stays perched on his desk for a while longer before standing up, minimising the journal back down and placing it back in her bra before walking over to the switch on the wall, which she flicks

"Goodbye, Lucius." She bids him, earning a hum in reply. "By the way, you've got Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner tonight. Try to eat some, it's Draco's favourite." She tells him as the door begins to swing open.

Lucius glances over his shoulder at her, a curious expression on his face before his hair falls in front of his eyes and he goes back to writing his letter which he will resultantly burn and place the ash into his jar along with the many other letters.

Mr Ahmed is leaning against the wall opposite the door with a smile on his face as she leaves. He nods at the guards as they walk towards the staircase.

"Come find me at the end of your shift and I'll finish the story." He calls back to the guards as he holds the door open for her.

"Sure thing, Mr Ahmed." One of them laughs and the other shakes his head with a smile.

"I was just telling them about my son, Alyan." He chuckles. "He decided to teach his baby sister a new curse word." He explains as they make their way down the staircase. "However, little Pavia pronounces her 's' as 'f'. So I come home from work last night and my daughter comes up to me and says "You fuck". My wife, Aileen, and my son are crying with laughter. Obviously, Pavia thinks it's hilarious so she starts shouting at the top of her lungs, "You fuck, you fuck, you fuck." Anyway, now it's her new favourite phrase and I'm too scared to take her out in public." He chuckles, shaking his head fondly as they reach the fiftieth floor and follow the corridor down to the lift.

Hermione smiles. "She was trying to say 'you suck'? She asks.

"Yeah, some American Muggles have moved into the flat above us and Alyan has taken a liking to their eldest son. I'm starting to think he's a bad influence but kids don't like it when parents tell who they can and can't be friends with so I'm keeping a close eye on them." He explains. "Anyway, Ms Granger, how was your third visit with Mr Malfoy?" He asks as they step into the lift and he presses the button for the first floor.

"I was able to get more information out of him." She admits, not going into too much detail and Mr Ahmed doesn't push her any further.

When they reach the first floor, she follows him back to his office where she collects her bag and jacket.

"Thank you, Mr Ahmed." She smiles at him as she pulls on her jacket. "I'm afraid I must get going."

"Of course, Ms Granger." He nods, leading her to the door. "It was lovely seeing you again." He smiles as they walk down the staircase and into the foyer. "Will you be okay walking alone to the gate?" He asks her.

"Yes thank you, I'll be fine." She smiles. "Goodbye, Mr Ahmed." She bids him as she sets off down the path towards the gate.

Draco's about to order another cup of coffee when someone places their hand on his shoulder. He turns his head to find Hermione smiling down at him. She leans down, pecking his lips before taking a seat on the bar stool beside him.

"Have you been waiting long?" She asks leaning on the bar.

"No, not really." He shakes his head with a smile.

"He's been here twenty minutes," Tom calls over to them from the other end of the bar where he's cleaning the wine glass, making Hermione laugh.

"My meeting with Mr Parkinson didn't take as long as I expected." He admits quietly so Tom doesn't hear.

"How did it go?" She leans closer. "Did he tell you what you needed to know?" She whispers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco can see Tom inching closer towards them, still cleaning the same wine glass.

"I'll tell you on the walk up to Hogwarts." He shifts his head towards Tom.

Hermione glances over and nods in understanding. "I told Professor Slughorn we'd meet him outside of the Great Hall at half three so we should get going now." She takes his hand in hers and pulls him towards the door into Diagon Alley.

The typically busy street is rather quiet with only a few couples and families milling around outside the various shops. Hermione takes them down a deserted alleyway but just as she's about to disapparate them away to the gates of Hogwarts, she hears someone calling her name and turns around.

"Hermione! Wait!" Seamus shouts again as he and Dean run towards them. "We've been looking all over for you." He explains when he stops, slightly breathless.

"You've been busy. We've called around your house at least three times the past couple of days and you're always out." Dean smiles at them.

"I suppose we have been really busy lately." Hermione agrees with a nod, looking up at Draco.

"If you're not too busy tomorrow, we're having a party. Just a little get together with some friends, you know." Seamus tells them.

"We've got something on during the day but we're free on the evening." Hermione squeezes Draco's hand, questioning whether he wants to go. When he squeezes hers back she smiles. "What time do you want us around?" She asks

"Harry, Ginny, Neville, Hannah and Ron are coming over around five to help set up so you're welcome to come then too but everyone else is showing up around half six," Dean explains.

"I'm not sure what time we'll be finished but we'll definitely come over at some point tomorrow night," Hermione promises.

"Great, we'll see you tomorrow then." Dean nods with a smile, taking Seamus' hand in his and pulling him back down the alleyway.

Hermione disapparates them to the gates of Hogwarts. She checks her watch.

"It's quarter past three." She states. "We're going to be late." She adds with panic in her voice as she grabs hold of Draco's hand again, pulling him through the gates.

They walk halfway up the path to Hogwarts castle in comfortable silence before Hermione remembers that Draco was going to tell her about what Mr Parkinson had said.

"Did Mr Parkinson know Hyperion?" She asks, looking up at Draco when he scoffs.

"They were best friends as children." He explains.

"Really, how old is he?" She questions. He looks to be around the same age as Lucius, maybe a little younger.

"He's fifty in November." Draco answers. "According to him, my grandparents told the wizarding world that Hyperion died falling out of his bedroom window on his ninth birthday. I told Perseus that Hyperion's alive and a squib. Of course, he didn't believe me. My grandparents held a funeral for Hyperion. He didn't go but his parents did." He explains.

"So, the majority of the wizarding world believe Hyperion died in 1956. I know we're working under the impression that your father doesn't know anything about Hyperion due to his journal entry but if he found out as an adult that he had a brother who died, that might explain why he never told you." Hermione mentions, pushing the guilt away.

"I'm not visiting Lucius," Draco says through gritted teeth.

"I'm not asking you to, Draco. I'm just theorising why Lucius might not have told you if he did know." She says calmly.

"I don't think he knows anything about Hyperion," Draco mutters with an air of finality so Hermione doesn't mention Lucius again.

"Do you think Professor Slughorn will know anything more about Hyperion than Mr Parkinson?" She asks.

"I'm hoping he'll be able to give me some insight into who Hyperion was as a child. Perseus was a child when Hyperion  _died_. He can only remember him through his childish eyes and memories." He points out as they reach the steps up to the grand doors of Hogwarts with a few minutes to spare.

Hermione stops at the bottom, staring up at the door. "It feels strange being back here so soon. It feels like we're breaking a rule and we shouldn't be here." She admits.

Draco chuckles. "Have you always been so scared of breaking the rules?" He teases her.

"For the first couple of years, I was terrified of being expelled so I tried my hardest not to break them. However, being friends with Harry and Ron didn't exactly help." She laughs. "Neither did you." She adds, poking him in the ribs. "Trying to get the boys into trouble."

Draco smiles proudly. "It was simply a childhood rivalry." He shrugs. "You wouldn't have been expelled for breaking the rule. The last student to be expelled from Hogwarts was Hagrid." He explains.

"It was hard being a muggle-born. I didn't start feeling like I belonged in the wizarding world until around third year. It didn't help that there were some people who were out right telling me I didn't belong here. It's why I tried so hard with my studies. I felt like if I failed a piece of homework or a test, Dumbledore would tell me there had been a mistake. I shouldn't be at Hogwarts and he'd expel me. It's why my Bogart in third year was McGonagall telling me I had failed all my exams. My biggest fear was leaving this world." She explains.

Draco pulls quickly into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry that I ever told you that you didn't belong. To be honest, I felt threatened by you. I'd been told my whole life that Muggle-borns were beneath me and then you came along and disproved everything as top of the class. It's why I focussed most of my studies on potions, the one lesson I knew I could actually surpass you in." He explains.

"I'm in shock. The Draco Malfoy was threatened by Hermione Granger, a simple Muggle-born." She chuckles.

"There's never been anything simple about you." He tells her as they break their hug.

Hermione blushes, looking away. "We should go inside. We're already late." She mutters, leading the way up the steps to the grand door to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August Uploads
> 
> \- 29th
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	61. Chapter 61

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 61 for you!
> 
> I have a question to ask you.
> 
> Once I've finished The Marriage Decree, would you be interested in another long-ish, multi-chaptered fan fiction of this story but in Blaise's POV (it would be nowhere near this long). I've just got a lot planned for Blaise that I want to share with you all but you won't get to read much of it in The Marriage Decree.
> 
> From May-ish 2018, I won't be that busy so I might start writing it then and start publishing in July (beginning of Summer holiday) or September (beginning of new school year). If you want it, would you rather have it to enjoy over the summer or to have something to look forward to after school, if you go?
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Outside the Grand Hall, they find Professor Slughorn waiting, glancing down at his watch. When he hears them approaching, he glances up.

"It's impolite to keep an old man waiting." He tells them with a smile as he leads them down the dungeons staircase, to his office resides. "I must say, I was surprised by your letter, Ms Granger. Although, I am curious what you wish to discuss with me at such short notice." He admits.

"I apologise, we aren't interrupting anything, are we?" She asks.

"Of course not, dear." He waves the question away. "I would have made space in my diary for my top two students any day. I must admit, Minerva and I did celebrate with a glass of brandy when we found out the two of you had been paired at that awful ceremony. Think of the intelligence a Malfoy-Granger child will have."

He opens the door, allowing them to enter before him. Hermione shares an awkward look with Draco as they make their way over to his desk.

"Please, sit on the couches. I'm no longer your professor, there's no need for us to formally sit either side of a desk. Would either of you care for a cup of tea?" He asks, accioing a tea tray over from his desk.

"Yes, thank you, sir." Hermione accepts his offer with a smile as she sits down on the couch nearest the unlit fire.

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," Draco answers with a nod, joining her.

"None of that, my boy. You're no longer my student." He comments as the tray sets itself down on the coffee table between the two couches and pours itself into three cups. "Horace will do just fine." He tells them, settling himself down on the opposite couch. "After all, the two of you were in the Slug Club. Speaking of which, there will be a small get together in a few weeks. I'll send you both an invitation. Or should I send you a joint invitation? You both won't need a plus one, will you?" He questions curiously glancing between them both.

"One invitation will be fine," Hermione tells him as she picks up her cup then places it back down as she burns her hands.

"I, of course, was sent an invitation to your ceremony but I declined to attend. I think it's disgraceful, taking away your right to experience falling in love with 'the one'." He sighs shaking his head. "Although I will admit, I'm disappointed I won't be here to teach your child when their time comes." He explains sadly.

"Are you retiring soon, Horace?" Hermione asks him.

"Yes, I promised dear old Albus I would return for a year and here I am going into my fourth year. I thought I left the teaching life behind me many years ago." He chuckles. "It was such an honour to teach the two of you. Especially you, Mr Malfoy. You truly understand the beauty of the art of potion making." He nods. "I do believe your godfather taught you from a young age. Is that true?" He asks.

Draco nods. "Severus taught me to brew potions before I learnt to fly a broomstick."

"You learnt from the best." Horace states. "Have you ever thought about going into teaching?" He asks almost hopefully.

"I have thought about it," Draco admits. "I was more leaning towards becoming an apothecary before the marriage decree was enforced." He adds.

"An apothecary?" Horace repeats in disgust. "What a waste of your extraordinary talent. You should be teaching the future generations the true art of potion making and I'm not just saying that because Minerva won't let me retire without finding a suitable replacement." He jokes.

"I'll have to think about it," Draco tells him which seems to be good enough for Horace to move on to her.

"Hermione, dear, what about you? You must be thinking about teaching." He smiles at her.

"Of course I am." She smiles at him. "I'd love nothing more than to become the Transfigurations professor here. I just don't know how Professor McGonagall would feel about me asking for an apprenticeship under her to eventually replace her." She admits.

"You shouldn't be dear, Minerva's looking to lessen her workload. I do believe she's wanting to retire from teaching within the next couple of years to focus on being Headmistress." He explains. It easier to find a replacement professor than headmistress."

Hermione's eyes widen in excitement. "I'll have to write her an owl to organise a meeting with her."

"Minerva will be delighted to have such a competent student take over from her." He smiles. "Now, what do you wish to discuss with me?" He asks, settling back into the couch with his cup of tea.

Draco clears his throat as he sits up taller next to Hermione. "It's about my grandparents?"

"I can't say that I knew Druella and Cygnus Black very well so I assume you mean Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy." Horace smiles as he nods. "They were such a beautiful young couple when they married. Did you know I was one Abe's groomsmen? Such a beautiful ceremony. If I remember correctly, I do believe he cried upon seeing the beauty that was your grandmother walking down the aisle. He truly was a lucky man." He reminisces with unfocused eyes.

Draco frowns in surprised confusion as Horace sips at his cup of tea. In the seven years he knew his grandfather, and from the stories he's heard from Lucius, his mother and a few family acquaintances, Abraxas Malfoy wasn't one for showing emotions.

"It's such a shame that she left him so young. They say it was heartbreak that got to her in the end." He sighs before realising what he just said and he swiftly stands up, making his way over to his drinks cabinet. "Your grandfather and I were quite good friends back in our Hogwarts days. Not so much afterwards when he showed where his loyalties lay." He pours himself a drink as Draco glances at Hermione who widens her eyes, urging him to question him.

"My grandmother,-" He starts but Horace interrupts him.

"Although even up until his death, you grandfather and I frequently dined together to look back on our younger years. He was well aware of how I disapproved of some of his actions but we found no need to bring up bad memories. Your grandmother, on the other hand, had not a bad bone in her body but she followed Abe to the ends of the Earth, which wasn't always the best decision." Horace explains as he settles himself back onto the couch opposite them.

It's strange to hear Horace talk about his grandmother when he never got the chance to know her himself. Although, he is content to hear she was a kind-hearted woman who was married and fell in love with a hard-hearted man.

"You mentioned my grandmother died of heartbreak,-" Draco tries to start again.

"Did I? Oh, I'm not quite sure what I meant by that." He brushes the question away as he glances down at his now empty glass.

"You meant Hyperion, didn't you?" Draco asks, watching Horace intently.

Professor Slughorn's eyes flicker over Draco's face, presumably trying to decipher how much he already knows about the first child of Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy. Draco knows how to hide his thoughts well in this familiar situation and maintains stern eye contact with his former professor.

"How do you know about Hyperion?" Horace asks, his usual cheerful nature falling gravely.

"His name was mentioned in a black family tree book I found within Lucius' possessions." He states.

Horace sighs, placing his glass on the coffee table in front of them. "Abe did everything within his power to hide Hyperion from both the wizarding world and Lucius. He contemplated doing the same to Cella when she was still teary eyed three months later. I would have brought an end to our friendship had he taken Cella's memories of her beloved child. She needed the time to grieve for her son." He shakes his head disappointedly. "In the end, she never did get over the loss." He adds.

"Abraxas took Lucius' memories of his brother!" Hermione asks in shock.

"Yes my dear, on many occasions. Lucius had a way of finding things out he wasn't supposed to." Horace explains, eyes tearing up. "Cella told Lucius on her deathbed about his brother. She begged him not to confront Abe but he was a young lad. Only thirteen at the time and he needed answers. It was at her funeral when Lucius brought it up. I was there, in Abe's study sipping a glass of whisky, when Lucius stormed in, demanding to know why he had hidden Hyperion's existence from him. There was so much anger and power behind that obliviate spell that Lucius was knocked unconscious for five days. When he woke up and couldn't even remember his mother's death or her funeral, I cut all ties with the Malfoy family for a few years until I was invited to Lucius' graduation party, which I obviously wouldn't have missed. Our friendship was never the same after that." He wipes a finger across his eyes.

Draco doesn't know what to say. He stares at Horace for a while then looks at Hermione who's just as lost for words as he is, staring back up at him.

"Are you okay?" She asks, taking hold of his hand, squeezing it slightly.

Draco nods silently, glancing down at their hands as he squeezes back. "Was that the only time you ever heard Lucius speaking about Hyperion?" He asks, looking back at Horace.

"Oh, no, Lucius was too inquisitive and Abe and I were quite close before and after Cella's funeral. I believe I was the only one Abe talked to about Hyperion." He states.

"Did Lucius ever come to you to ask about Hyperion?" He asks.

Horace's eyes flicker away from him for a split second. Draco raises a questioning eyebrow when he returns eye contact.

"It was near the end of Lucius' fourth year. He came here to my office. It was past curfew but as you know Draco, I was always quite lenient with certain students being out of bed." He chuckles at a memory. "He was rather straight forward. He asked me why I hadn't dined with his father since his mother's funeral. No matter how much I disapproved of Abe's actions, I was not going to go behind his back and tell Lucius about his brother. As it turns out, I needn't have worried. I told Lucius that I disagreed with his father on a few issues that I was unwilling to change my thoughts on and therefore were keeping my distance from Abe as not to be held liable." Horace shuffles in his seat. "What Lucius said next was very much a statement rather than a question. He said, 'My father is hiding something from me and you know what it is.'" Horace closes his eyes for a moment, seemingly living in the memory. "That was the first time your father truly scared me. He sat down where you are now Draco asking me to tell him everything. Before I could refuse, he asked me if I were aware that his father was taking his memories. He laughed at the shock on my face, misinterpreting it as my not knowing. He went on to explain how he was reading his past journals and couldn't remember multiple days throughout his life."

Draco looks down at Hermione. "We need to check Lucius' office for any other missing journals." He mentions.

"I don't know why we didn't think this earlier but wouldn't your grandparents' journals from 1947 to 1956 mention Hyperion. I doubt Abraxas would keep them in his office on view but we didn't find them in the attic. Is there anywhere else where he could have hidden them?" She whispers to him, trying not to let Horace hear.

"The only places I can think of the attic or the Malfoy vault at Gringotts." He answers.

"If I might intrude on your conversation," Horace interrupts. "I do believe Abe hide the majority of Hyperion's belongings in his old bedroom." He mentions.

How hadn't Draco even thought about which bedroom had been Hyperion's? "Do you know which room was his bedroom?" He asks.

"Abe hid the room from prying eyes. He hid the door behind a rather large family portrait, I thought it was in bad taste t-"

"Are you telling me that there's a secret bedroom in Malfoy Manor?" Draco questions in disbelief.

" _My_ bedroom is on that floor," Draco states, subconsciously squeezing Hermione's hand, a comforting presence. "I've slept next to my uncle's hidden bedroom for nineteen years." He turns to face Hermione. "We need to go back to the Manor."

"You can go back tomorrow whilst I'm with Sophie and Gwen." She suggests.

"Horace, can you tell me about Hyperion?" He asks, hoping his old professor remembers more about his uncle that Mr Parkinson does.

"Oh, of course, I can. I remember the day he was born. Such a small, quiet baby. He never cried and didn't utter a word until his third birthday when he asked for a second serving of cake. Abe allowed him to have as much cake as he wanted, he was so pleased. He had thought his son was mute. Once he started though, they could never shut him up. He was always reading books aloud to Cella or asking Abe hundreds of questions a day. However, around those he was unsure of, he reverted back to his quiet self. I do believe his best friend was Perseus Parkinson, even though he was a few years older. He found it easier to befriend younger children. Oh, how I wish I could have taught him. He knew more about magic from reading his father's books than most third years do in their exams. He could have gone on to do great things." Horace shook his head sadly.

"Horace," Draco calls his attention from his reveries.

"Yes, my boy." He glances over at him.

He pauses wondering how to word his revelation before deciding to just come straight out and tell him. "Hyperion isn't dead."

Horace stares at him for a long moment before nodding. "Yes, I'm very much aware of that. The poor boy was a squib. Abe took him to London to let him lead a Muggle life. However much he hated Muggles, Abe couldn't kill his own blood and knew he was better off with them then hidden away in our world." He explains.

Hermione squeezes his hand. "Did Abraxas or Marcella ever try to find Hyperion in the Muggle world?" She asks.

"I wouldn't have thought so. I doubt Abe would want anyone to link him to the Muggle world and he would have been ruined had the truth behind Hyperion been revealed. Cella would have wanted to visit him but she loved Abe and would have followed his every word." Horace answers.

"Do you have any idea where Hyperion could be living now?" Draco doubtfully asks.

"I'm afraid I haven't thought much of the boy for many years." He admits as a bell on his desk rings. "Ah, that'll be Minerva ringing for our afternoon tea. I mustn't keep her waiting. I assume you've asked what you needed to." He states as he stands up from his seat on the couch, dusting himself down.

Draco and Hermione both stand up and follow Horace up the staircase from the dungeon to the foyer.

"We'll let ourselves out," Draco mentions once they're stood outside the grand hall.

"It was lovely seeing you again, Horace," Hermione tells him.

"And you, dear." He nods in return. "Please do arrange a meeting with Minerva about your transfiguration apprenticeship." He reminds her.

"I will, thank you." She smiles at him.

"And you, my boy, please think more about allowing an old man to retire." He jokes, slapping Draco on the shoulder before bidding them both farewell and making his way up the staircase, presumably towards the Headmistresses office.

Draco takes hold of Hermione's hand, leading her quickly out of the grand door, down the steps and along the path towards Hogsmeade. They don't speak, instead, using the time to think back on what Horace had told them. As soon as they're outside the gates, Draco abruptly disapparates them back to the estate where they head straight home.

"Do you want to talk about what Mr Parkinson and Horace have told us? It's a lot to take in all at once." Hermione offers as they walk into the front room.

Draco releases Athena from her cage whilst Hermione heads into the kitchen to fill her food and water bowls.

"No," He shakes his head as he follows her into the kitchen, Athena nuzzling against his cheek. "I think in need to lie down and just think everything through." He tells her.

"Okay, I'll get dinner ready." She announces as he lowers Athena to the kitchen counter before heading off to their bedroom.

Draco slides under the covers of their bed and with a flick of his wand, banishes all light and silence from the room. He needs his surroundings to be still as he thinks. He goes over every detail both Perseus and Horace had told him about his uncle Hyperion. According to what they told him, his uncle wasn't anything like his father as a child. Hyperion seems to have been a Mother's boy whereas Lucius had followed his father like his shadow as a child, wanting to be just like him. He didn't know his grandmother at all but the way Horace described her makes her seem like a very special woman. He can picture her spoiling Hyperion with whatever he wanted but she would have reminded him about his manners constantly.

His most concerning point though is that his grandfather had, on multiple occasions, taken Lucius' memories of his brother and accidentally taken his memories of his mother's death and funeral. He hates himself for pitying his father. He wonders if Lucius is still aware that his father took some of his memories. He wonders how Abraxas explained Lucius lack of memory of his mother's death and funeral. Draco's grandfather died twelve years ago. That's more than enough time for Lucius to have found some form of evidence of Hyperion's existence. He wishes there was a way to know without asking him. His mother won't tell him anything but perhaps Horace knows more than he's letting on.

He spreads himself out on the bed, head thumping with the thoughts of the past. His last thought before he falls asleep is that he wants to find his uncle more than ever now.

Draco's wakes to find Hermione asleep at his side. Unsure of the time, he checks the clock to discover it's just after four o'clock in the morning. Hermione must have left him sleeping. His stomach growls in hunger so he climbs out of bed, changing out of his clothes from the previous day before heading downstairs where he finds his dinner plated up in the oven. He casts a heating charm on the food then settles down at the kitchen table to eat, alone with thoughts of his estranged family.

Hermione finds him sitting on the couch, staring at the same page of 'How to Train Your Owl' that he's been staring at for the past three hours.

"Good morning." She greets him, kissing the top of his head before heading into the kitchen for breakfast.

Draco sets the book down, following after her.

"Did you sleep well?" He questions as he caresses her hip as he walks past towards the cupboard where he removes a plate for Hermione and puts the kettle on for two cups of teas.

"I did, thank you." She nods, blushing slightly. "Did you?" She questions.

"I woke up at four and had my dinner from last night." He replies.

"Sorry for not waking you but you looked peaceful." She apologises as she plates up her toast and a fried egg.

Draco stirs the milk into their cups of tea. "It was the best sleep I've had in a while." He admits as he carries their cups over to the kitchen table where Hermione's already sat eating.

"Are you still going to the Manor this morning?" She asks between bites.

He nods. "I'm going to try to find Hyperion's bedroom. Once I'm done there, I'll go over to David's and talk to him about helping us find Hyperion." He explains.

"Alright, David's asked Gwen to have Sophie back home for five o'clock. Then we can get changed and head over to Seamus and Dean's house to help set up for their party." She tells him.

"Great, another busy day ahead of us." He smiles sarcastically.

"We'll have some more time to ourselves eventually." She chuckles.

"When we retire?" Draco jokes.

After breakfast, Draco washes the dishes, since he's already dressed and washed, whilst Hermione heads upstairs to get already. They decide to try leaving Athena unlocked in her cage whilst they're out for the day since the page Draco had been staring at most of the morning had suggested as such for two-month-old owls. They bid her goodbye then take their leave.

Hermione pulls Draco in for a quick hug and kisses at the gate of the estate before both of them disapparate to their different locations.

As soon as Draco arrives outside of the gate of Malfoy Manor, he sets off down the path towards the front door. He knocks sharply upon the door, waiting impatiently for either his mother or one of the house-elves to answer. Eventually, Mitty answers the door, excited to see Draco stood before her.

"Master Draco, Mistress Hermione not with him today." She asks, glancing behind him.

"Not today, Mitty. She's busy with her cousin." He explains. "I need to look for something in my room. Could you help me?" He asks her.

"Yes, Master Draco. Mitty happy to help Master Draco." She nods her head erratically, opening the door further for him to enter then follows him up the stairs to the first floor.

Whilst the portrait of his grandparents and Lucius has been hanging opposite the staircase on the first floor for all his life, it had been a while since he had noticed the painting and years since he had stopped to actually look at the portrait, which he did now. The portrait takes up the entire wall, from ceiling to carpeted floor.

The portrait depicts his grandmother sitting in her favourite armchair whilst his grandfather stands behind her, hands resting on her shoulders, whilst a two-year-old Lucius sits upon her lap. Taking his wand out, he ignores Mitty's confused squeak as he tries to remove the painting from the wall. However, it doesn't budge. If it's hung with a permanent sticking charm, this is going to be more difficult than he first imagined. He presses his face against the wall, trying to peer behind the portrait but to no avail.

"Draco!" His mother exclaims in surprise as she descends the staircase from the second floor where her day room and bedroom are is situated. Her sudden appearance makes him jump away from the wall as he spins around to face her. "I didn't hear you knock on the front door." She mentions, glancing between him and the old family portrait. "What are you doing?" She asks curiously.

"Nothing." He quickly answers.

His mother stares at him for a few seconds before shaking her head and walking past him towards the staircase.

"I'm having Mrs Parkinson over for afternoon tea at lunchtime. Don't make a mess." She mentions as she descends. "Mitty, make Gharther aware I'll be in the library until Mrs Parkinson arrives."

"Yes, Master's mother." She nods her head in a pitiful attempt at a bow before disappearing only to return a few seconds later when his mother is closing the library door,

"Master Draco is doing what?" Mitty asks, watching him as he knocks on different parts of the wall.

"Before Lucius was born, there was a door behind this portrait and another bedroom through it. I'm looking for entry into it." He explains.

"Mitty help Master Draco?" She asks, sounding too excited for a house-elf who might be about to break one of his mother's rules.

"What are you thinking?" He questions her.

Mitty closes her eyes, seemingly concentrating very hard on something. "Master Draco!" She gasps. "You is right. Behind wall is room. Master Draco's grandfather made charm on room. Mitty cannot enter." She explains, disappointed in herself.

Draco stares at the portrait, wondering if it's just the frame that has the permanent sticking charm applied to it or the actual canvas also. There's only one way to find out. He raises his wand at the portrait and mutters, "Diffindo."

Mitty squeaks as the canvas tears itself straight down the middle, cutting his grandparents and Lucius in half. Draco moves closer, pulling the canvas way further to reveal a handless door. He reaches through to try to push the door open but it doesn't move.

Pointing his wand at the door, he unsuccessfully attempts "Alohomora", "Portaberto", "Aberto" and even "Open sesame" before becoming annoyed and trying any spell he could think of that could destroy the door. In the end, the door explodes open with a simple "Bombarda" which shakes the entire first floor, sending splinters of wood and dust flying throughout the corridor and the Hyperion's bedroom. So much so that Draco can't make anything out on the other side of the hole in the portrait

"Master Draco's Mother!" Mitty gasps, staring down the stairs where a shriek had just been heard.

Quickly, Draco cast Reparo on both the door and the portrait, just as his mother reaches the bottom of the staircase.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy. What in merlin's name have you done? I told you not to make a mess." She shouts at him.

"I've repaired it, Mother." He reassures her, walking down the staircase to meet her.

"I'd like you to leave. Mrs Parkinson will be here any moment and I will not have you making explosions in your room." She orders him out.

"Yes, mother. I'll come back tomorrow." He tells her as he walks towards the front door.

"Master Draco, Mitty has banana bread for Master," Mitty calls after him, carrying a large loaf of banana bread which he thanks her for. Once he's outside the gate and the wards of the Manor, he disapparates straight to David's house.

David stands outside his daughter's bedroom, taking deep breaths and practising his fake smile as he waits for his watch to strike nine o'clock so he can wake Sophie up, ready for her day out with Gwenog. He'd told Sophie about her mother last night. They'd spent the entire day together. It was his way of apologising for abandoning her the previous day. He'd let Sophie choose how they spent the whole day.

They'd started the day with pancakes and hot chocolate before heading out to the park where he pushed her on the swings and helped her up the witch's hat, which she found funny. After a few hours of playing and feeding the ducks, they'd rode a double-decker bus into Central London where they went to the cinema to watch Tarzan, a film which had only just come out that day. They had stuffed their mouths with popcorn and drank milkshakes until they felt sick. Afterwards, they'd took a lovely stroll down by the River Thames to a tourist river boat where they enjoyed fish and chips. It wasn't until they got home and were sat drinking another hot chocolate in the living room when he told Sophie about Gwenog.

She seemed to have taken it well as he explains who her mother was, why she had to leave them but that she still loved her very much and wanted to take her out for the day with Hermione. She'd been very quiet for the rest of the night as they watched TV. He'd sent her to bed at nine o'clock so she was well rested for the next day.

He still feels reluctant about letting Sophie meet her mother. He's finding it difficult to forgive her for leaving, even though he understands why she left, but it would be cruel for him to forbid them from building a mother-daughter relationship simply for his own selfish reasons.

As the clock downstairs strikes nine, David takes another deep breath, puts on his fake smile, and knocks on Sophie's bedroom door. When there isn't any answer, he pushes the door open, peering around to find Sophie sat up in bed, with her arms folded, glaring at him.

"Good morning, Sophie. Did you sleep well?" He asks her as he enters the room, perching on the end of her bed.

"No." She snaps at him, turning her head away from him.

"What's wrong?" He asks, confused. He thought she would be happy or excited to meet her mother.

"Nothing." She grumbles.

"Is it about your mum?" He questions.

Sophie simply shrugs.

"What's wrong, Sophie?" He asks again.

"I don't want to meet her. I haven't had a mum for all my life and I don't want one now." She huffs.

"Sophie, I explained why your mum had to leave us. She didn't want to but some very bad people in the magical world made her." David explains, not wanting to go into too much detail when Sophie is still so young.

"But you said my mum is a witch. She could have looked after us with her magic." She says.

"The bad people were better at magic than your mum. They were more powerful and your mum was scared that they would hurt us if she tried to stop them. One of the bad people promised to look after us if she left us and helped him do something." He explains as best he could since he doesn't fully understand it all himself.

"I don't want to go." She raises her voice at him.

"Sophie! Your mum really wants to meet you and take you into the magical world." He says sternly. "I thought you would be excited to learn more about magic." He mentions.

Sophie looks at him for a long moment before sighing overdramatically.

"Fine. I'll go out with her but I'm only going so I can see the magical world." She tells him as she climbs out of bed and walks past him out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

Hermione lets herself into her Uncle David's house around twenty-five past ten. She doesn't want to interrupt anything if Gwen arrived early. She finds Sophie and David in the kitchen, both sat at the kitchen table waiting. Sophie's glaring at the fridge whilst David sips at his tea. They both turn to face her when she enters the room.

"Morning, are you excited, Sophie?" She asks as she sits down opposite her cousin.

"To see the magical world." She states, turning her attention back to the fridge.

Hermione glances at David who shakes his head in a way that tells her not to ask about Gwen.

"You're going to love the wizarding world, Sophie." She tells her, gaining her attention. "The first time I visited Diagon Alley, I nearly cried at how magical everything was. It's very interesting to see how wizards and witches use magic to carry out tasks that Muggles find a chore. You went to the bookshop with Pansy, didn't you?" Sophie nods. "Did you see Percy putting any of the books away?"

Sophie nods again, smile with excitement. "Yeah, he used his wand and they all flew onto the shelves. It was so cool." She exclaims.

"Diagon Alley is quite the same except there are lots of people all doing magic in many different ways at the same time." She explains.

"Will you do magic?" She asks.

However, before Hermione can answer, there's a hesitant knock at the front door and Sophie's smile drops as she stares down at her hands.

"I'll answer the door," David states as he stands up, placing his cup of tea on the table.

"Are you feeling nervous?" Hermione leans over the table to whisper.

Sophie nods her head.

"It's going to be okay." She reassures her. "And I'll be with you all day if you need me." She adds.

David closes the kitchen door behind him as he walks to the front door. He takes another deep breath before throwing it open to reveal Gwen, looking unsure about her whereabouts.

"Hello, David." She smiles at him but he can tell it's as forced as the one he wore earlier this morning.

"Hello." He greets her just as simply.

"How is Sophie?" She asks, still stood on the doorstep.

"She's quite nervous about meeting you but she's excited to visit the magical world." He answers.

"The wizarding world." She corrects him.

"Yes." David sighs. "To be honest, she doesn't want to meet you. She's grown up without a mum and has her own thoughts of you and your abandonment. It's going to take a while for her to come around to you but she will eventually, it just might take a while." He admits.

Gwen scoffs. "I'm sure you had nothing to do with persuading her thoughts of me."

"When Sophie first asked me, aged three, why she didn't have a mum, I told her that you had to leave us but you loved her very much. I have never told her anything different until last night when I told her the real reason you left, in a child-friendly way obviously. She came to the conclusion that you didn't want to be her mum after talking to her friends whose dad's weren't around. She's an exceptionally clever girl capable of her own thoughts, ideas and feelings." He snaps at her with a hushed, angry tone. "After all, you simply not being here was all the evidence she needed to realise that you didn't want to be her mum."

"You know fine well that's not true." Gwen snaps back at him.

"I know that, but Sophie doesn't. I'm only allowing you visitation for Sophie's sake. If by the end of the summer holiday's she still doesn't want you in her life, I'm going to respect her wishes and these visitations will stop. You need to prove to her that you love her and that from now on, you're going to be there for her." He tells her sternly.

"I know what I need to do to make it up to her. I don't need you telling me or setting a deadline." She bites back, immaturely.

David laughs. "You don't know anything. I've raised her for the past almost seven years by myself. I'm trying to help you because I know Sophie deserves to have a mother in her life like any other child but if she doesn't want you in her life. I'm not going to force it. More than anything, I want my daughter to be happy and if that means without you, then so be it." He tells her.

Gwen glares at him. She seems to have come to the conclusion that if her visitations are to continue, she not only needs to show Sophie that she can be her mother, but she needs to show David as well.

"Can I meet my daughter?" She asks dejectedly.

"She's in the kitchen with Hermione," David tells her stepping aside to allow her entrance to his house.

Even though she knows where the kitchen is, she waits for him to lead the way. When he pushes the kitchen door open, Hermione stands up and makes her way over with a smile to greet Gwen. Sophie stares at her mother, waiting for her to notice her.

Gwen looks over at Sophie sat at the kitchen table and smile nervously.

"Hello, Sophie. Are you excited to visit the wizarding world?" She asks her in a childish manner.

"I'm not a baby." Sophie snaps at her.

Gwen stands up straighter and nods her head. "I know you're not. You're nearly seven." She stares.

"I know when my birthday is." She tells her before looking at Hermione. "When are we going?" She asks.

"We'll go soon," Hermione tells her then turns to Gwen. "What have you planned for today?" She asks.

"I thought we'd enter Diagon Alley through the Muggle entrance so Sophie knows how to get there if she ever wants to go with David. Then we can look around the shops before having some lunch and ice-cream then come home for five o'clock." She explains.

"How do expect to get to London?" David asks her, knowing she can't drive.

"Walking?" She questions.

"I'm not walking to London," Sophie tells her, crossing her arms.

David scoffs. "It'll take you an hour and a half to walk there."

"Fine, disapparation." She states.

"I don't like that," Sophie announces.

"When did you disapparate?" Gwen asks confused.

"Twice when Hermione took me to Pansy's house. She's really cool. Will we see her today?" She asks Hermione.

"I don't know. She might be busy today." She answers.

"Pansy Parkinson?" Gwen asks Hermione. "You left my daughter with a Slytherin purist."

"Pansy is one of my friends and I trust her," Hermione tells her sternly.

"If Hermione trusts this girl with my daughter and Sophie seems to like her, then I have no issue with it," David announces.

"You don't know anything about the wizarding world. You don't know what these people are like." Gwen tells him in hushed anger.

"That's not my fault, is it? You should have told me about your world when you fell pregnant. You knew Sophie would be like you. I deserved to have known as her father." David angrily tells her.

"I couldn't tell you ab-" Gwen starts to argue, voice raised.

"Sophie, why don't you get a jacket?" Hermione suggests, nodding at her cousin who slides off her chair and runs up the stairs to her bedroom.

"You two need to stop this arguing, for Sophie's sake." She snaps at both Gwen and David. "She's confused right now and neither of you are helping." She stares at them.

David sighs. "Hermione, take my car. I won't be needing it. I've got some marking and planning to do." He suggests, taking his car keys from the fruit bowl and throwing them to her.

"Great, shall we go?" Hermione says as she catches them, heading towards the front door as Sophie runs back down the stairs.

As Gwen and Sophie head outside, Hermione turns to David.

"I'll look after her." She promises.

"Thank you." He pulls her into a hug. "I don't trust her yet." He admits.

Hermione climbs into the driver's seat, adjusting the seat and mirror before reversing down the driveway and setting off towards Central London. After Gwen had only received short answers from Sophie, she stops asking questions and they spend most of the journey in awkward silence. Hermione finds a car park close to the Muggle entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

Gwen and Hermione walk together down Charing Cross Road, with Sophie a little ahead of them.

"She doesn't like me, does she?" Gwen asks her.

"She doesn't know you." Hermione reminds her. "You need to show her that you love her and that you're going to be there for her. Then she'll come around to you." She tells her.

Gwen nods. "I can do that."

"Sophie!" Hermione calls out to her as they stop in front of the Leaky Cauldron. "We're here." She adds.

Sophie runs back, looking up at the building. "Does all of Diagon Alley look like this?" She asks unsure.

"Close your eyes, Sophie," Gwen tells her, kneeling beside her. The young girl looks at her confused. "Close your eyes and think about all the magic you've done. When you start to feel the magic, open your eyes and look at the building again.

Sophie stares at her for a few seconds before complying and closing her eyes. Hermione watches as she stands still for a long time, her eyes moving beneath her lids as she remembers her accidental magic incidents. When she finally opens her eyes, she jumps back in shock, blinks repeatedly.

"I-it changed." She gasps excitedly.

"The old shop is how Muggles see it and this is how we see it. The Leaky Cauldron." Gwen announces, pushing the door open.

The pub is rather quiet this morning and Tom smiles as they enter and head towards the back door to Diagon Alley. When he spots Sophie, his eyes narrow curiously, following them out the door.

"You need a wand to be able to get into Diagon Alley so if you ever need to come here with your dad, you can ask Tom behind the bar and he'll let you through," Gwen explains as she takes her wand out and taps the bricks.

Hermione watches Sophie face as she watches the bricks peel back to reveal the busy street of Diagon Alley.

"And here we are, Diagon Alley." Gwen smiles, letting Sophie walk ahead of them.

Sophie stops in the middle of the street, eyes flittering between the people and the shops.

"Where do you want to start?" Gwen asks her.

"Here," Sophie answers, running into Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Gwen laughs as she runs in after her. Hermione decides to hang back and let the two of them bond together. She watches through the shop window as Gwen guides Sophie around the shop pointing out different things and explaining them to her. They come out almost half an hour later, Sophie holding a book on Quidditch.

"Look what Gwen bought me." Sophie shows Hermione. "Another wizard book. She plays professional Quidditch and she's famous like David Beckham." She states. "The shop man asked for her autograph."

"That's great. Do you want me to look after your book for you?" Hermione asks her.

"No, I want to hold it." She hugs it to her chest again.

Hermione notices Gwen smiling down at her daughter.

"Where's next?" Sophie asks, looking up at her mother.

"Wherever you want to go?" Gwen tells her.

"What's that shop?" She asks, pointing at Madam Malkin's shop.

"That where you can buy cloaks, dress robes and your school uniform when you need it," Gwen explains as they walk towards it.

"Can I get a cloak?" She asks, looking up at Gwen hopefully.

"Of course, let's get you an autumn cloak. It'll be too heavy for summer but it'll keep you warmer during the cold seasons if you wear a jumper or a jacket underneath." Gwen explains as they enter the shop.

Hermione enters with them this time but looks at the rails on the other side of the shop to Sophie and Gwen.

"Gwenog Jones. You haven't ripped your Quidditch robes already, have you?" Madam Malkin's asks as she appears from seemingly nowhere.

"No, not yet." Gwen laughs. "My daughter needs an autumn cloak. Could you measure her up?" She asks.

Madam Malkin's eyes widen as she gasps, staring down at Sophie. "Your daughter?" She questions.

"Yes." Gwen nods, looking down at Sophie. "What colour cloak would you like?"

"My favourite colour is blue." She states.

"Then you shall have blue." She looks back up at Madam Malkin, who's still staring at Sophie.

"Blue? Ravenclaw blue? Beauxbaton Blue? Royal blue? Sky blue?" She questions.

"Ravenclaw blue, please," Sophie announces. "I want to be a Ravenclaw when I go to school." She tells the older woman, who just nods at her and tells her to stand on the stool where a tape measure sets about getting her measurements.

"Oh, Miss Granger. I didn't see you there." Madam Malkin smiles at her. "How can I help you, dear? Are you looking for dress robes for the Potter wedding?" She asks her.

"The what?" She questions in confusion. She was unaware of her friends announcing to the world that they were marrying for the second time.

"The Potter wedding. Don't you know? One of the Weasley's accidentally leaked the information whilst drunk in the Leaky Cauldron. It's all over the Daily Prophet this morning." She explains.

"I don't read the Daily Prophet anymore. It's usually all lies." She states.

"It's all that most of the wizarding world is talking about. It's supposed to be a small intimate wedding with just family and close friends." She mentions.

"You know more about it than I do." She chuckles as the tape measure finishes the measurements on Sophie.

Madam Malkin nods as she turns back to Gwen. "The cloak shall be ready in a few hours. Come back at three o'clock." She tells them,

Hermione takes Sophie outside as Gwen pays.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asks.

"It's amazing. I never want to leave." She says, glancing around the other shops.

"What about Gwen?" She asks.

"She's alright," Sophie admits with a shrug.

"Remember to thank her for buying you these presents." She reminds her cousin.

"I know." She rolls her eyes as Gwen joins them.

"I bought you this handbag to match your cloak." Gwen holds a rectangular handbag out to her.

"Thank you, Gwen. I can fit my book in it." She states, placing her book inside.

"I'm sure if you ask your cousin, she'll cast an undetectable extension charm so it can fit everything you need in there." She suggests, looking at Hermione.

"Will you?" Sophie asks, holding her new bag out to her, excited to be able to see more magic.

Hermione takes her wand out, casting the charm inside Sophie's bag. Sophie glances inside her bag in awe.

"It's like Mary Poppins' bag." She exclaims, making Hermione smile.

Hermione follows Gwen and Sophie around for a few more hours, sometimes joining them inside the shops or sometimes waiting outside. Sophie's eyes grew wider the further down Diagon Alley they go. Gwen has to stop a few times to sign autographs with some of her fans. Thankfully, Sophie and Gwen are inside Gambol and Japes Joke Shop when a group of American tourists ask to take a picture with her, one of the three saviours of the wizarding world. She doesn't want Sophie knowing that part of who she is yet. She'll find out one day but she's too young to understand what she did during the war.

At three o'clock, they head back to Madam Malkin's to pick up Sophie's cloak, which she puts on straight away, stuffing her jacket into her handbag. Gwenog announces that they're heading back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Sophie runs off ahead, cloak whipping behind her.

When they arrive, they all grab a booth at the back of the room. Gwen offers to buy her dinner but Hermione declines, explaining that she's at a party tonight so she'll just buy herself a sandwich. Gwen buys them all a glass of butterbeer as they wait for their food. Sophie doesn't seem to like the beverage but politely sips at it until her chicken dinner arrives along with Gwen's shepherd's pie and Hermione's tuna salad sandwich.

When they're finished, Gwen takes them to Florean Fortescue's for an Ice-Cream. Hermione buys herself a vanilla cone with a liquorice wand sticking out. Gwen buys herself and Sophie a Vanilla boat with baby chocolate frogs to share. Sophie is mesmerised by the charmed chocolate frogs that jump around her ice-cream. Gwen explains that they're not real frog when she looks reluctant to eat them.

They leave Diagon Alley and make it back to the car around quarter past four. Sophie had refused to take her cloak off so they received a few weird looks but Sophie didn't seem to care. During the car ride, Sophie sits in the middle of the back seat, reading her Quidditch book and asking Gwen any questions she has. They arrive back at David's house a few minutes before five o'clock.

"Thank you for buying me all these presents," Sophie tells her mother as they climb out of the car.

"You don't need to thank me. I have six birthdays and six Christmas' to make up for." She states.

Sophie smiles at her sincerely before running into her house, shouting for her dad so she can show him all the presents she has.

"Are you coming in?" Hermione asks nodding towards the house.

"I want to remain on David's good side so I better not over stay my welcome. Will you be joining us next Sunday?" She questions.

"Yes, I should be. If it's not me, it'll be Draco." She explains.

"I hope to see you next week then." She smiles before heading towards the path beside David's house where she can disapparate away.

Hermione follows Sophie into the house to find David and Draco sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, watching as Sophie takes everything out of her bag to show her dad. She walks up to Draco, kissing him on the cheeks as she takes a seat next to him.

"Have you spoken to David?" She whispers.

Draco nods. "He wants to start with making my family tree so I need to head back to the archives." He explains.

"I'm sure Mr Vyner will be delighted to have us back." She jokes making him chuckle.

"It looks like Sophie had a nice day." He nods towards Sophie who's spinning around in her cloak.

"Yes, she wasn't sure at first but soon warmed up to Gwen. We had a lovely day. Although Gwen did tell every shop we went into that Sophie was her daughter so I assume it'll be front page news tomorrow. Either that or the Potter wedding." She mentions.

"Harry and Ginny are getting married again?" He questions.

"Harry told me after the ceremony that he already proposed to Ginny at Christmas and were planning on getting married in August. A drunk Weasley apparently leaked the information in the Leaky Cauldron last night." She tells him.

"I'm assuming that's Ron." He sighs.

"Most likely." She nods. "We should probably get going if we're going to get ready for this party." She points out.

They both bid goodbye to David and Sophie, David telling Draco to come around anytime after four o'clock during the week when he has his family records and Sophie thanks Hermione for going with her to Diagon Alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	62. Chapter 62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 62 for you!
> 
> I'm very sorry it's late but it's a rather long chapter. I hope that makes up for it. :)
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

When they disapparate to the estate, there are a few reporters waiting outside the gates. They all jump into action when they see them.

"Mrs Malfoy, is it true the Potter's are having a second wedding this summer?"

"Hermione, Hermione, over here. Did the Potters get pregnant in an attempt to cheat the Marriage Decree?"

"Is Mrs Potter already five months pregnant?"

"Miss Granger, how do you know Gwenog Jones' daughter?"

The reporters all shout together but it's the one about Sophie that stops her and all the other reporters. Hermione turns to face the reporters, trying to figure out which one had asked about Sophie.

A purple haired reporter dressed all in black steps forward with her notepad and quill at the ready. "The three of you were spotted all over Diagon Alley today." She states.

Draco places his hand at the small of her back, guiding her through the gates and towards their house.

* * *

Inside their house, Draco checks on Athena whilst Hermione heads upstairs for a quick shower before she gets ready for Dean and Seamus' party. By the time she walks into their bedroom wrapped in a towel, Draco lounging on their bed, dressed in black jeans, dark green shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and black tie.

"Don't you look fancy?" She smiles at him as she opens the wardrobe.

"These are your friends," He states.

"And you want to look intimidatingly attractive?" She questions him as she flicks through her clothes.

He doesn't answer but she hears him climb off their bed. Pausing in her search, she glances over her shoulder. "You want to impress them?" She asks but Draco just looks at her. "You want my friends to think you're good enough for me?" She asks, facing him.

"No, I don't particularly care what they think about me." He shrugs, walking over to the wardrobe and helping her search through her clothes. "I feel joy in intimidating others with my attractiveness." He glances at her out the corner of his eye making her laugh.

"Well, you're certainly succeeding." She smiles at him.

"Do you know what I might find even more enjoyable?" He rhetorically asks as he pulls out a dark green floral dress. "If you were to join me on my crusade to intimidate our friends with our joint attractiveness." He holds the dress out to her with a questioning expression.

Hermione looks unsure so he moves them in front of their dressing table mirror, holding the dress in front of her body.

"You can't deny how attractive we are as a couple. We're probably the most attractive couple to come out of this decree." He smiles vainly.

"You're a very conceited man, Draco Malfoy." She tells him, taking the dress from his grasp and pushing him out of their bedroom, shutting the door behind him so she can change.

When she's ready, she joins Draco downstairs where she pulls on her black ankle boots before leaving for the party.

* * *

Ginny is keeping an eye on the barbecue with Hannah, which they had just lit with a flick of their wand. They'd both been at Dean and Seamus' house along with their husbands and Ron since five o'clock but everyone else should be arriving around six o'clock. Ron was sat by himself on the grass with a bottle of the muggle beer Dean had asked her and Harry to pick up. However, due to Ron's stupid, drunk slip up the previous night, they were unable to leave the Estate thanks to the number of reporters stood outside the gate waiting for them, so Dean had gone himself. Her mother had owled her demanding to know what was on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Hopefully, it'll die down within a few days.

"So, have you picked a date yet?" Hannah whispers, glancing around the garden.

"What? Oh, yeah, we're thinking the fourteenth of August." She admits with a smile as she glances over at Harry, who's sat laughing at the garden table with Dean, Seamus and Neville.

"A summer wedding! You're both going to look gorgeous." Hannah squeals excitedly.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Dean jokes, catching their attention. They glance over to find that Hermione and Draco have arrived.

"Oh Helga," Hannah gasps. "They're wearing colour coordinated outfits."

Ginny gives them the once over. Her best friend and her husband are wearing matching shades of dark green. They're stood talking to the boys around the table, Draco's arm around her waist, gripped on her hip. Hermione laughs at something and he pulls her closer.

"Ginny," Hannah grips her arm excitedly. "Look at them. They're so in love."

"Shut up, Hannah." Ginny snaps. "They're obviously not. It's only been eighteen days. Do you love Neville?" She rhetorically asks.

"I definitely fancy him but I wouldn't say we love each other yet," Hannah admits with a shrug. "But we're not as compatible as they obviously are. They're so cute together." She smiles.

Ginny ignores Hannah, walking over to the table to greet Hermione. She notices Ron sneak off inside the house, away from Hermione and Draco and wonders when he'll get over himself and apologise.

"When does everyone else arrive?" Hermione asks leaning back into Draco's chest.

"Do you think we have more friends than this?" Seamus asks, raising a joking eyebrow.

"Six o'clock," Harry answers looking up at her. "You look very… erm… pretty today." He struggles to compliment her.

"Don't strain yourself, dear." Ginny laughs, leaning on the back of his chair.

"You do look very pretty though." She comments, looking her up and down. "What's with all the green though? Has this one brainwashed you?" She asks, half-jokingly nodding to Draco who grimaces at her.

"If anything, I've brainwashed him." She laughs half-heartedly, taking Draco's hand in hers. "Do you think he would have rolled his sleeves up without my input? Honestly Draco, I'm the reason we are this attractive." She says and it's obviously an inside joke by the way Draco chuckles, hugging her closer.

Ginny smiles, letting the topic drop as Blaise and Pansy arrive through the back gate with a couple of bottles of wine between them.

"Wow, thanks, you brought the good stuff," Dean mentions as he accepts the wine, placing them in the cool box under the table.

"It's a bribe," Pansy tells them. "We know you don't particularly like us so we thought we'd ply you all with great wine all night." She jokes smiling at Hermione and Draco. "Hey, I'm glad you're already here." She walks over to them, muttering something to the both of them, striking jealousy in Ginny.

"She's great." Hermione nods. "I'll tell you about it later." She adds, leaving Ginny jealously wondering what her best friend can talk about with Pansy but not with her.

"I'm going to get some water." She announces to the group but nobody seems to hear her so she makes her way into the kitchen alone where she finds Blaise and Ron stood talking.

"Hey Ginny, how are you and baby?" Blaise asks her cheerfully.

"We're both doing well, thank you." She smiles back, resting a hand over her small bump. "What about you?"

"Yes, baby and I are great." He jokes, placing a hand on his flat stomach.

Ron scoffs in amusement from the kitchen table.

"Anyway, I came for some water." She walks around Blaise, grabbing a glass from the cupboard.

"How's Ronald doing?" He asks, leaning over the counter, chin rested in his hands.

"Shut up, Zabini." He grumbles.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Ginny forgives you for your drunken little slip-up. Don't you, Ginny?" He glances at her.

She shrugs. "It's not that big of a deal. People we're going to find out eventually."

"Then why are the Weasley siblings being grumpy-guts today?" He questions them both.

Ginny shares a look with her confused brother before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I know that look. You're jealous." Blaise states. "Who of?"

"No one." She snaps, heading back outside.

* * *

Ron watches as his sister leaves him with the Slytherin idiot again. Zabini seems incapable of shutting up.

"Ah, it's just the two of us again, Ronald." He states. "So, Pansy was telling me the other day that you're in her bad books. What you gonna do about it?" He asks.

"Nothing, I don't care." He shrugs, sipping at his third beer of the night.

"Really, after everything she does for you?" He tilts his head to stare at him.

He laughs. "Like what?"

"Like everything, my dear Ronald." The other man moves around the counter to sit opposite him at the kitchen table.

Ron pushes his chair back, not wanting to be too close to the other.

"She cooks for you, cleans up after you, washes your clothes." He pauses to look him up and down unpleasantly. "Do you do anything to help around the house?

"Yeah." He answers but struggles to think of anything off the top of his head.

"Really, I bet your mother did everything for you too." He states.

"Don't start me, Zabini." He hisses at him.

Zabini stands up, hands raised above his head. "Okay, don't shoot. I guess I'll go speak with Pansy and Hermione. We've been getting pretty close recently." He mentions with a wink before leaving.

"Bastard." He mutters to himself, downing the rest of his drink and heading outside for another. However, he's stopped by Malfoy, who's holding a bottle out for him and nodding back into the house.

"I thought I made myself clear last week, Ron." Malfoy glares at him, gesturing for him to take a seat back at the table. "You do remember our conversation outside the gates last Saturday?

"I wasn't that drunk." Ron snaps at him.

"Then why is it that you are yet to apologise to Hermione?" He questions him, sipping his beer.

Ron stares down at his beer bottle. "I'm not that good with words." He mutters.

Malfoy stares at him for a moment. "Could you say that again but this time, don't mutter?"

"I don't know what to say." He says clearer and Malfoy laughs at him.

"The longer you put it off, the harder it'll be and the less likely it'll be that Hermione will forgive you." He warns him.

"You don't know her like I do." He brags. "We fought for months during third year and again during sixth year. I'll apologise eventually and she'll get over it." He shrugs, taking a long drink. He knows what he's doing.

"Ron," Malfoy addresses him sharply. "This is nothing like your childhood arguments. You called her a Death Eater's slut and it deeply hurt her. You say she'll get over it, but what if I told her she already has and she's moved on. If you don't act soon, she'll move on with her life without you." He warns him and Ron has to admit his heart drops at the thought of never having Hermione in his life ever again.

"I'll apologise!" He says assertively.

Malfoy nods at him, raising his beer at him in thanks before taking a swig.

"She's had a difficult time recently with her cousin and uncle. I think what she really needed to get through it were her best friends and no matter how much I love her, at the moment I don't compare to you, Harry and Ginny."

Malfoy keeps talking but he doesn't listen. He just admitted to being in love with Hermione. How can he already love her after only two and a half weeks? Does Hermione love him back? He thought it took years for two people to fall in love. It took him seven years. It took Harry and Ginny six years. His own parents were friends for three years before they fell in love.

"You love her?" He interrupts to question him doubtfully.

Malfoy stares at him for a long moment before nodding. "Yes, I do." He admits.

"Does Hermione know this?" He asks, trying to look unconcerned. Much to his surprise, Malfoy blushes as he breaks their eye contact.

"It may have slipped out in the spur of the moment." He smiles to himself in remembrance.

Ron feels sick to his stomach. It doesn't take an idiot to understand what the other man meant by 'spur of the moment' and the blush and smile just further prove he's right. They've slept together. His heart drops and he's hit by the sudden realisation that it is actually over. That he doesn't have a chance to win her back when they seem so loved up. He feels the final piece of his love for Hermione tear away, leaving him heartbroken and teary eyed.

"I'm leaving." He states as he abruptly stands up, downs the rest of his beer and makes his way out Deana and Seamus' front door without saying goodbye to his friends. They probably won't even notice he's gone.

* * *

"You owe me a favour," Blaise announces as he sits down on the grass beside Pansy, shuffling around to try and get into a comfortable position against the fence they're leaning against.

Pansy sighs, rolling her eyes as she turns to face him. "What have you done know?" She questions him. "Am I going to have to fic something?" She raises an eyebrow.

"I just had a little chat with your Weasel." He shrugs, snatching her bottle of beer out of her hand and taking a swig.

"Oh Merlin, what did you do?" She takes her beer back.

"I just made him see everything you do for him and suggest that he should start pulling his own weight." He shrugs, turning the watch the Gryffindor's and Hannah laughing at the garden table.

Pansy's quiet for a moment before she rests her head on his shoulder with a sigh and thanks him.

He gasps overdramatically.

"Don't ruin the moment, Zabini." She warns him.

"I'll try to restrain my excitement." He jokes.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Pansy speaks.

"We don't belong here." She states. "We're not friends with any of these people. We obviously don't fit in. Why are we here?" She asks rhetorically.

"We're here because our other halves are friends with these people and it's polite to socialise with our partners' friends." He answers.

"Your other half isn't here, I have no idea where mine is and we're not exactly socialising with them by sitting on the other end of the garden." She points out.

"Hermione's our friend." He states. "And I've become quite friendly with Neville. I had a cup of tea with him and Hannah the other day." He adds.

"Okay, so you're friends with two people. Do you see either of them coming over her to strike up a conversation?" She questions. "No, they'd rather laugh with their actual friends."

"That's not fair Pansy. You know Hermione's our friend. She invited us over for dinner the other day." He reminds her, just as Draco comes out of the house. He glances between Hermione and them before coming over to them.

* * *

Neville notices Draco leave the house and make his way over to where Blaise and Pansy are sat against the fence. They seem to be talking about them since they keep glancing over at the garden table. He's never seen the Slytherin's look so close. At school, they held the image of being friends by circumstance but here Pansy was, leaning against Blaise, staring a couple of beers between the three of them.

"Hey, Hermione, do they not want to join us?" He quietly asks Hermione, who's sat beside him so not to bring attention to the matter.

Hermione glances over at them and smiles. "I'm sure they'll join us when they're ready." She tells him. "It can't be easy for them to be at a party with people who they used to hate and who hated them in return." She points out.

Neville nods thoughtfully. "They seem friendly with you." He mentions.

"They're Draco's closest friends. It would be rude for me not to befriend them." She smiles. "It wasn't exactly hard to befriend them either. Especially, Blaise, it's virtually impossible not to be his friend." She chuckles.

"I know, I got talking to him in the greengrocers and before I know it, we were drinking tea in my garden with Hannah." He tells her.

"That sounds just like him." She nods. "Anyway, how are you and Hannah?" She asks him.

"We're amazing. It feels like we've been together for years." He admits. "I took her to see Mum and Dad the other day and they all got on really well. Hannah painted Mum's nails and read my Dad's favourite book to him. Grandmother cried when I told her. I was surprised when she told me she approves of Hannah. She never approves of anything." He says.

"That's great, Neville. I'm glad you're really getting on." She smiles. With genuine happiness for him and Hannah. "I assume you're not planning on divorcing then." She raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, everything is still new so I don't know but I'm not planning on it." He answers truthfully. "What about you and Draco? The most surprising couple of the Decree." He jokes. "Are you planning on divorcing him?" He asks.

Hermione's face blushes pink as she tries to hide her smile behind her bottle of beer. "No, I'm not." She grins.

Neville grins as he laughs. "You're falling for him, aren't you?"

"Shush." She warns him, glancing around the table but nobody seems to be paying attention to them or their conversation. "Yes, alright. I really like him and I might be falling in love with him." She whispers, blushing deepening.

Neville bites the inside of his cheek to try and stop himself laughing but it doesn't work, he burst out laughing, gaining the attention of everyone at the table and the Slytherins at the fence.

"Shut up, Neville." Hermione hisses at him, thankfully, Theo and Lisa arrive at the back gate, taking most the attention away from them as Hannah, Dean, Seamus and Harry stand up to greet them.

"That's so cute, Hermione." He teases as his laughter dies down.

"I'm leaving." She stands up.

"I'm sorry." He tells her with a chuckle.

Hermione smiles at him over her shoulder so he knows she's not actually mad at him.

"What are you sorry for?" Ginny asks, moving into the seat Hermione had just departed from.

"Oh it's nothing, I just laughed at something Hermione said. I think she was embarrassed." He says, grabbing another bottle of beer from the cooler.

Ginny huffs beside him, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I'm just being stupid." She tells him.

"I very much doubt that. Tell me what's wrong." He places a comforting arm on her shoulder.

She sighs with a shrug. "I'm just feeling jealous. I've barely seen Hermione since the ceremony and now we're both at this party and she hasn't spoken to me much but she's having little private whispering with you, Draco, Blaise and Pansy." She spits Pansy's name before sighing again. "I told you I was being stupid."

"You're feelings aren't stupid, Ginny. You're just missing the closeness you used to have, which is understandable since you used to spend every day together at Hogwarts and then she'd spend a part of the summer holiday at the Burrow. I think what you need to do is invite her out for lunch, just the two of you, and explain how you feel to her." He suggests.

"Wow, when did you become so wise?" She jokes.

"I think it came with the marriage." He answers with a smile. "I also think you need to accept Draco as Hermione's husband. She really seems to like him." He nods over to the fence where she's sitting between Draco's legs, leaning against his chest, laughing with Blaise and Pansy. He notices Ginny's nostrils flare in jealousy. "I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon." He states.

Ginny nods, looking down at her hands. "Thanks, Neville. I think I just need to accept that things are changing and they aren't going to be the same."

"That's not always a bad thing. Sometimes, change is good." He states as Hannah calls him over to the barbecue where she's talking to Lisa. "Excuse me, Ginny." He stands up.

"Have fun." She smiles at him as he leaves.

* * *

Harry spots his wife sat at the garden table by herself so excuses himself from the conversation between Dean, Seamus and Theo to join her.

"Hello, beautiful." He kisses the top of her head before sitting beside her, placing a hand on her baby bump. "How are you doing? Do you want anything to drink or eat?" He asks.

"No, I'll wait until they've cooked the burgers." She smiles at how caring he is towards bother herself and their child. He's going to be a great father.

"What were you and Neville talking about?" He asks.

"Hermione and Draco and how much they seem to like each other." She looks over to them again.

Harry follows her eye line and smiles. "It's still kind of weird to see them so cosied up together. Imagine if we'd found them like that at Hogwarts. There would have been an uproar." He laughs. "I'm glad she's happy though. We should invite them over for lunch." He suggests, turning back to face his wife who glares at him. "What?"

"You want to have them over for lunch?" She questions.

"Yeah, we've hardly seen them since our party. It'll be nice to catch up. I'll go ask them." He goes to stand up but Ginny pulls him back down. "What's wrong?"

Ginny shrugs. "I just don't… like Draco. I don't trust him with Hermione." She admits.

Harry laughs. "Gin, Hermione's an adult who is more than capable of looking after and defending herself. Anyway, you said it yourself, they really seem to like each other."

"I don't know." She looks back over at Hermione and Draco.

"Come on, Gin. We've barely seen Hermione and I'm sure she'll appreciate us trying to get to know Draco better." He tries to convince her.

"I suppose the more time we spend with them, the more we'll know about his true intentions with Hermione." She nods. "Fine, ask them over for lunch." She yields.

"Great, let's go." Harry stands up.

"What? Now? She's sat with the Slytherin's. Wait until she's alone." Ginny tells him, pulling him by the hand back down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and cuddling into him. "We've barely had two seconds to each other all day." She whispers, caressing his stubbly cheek as she pulls him closer into a kiss. "By the way," She says against his lips. "I love the stubble." She admits, kissing him again.

* * *

"Hey, Potters, get a room," Theo calls over to the couple making out at the garden table as he walks over to his group of friends sat over on the grass, away from everyone else.

"Get lost, Theo," Ginny calls back as he sits down facing the group. He throws a middle finger salute behind him as he greets his friends.

"So this is where the life of the party is." He teases his friends. "Where can I get myself one of those?" He gestures to Hermione's beer.

"Underneath the garden table." She answers, nodding behind him.

"Where the fornicating couple are?" He laughs, taking his wand out and accioing himself a bottle.

"They're not that bad." Hermione defends her friends.

"No, at least they're not sitting on each other." He glances Hermione and Draco up and down, making the former blush.

"Moving on from these two, what's up with you and Lisa?" Blaise asks out of formality.

"Do you really care or are you asking because of social convention?" He questions him.

"That bad, eh?" Blaise laughs.

"We're doing great, my mother loves Lisa and as far as I'm aware, her family like me so I can't complain. How are you and Luna? I haven't seen her around in a while." He asks, turning the question on him.

Blaise shrugs. "She's on an expedition around Australia with her father. I'm joining them a week tomorrow after my little job at the Ministry is finished." He explains.

"Interesting. What's this job you've gotten yourself then?" He asks.

"I'm playing translator for the Italian Minister of Magic starting tomorrow," Blaise explains, taking Pansy's beer out of her hands and finishing it off. "I probably should have many more of these." He hands the empty bottle back to Pansy.

"Well, that sounds like a great way to get on good terms with Minister Shacklebolt." He mentions.

"Ergh no, there'll be no Ministry job for me." Blaise pulls a face.

"How do you plan on making a living for your family's future?" Theo asks, frowning in confusion.

"I'm an only child, my mother almost always signs a fifty-fifty prenuptial and my father left me a small fortune in his will. I'll say I'm set for life." He shrugs. "Anyway, Luna will want to continue researching her creatures so I'm more than happy being a stay at home Dad." He adds.

"I suppose you've got your life figured out then," Theo says looking at Draco to see what he thinks of his best friend plans but he doesn't seem concerned. In fact, he doesn't seem to be listening, whispering into Hermione's ear instead. "What about you two? The top two people of the year must be planning on doing something great with their knowledge?" He asks curiously.

"I'm looking into teaching. It's been my dream since I was a little girl." Hermione states. "Well, actually, I wanted to be a penguin when I was three but I soon learned that wasn't going to happen." She admits.

"Why a penguin?" Pansy laughs.

"I thought they were cute." She shrugs defensively and Draco hugs her closer to his chest.

"It is cute." He whispers but the group hears them.

Theo rolls his eyes along with Pansy whilst Blaise pretends to throw up.

"You both disgust me," Pansy tells them. "If you're going to be all lovey-dovey, go home." She warns, making them laugh.

"Draco, please tell me you're taking your potions making further?" Theo asks, getting them back on topic.

"Of course, there's nothing else I would consider. I actually spoke with Horace yesterday about going into teaching. I'm still thinking it over but I've got a lot going on at the moment." He answers.

"Ah, the trials?" He nods.

Draco frowns slightly before nodding. "Yeah, the trials." He agrees.

"So this is where you've gotten too," Lisa says as she sits beside him with Sue. "I thought I'd lost you." She smiles at him and he smiles back, taking in her beauty.

"I was just catching up with the Slytherins." He tells her. "We're talking about our careers." He fills her in so she can join in with the conversation.

"Blaise is going to be a stay-at-home-dad, Draco might become the new potions master and Hermione wants to become a penguin," Pansy explains and Lisa looks up at him in confusion.

"It's a joke." He explains. "Something Hermione said earlier."

"Oh, okay. Have you told them about your new job?" She asks almost boastfully, taking his hand in hers.

"No, I hadn't gotten around to it yet." He tells her.

"Theo has been given a paid internship within the Council of Magical Law." She announces proudly, squeezing his hand. "You want to be a lawyer, don't you Theo?"

"Yeah, that's the plan eventually." Theo nods awkwardly, not used to being the centre of attention like this.

"That's amazing, Theo." Hermione congratulates him.

* * *

Hannah glances around the garden wondering where Neville had gone. He had left her, Dean and Seamus talking to get them both another beer but that had been about fifteen minutes ago. She excuses herself from the two boys and heads over to where a large group of people are sat near the fence. She spots Hermione sitting with Draco.

"Hermione, have you seen Neville?" She asks, kneeling on the grass beside her.

"Not recently, sorry." She tells her.

"Lost your husband, have you, Hannah?" Pansy asks teasingly.

"At least I care enough to look for my husband. Where's yours, Pansy?" She returns the question.

She hears Sue, Lisa and Blaise gasp at her snide remark, although she's sure Blaise is just being theatrical.

Pansy raises an interested eyebrow. "The last I heard, he was sulking in the kitchen." She shrugs.

"He went home about an hour ago." Draco corrects her.

"Well there you go, he's at our house." She smiles before sighing. "He's probably eating all our food again."

"Don't you care?" Hannah asks her, wondering why the other girls not making an attempt to befriend her husband since they're going to have to raise a child together.

"I care very much. I'll have to go shopping tomorrow." She says.

"About Ron. Don't you care about Ron?" She clarifies.

"Am I missing something? Was part of our vows to fall in love with our partner? I'm sure Sue will agree that it's harder than these two make it look." She nods towards Draco and Hermione who both blush as everyone's attention is brought to them.

"Please don't bring me into this," Sue states as she stands up and leaves the group. Lisa quickly follows her over to the salad table to comfort her.

"Are you getting divorced then?" Hannah asks, seeing as those are the only two options available to them.

"No, I'll never get my inheritance if we divorced. We're just separating. As soon as the baby is born, I'll move back in with my parents, Ronald can do whatever he wants and we'll share custody of the child. Either weekly or every four days, we haven't really discussed it yet." She shrugs.

"What does Ron think of this?" She asks.

"He still thinks he's in love with Hermione so he's not looking to remarry anytime soon. Unless Granger here become available." Pansy laughs.

"Not likely," Draco grumbles, hugging Hermione tighter.

"Right, well, good luck with that… problem but I need to find Neville." She announces, taking her leave.

* * *

Seamus stands at their kitchen sink, staring out of the window over all their friends enjoying their part in their garden. It all seems strange to him that his friends would still want to hang around with him and Dean after they came out to them. They had been planning on doing it after graduation, once there would be no issue of sharing a dormitory with them. It turns out that they needn't have worried. Everyone seems more than alright with them being gay.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Dean asks, coming up being him and hugging him from behind.

"How accepting our friends have been towards us?" He admits.

He can feel Dean shaking his head against his shoulder. "After everything we've been through together with the war, you still think they would reject us?" He rhetorically asks.

"You say that but my dad still hasn't fully accepted us and glares at you when we go around for dinner." He points out.

"Yeah, probably doesn't help that I'm black either." He laughs. "Your Mam's an angel though, she'll bring him around eventually." Dean tries to reassure him.

"Hey boys, have you seen Neville?" Hannah peaks her head through the back door to ask them. "He went to the bathroom," Seamus tells her.

"Thanks." She smiles as she heads through towards the stairs.

"No funny business." Dean jokes and the look of disgust on Hannah's face makes them both burst out laughing.

"That answers that question then," Seamus mentions.

"What question?"

"Which of our friends have had sex yet? By that face, Neville and Hannah haven't yet." He states.

"Are we really going to discuss which of our friends have consummated their marriage yet?" Dean raises a questioning eyebrow, trying to hint that they're better than this.

"Well, we know who's definitely done it." He nods out the window to the garden table where Harry and Ginny are sat.

Dean rolls his eyes. "Obviously." He chuckles. "And Pansy and Ron have if you remember the Potters party."

"Neville told me that Blaise and Luna had sex before they got married," Seamus mentions.

"Wait, were they together beforehand." He asks.

"Apparently."

They both look out the kitchen at the rest of their friends.

"What do you think about Hermione and Draco?" Dean asks. "I'm not sure."

"Yeah, they definitely have. Look at them. They're the third most loved up couple here." He points out.

"After us and the Potters?" He asks.

"Yeah." He nods. "We're the first. We've been together for nearly five years and look at us. Still acting like it's new." He states. "We disgust me." He jokes.

"We are pretty disgusting." Dean agrees, licking Seamus' ear lobe.

Seamus instantly jerks away from his husband. "Not the ears. I've told you this." He shivers, wiping his ear dry.

"But I love your reaction." Dean laughs, reaching back out for him.

"Oh yeah, you'll love my reaction in a minute," Seamus grumbles, walking around the kitchen counter to head back outside.

"Is that a threat?" Dean asks, stopping him in his tracks.

"It very well might be." Seamus turns to smirk at him.

"If you're going to make out, can you move it into the living room? I need to get some water." She says, walking past them into the kitchen.

"Thanks for ruining the moment." Seamus huffs as he turns around to head outside but Dean grabs his shoulders, leaning in close.

"It doesn't have to be ruined." He whispers, making Seamus shiver.

"Dean, stop with my ears." He hisses at his husband in annoyance, turning to glare at him.

"Why don't you make me?" He teases, taking him by the hands and guiding him into the living room, away from Ginny.

As soon as the doors closed, Dean pulls him flush against his body, into a deep kiss.

"Oh," Hannah squeaks. "Sorry boys." She apologises as they break apart with a sigh.

"We'll just be on our way." Neville quickly grabs hold of Hannah's hand, pulling her urgently into the kitchen.

"Maybe we should wait until our friends have left to make out," Dean suggests, pulling him into a tender hug.

Seamus sighs into the embrace. "Fine, but I want more than a little make out session." He pouts looking up at Dean.

With a chuckle, he pecks his pouted lips. "If you're good." He teases as they break away and head outside for some burgers, which should be ready by now.

* * *

After Theo excuses himself to grab some food with his wife, Hermione takes the opportunity to ask how her friends are doing since they haven't really tried to socialise with anyone outside of their Slytherin friend group.

"How are you enjoying the party?" She asks.

"I'm having fun," Blaise smirks.

"It's alright," Pansy admits. "Now tell us about Sophie and Gwen." She asks, leaning eagerly forward.

Hermione smiles. "In the end, I think Sophie had a fun day. She was quite apprehensive, to begin with, but I think it helped that Gwen bought her three books, a cloak, sweets and ice-cream." She chuckles. "Gwen's trying to make up for all the time they've missed by buying her all these presents but Sophie's not materialistic. It'll take more than that for Sophie to accept Gwen as her mother." She explains. "Although, David's told Gwen that she has until the end of summer to win Sophie's trust. If Sophie still doesn't want her to be her mum, David's stopping her visits." She adds.

"If Sophie doesn't want Gwen in her life, there's no point in forcing it." Pansy agrees with a shrug.

"I hope they can build a good mother-daughter relationship though." Blaise mentions.

"You just want free tickets still." Pansy nudges him teasingly.

"Nobody's getting free tickets." She states.

"I don't want free tickets. I can buy my own tickets." Blaise defends himself.

"Since it's just the four of us here," Pansy starts, glancing around at the rest of the party guests who don't seem to be paying attention to their little group. "Draco, have you started looking for this uncle of yours." She questions.

"Oh, good question." Blaise smiles, turning to face Draco.

She feels Draco stiffen as he thinks over what he should tell his two best friends. He relaxes with a soft sigh. "I've spoken to a few people who were acquainted with my grandparents around that time such as Horace Slughorn and your father." He nods at Pansy who frowns.

"Why  _my_  father?" She asks defensively.

"He was best friends with Hyperion when he was a child." He explains. "My grandparents told the wizarding world that Hyperion died on his ninth birthday, he fell out of a window." He shakes his head with a chuckle. "Horace knew the truth though and informed us of how my grandfather frequently obliviated Lucius whenever he found out about Hyperion."

"So Lucius doesn't know about his brother." Blaise states.

"Not necessarily. My grandfather died twelve years ago. There's a possibility Lucius found during that time. I don't know what he would do with the knowledge of Hyperion. Whether he would try to find him or ensure the information stayed hidden, especially with the Dark Lord's return." He explains.

"You need to visit Lucius." Pansy outright states, making Hermione freeze as she awaits for Draco's reaction.

"I am not visiting him," Draco says through gritted teeth.

"Draco," Pansy sighs, shuffling to face him. "You need to stop thinking about yourself and whatever reason you're telling yourself as to why you can't visit him and start thinking about… well, yourself… and Hyperion. You have an uncle out there who doesn't know you exist. No offence, but your parents aren't exactly the best family you could have. Even my parents are better than yours, at least mine didn't join the Dark Lord. You're better than them, Draco and you deserve a good family. Hyperion could be that for you. You could have cousins out there somewhere but you'll never know because you're too proud or scared to visit your father for two minutes to ask if he knows where his brother is." She scalds him unsympathetically.

Hermione and Blaise stare in shock at Pansy, who without fear, told Draco what they had both been too afraid to do. She tilts her head up, searching Draco's face to try and decipher what he's feeling but he's just staring at Pansy without expression.

Suddenly, he nods, running a hand through his hear. "You're right, Pansy. I need to get over myself and visit him. I need to find Hyperion and if Lucius knows where he is or anything else about him, it can shorten the amount of time it takes David and me to find him. I only need to visit him once and then I never have to see him again." He stands up, looking nervous.

"Do you want me to come with you" Hermione offers, standing up and taking his hand.

"No, I don't want you anywhere near him. I might not be able to protect myself from him but the least I can do is protect you." He kisses her hand, making her stomach flip with guilt and nerves. "I need to get this over with now before I change my mind. I'm going to see Kingsley." He announces.

"Minister Shacklebolt." Blaise unhelpfully points out, earning himself a glare from Draco.

"I'll meet you at home," Draco tells her, press a quick kiss to lips before leaving.

* * *

Harry had offered to go refill the glass for her but Ginny had insisted on doing it herself, telling him off in the process. As soon as Ginny had entered the house, her chair is taken by Hermione.

"Hello, stranger." He jokes, smiling at his best friend who wraps her arms around him tightly.

"I know, it's been a while. I'm sorry I haven't been to visit. I've just been really bust and had a lot on my mind." She admits with a deep sigh as she releases him.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"Yes, I'm fine but I need your help." She tells him, making him worry. "And Ron's." She adds and his worry turns to concern.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" He leans closer to whisper.

"It's a long story that I'd rather tell both of you together. Draco told me Ron went home a few hours ago. Do you mind if we go now?" She asks him hopefully.

"Of course, let me just tell Ginny where we're going." He tells her, standing up.

"Okay, I'll meet you at the front door." She says, following him into the kitchen where she heads into the hallway to wait for him.

Harry heads over to where Ginny is stood at the kitchen window, waiting for him.

"What did Hermione want?" She asks him, sipping at her glass of water.

"Nothing. It's me. I'm tired of my two best friends not being friends. I've convinced Hermione to come visit Ron with me now to try and sort this mess out." He lies quickly. "We won't be long." He adds, pulling her into a hug before she can see straight through his lie.

He meets Hermione at the front door and they set off for Ron's house. Harry knocks on the front door a couple of times before it opens.

"Forget your key again?" Ron questions before he sees them. "What's happening right now?" He asks looking between Harry and Hermione.

"I need to talk to the both of you. It's important." She stares at him.

"Right, come in then." He leads them into his living room, moving a few magazines and blankets off the couch.

He and Ron sit down whilst Hermione paces around in front of the fireplace. They share a look and Harry shrugs signalling that he doesn't know what's happening.

"Hermione?" He calls her attention.

She turns to face them, sitting herself down in the armchair. "It's kind of a long story." She states.

"Just start at the beginning." Harry tries to be helpful.

"I suppose it starts with my Uncle David. He's been trying to track the Adair's family tree," She starts.

"Who's that?" Ron asks.

"My mum's family." She answers before carrying on. "Anyway, David mentioned a name that Draco found-"

Ron scoffs, interrupting her.

"Ron, shut up and listen." She warns him and he surprisingly doesn't retaliate. "Draco found the name suspicious. It was Rowle. Which Ron, you might know is one of the sacred twenty-eight pureblood families." She explains.

Ron nods but Harry's mouth drops open.

"Are you related to a pureblood family?" He asks her.

"It's what I need to find out. It turns out Draco's been receiving letters from the ministry like we have been. Except they want him to testify against more Death Eaters. He went to visit the Minister and exchanged his services for access to the Department of Registrations Archives."

"He bribed the Minister." Ron laughs. "Is he really that stupid?

"Yes, he risked imprisonment for me." She snaps at him. "We went to the archives and found out that one of my ancestors was the squib child of a Rowle and a Muggle woman." She states.

"That's…." Harry doesn't know what to say

"It gets stranger." She smiles. "We found out my cousin Sophie is a witch." She tells them, laughing as both his and Ron's jaws drop.

"Two Muggleborns. That's uncommon." Ron says impressed.

"She's half-blood." She tells them.

"Now I'm really lost." Harry frowns.

"You're going to like this Ron. Her mum is Gwenog Jones." She announces.

Both his and Ron's face light up.

"Gwenog Jones. Are you kidding me? This is amazing." Ron says excitedly.

"Yes, it's great. Moving on, Gwen told me the reason she had to leave my uncle and cousin is because Lucius Malfoy found out and used it against her. Apparently, there was going to be a vote in 1993 about whether England was safe enough to host the Quidditch World Cup with new Death Eater activity. Lucius needed her to vote in his favour. In the meantime, Draco found out something about the Malfoy family which he needed to find out more information about. I suggested him going to visit Lucius in Azkaban but he refused. He never wants to see his father again." She pauses to read their face and harry wonders where this is going. "We both needed answers from Lucius."

"Hermione, what did you do?" Ron asks her, concern evident on his face.

"I went to the Ministry and exchanged my services for visitation to Lucius in Azkaban." She nervously states.

"I never thought you'd be this stupid." Ron sighs, shaking his head. "What do you need us to do?" Ron asks.

"What exactly where these services?" Harry asks.

"He wanted me to attend three ceremonial dinners, do two interviews with the Daily Prophet and five speeches." She tells them.

"That's extortionate." Harry frowns, making a mental note to speak to Kingsley about not abusing his vulnerable friends.

"I managed to lower deal but… this is where you two come in. If you refuse, I completely understand and will talk to the Kingsley about upping the deal." She starts to ramble.

"Hermione tell us. We'll decide when we know what we're dealing with." Harry reassures her.

She nods at them. "Part of the deal was that I convince the both of you to do the interviews with me. Apparently the 'Golden Trio' is a very high selling point." She tells them.

"Is that it? Two interviews? I thought you'd want us to do something hard." He rolls his eyes.

"Ron, think." She frowns at him. "Kingsley is becoming worried. I think he's losing power within the Ministry. Why do you think he so readily accepted mine and Draco's requests? Do you think he'll let anyone into the archives where the records of every wizard and witch since 1443 are kept? Do you think he'll let anyone visit the most highly secured prisoner in Azkaban? No. To remain in power he needs to put Death Eaters away, and now I think about it, he needs to encourage the increase of our population. On top of that, he needs influential people, such as ourselves, to publically announce that we agree with his methods." She states.

Harry thinks about what Hermione has just said and it all makes sense. Since the Decree was announced in January he has received more letters from the Ministry asking for his help, his advice, his opinions and his services. After the ceremony, he's received a letter nearly every other day. He's ignored them all. He doesn't even bother opening the ones with a Ministry seal anymore unless addressed from Kingsley himself, which is usually once a week.

If he decides to do this interview with Hermione, he won't lie. If he's asked a question that will provide a less than favourable answer for the Minister, he'll answer truthfully. He's tired of being used 'for the greater good'. If he's to stay respected by his fellow people, which he needs to be if he wants to become an Auror, then he needs to tell the truth.

"I'll do it," Harry speaks up after a long period of silence. "I'll do the interview but I won't lie for Kingsley. I'll answer every question truthfully and if he doesn't like that, he can take it up with me. I won't let it backfire on you." He promises her.

"Thank you, Harry. That means a lot." She stands up, which he follows, and pulls him into a hug.

"I suppose I will as well then." Ron shrugs. "I have a personal vengeance with the Minister." He adds.

"Thank you." She nods at him. "I'll let you both know when the interview is once I've let Kingsley know." She adds.

"Great, we should head back to the party before Ginny wonders what's taking so long," Harry suggests.

"Actually, I think I'm going to head home and wait for Draco." She explains, walking towards the front door.

"I'll see you later, Ron." He slaps his best friend on the shoulder as they let themselves out of his house. "Do you think you and Ron will ever work things out?" He asks her once they've set off down the street.

"When he sincerely apologises for his actions and behaviour, I'll be able to think more clearly about whether or not we can go back to being friends. In the meantime, I can be civil with him like we just were." She admits.

Harry nods in understanding. "If Ginny asks, can you tell her that? I told her that why we were going to Ron's house, to sort this mess out." He explains.

"I've got your back." She smiles.

"Anyway, Ginny and I were wondering if you and Draco would like to come over for lunch tomorrow afternoon." He offers.

"I don't think we have any plans. Although, I better check with Draco first." She tells him.

"Of course, just let me know." He says as he lets himself back into Dean and Seamus' house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	63. Chapter 63

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 63 for you!
> 
> I'm aware that the majority of you don't follow me on Instagram so won't be aware that Marcel the laptop had to be taken into a repair shop for diagnosis. It turns out his motherboard was faulty and surgery wouldn't cost that much less than buying a new laptop. After much deliberation, the decision was made to pull the plug on Marcel. Thankfully, his memories were salvageable and downloaded onto a portable hard drive. I spent a few days shopping online for his brother and ordered one which arrived a week ago today. Somebody on Instagram called Julianna0231 dared me to name him Hyperion and to be honest, it's the perfect name, it made me laugh and I'm not one to turn down a dare.
> 
> Anyway, I've been writing fervently the past couple of days in order to get this chapter to you before the end of September. Hopefully, you will get another chapter tomorrow and we'll be back to our regular viewing of uploads every 1st, 11th and 21st of the month.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Draco reaches the gate to the estate quicker than he expected. He hasn't run this fast since he was nearly late for his first Transfiguration lesson of eighth year. His sudden appearance sends the reporters into a frenzy as they all jump up from their portable chairs with their quills and notepads at the ready.

"Mr Malfoy, what do you know about the Potters' wedding?"

"Malfoy, how does your wife know Gwenog Jones and her daughter?"

"Sir, what do you know about Gwenog and her daughter?"

The reporters all shout at him but before they can gauge any expression from him, he disapparates to the Ministry.

He walks over to the lifts, once again pressing the button for the top floor where the Minister's office resides. Since he's the only person in this lift, he turns to face the mirror on the back wall to check himself. His shirt sleeves are still rolled up and his tie is slightly askew. He rather likes the way his shirt sleeves make his arms look so leaves them rolled as he fixes his tie, fastening the top button of his shirt before unfastening it and loosening his tie. He's nervous. His hands are shaking. He can't stand still. He's about to do the one thing he promised himself he would never do. Visit Lucius in Azkaban. He never wanted to see him again. Especially not in that place. A place he himself never wanted to step foot in. As neither a prisoner nor a visitor. Yet here he is. Riding the lift up to the Minister's office to ask him for visitation.

Pansy was right, as annoying as that is. He's too afraid and proud to visit him. He needs to put that aside, though, for the sake of himself and Hyperion. He doubts Lucius knows anything, almost confident on the matter but there's always that voice in the back of his head, asking, 'what if he does'. It can significantly lessen the amount of time it takes him and David to find his uncle. As the lift doors open on the top floor, he finds himself hoping that he doesn't regret this afterwards.

Since it's nearly eight o'clock at night and there isn't a secretary in the foyer, he hopes the Minister is still in his office and hasn't left yet. He knocks firmly on the door, waiting for an answer. He hears shuffling on the other side of the door. Nearly a minute after he knocked, the Minister finally answers.

"Please enter, Mr Malfoy."

He doesn't think too long about how he knew it was him. Since he was a member of the Order, he probably has wards all over his office. Draco enters, taking a seat opposite Minister Shacklebolt before being offered one. He'll knock on his door and call him 'Minister Shacklebolt' but he won't show him any other respect. However, he soon regrets sitting down as he can't get his legs to stop his legs from shaking. He leans forward to stop it from being noticeable.

"Let's cut to the chase, Mr Malfoy and tell me what you want from me so I can decide whether or not it's worth my time," Shacklebolt announces, leaning back in his chair, fingers steepled.

"I need to visit Lucius." He states simply, focusing his energy on not fidgeting.

To his surprise, the Minister smirks at him in amusement, smiling almost.

"Is there something funny, Minister?" He questions him defensively.

"No, of course not, Mr Malfoy. I just find it interesting." He admits, leaning forward to pick up a spare piece of parchment and a quill. After writing something for a few minutes, he slides the parchment over to him. "These are my terms." He states as he leans back into his previous position in his chair with a smirk.

Draco picks up the piece of parchment.

**1\. Two ceremonial dinners (2** **st** **May 2000 and 1** **st** **June 2000)**

**2\. One interview with the Daily Prophet, and**

**3\. Two speeches.**

He glances up from the terms to the Minister. He's still smirking at him. He wishes he could wipe it off but he needs this visitation.

"I will not do any interviews with the Daily Prophet." He pushes the parchment back.

"Do you want to visit your father?" The Minister raises a questioning eyebrow.

Draco glares at him for a long time before accepting his offer.

"Fine. I assume I need a letter to show the Head of Azkaban." He leans back in his chair.

He continues to glare at the Minister as he writes his permission letter. Once he's done he passes it over for Draco to read.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Sunday 19th June 1999**

**I, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, hereby give Mr Draco Malfoy unsupervised and unlimited access to visit Lucius Malfoy within his cell in Azkaban. You will follow procedure. Mr Malfoy will present you with a copy of this letter upon his first arrival.**

**Approved and signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

Draco frowns as he reads through it. "I will only be visiting Lucius once, although it will need to be unsupervised." He explains.

The Minister frowns at him curiously. "I had assumed you would want unlimited access as well." He admits as he takes the letter back.

"As well?" He questions.

Minister Shacklebolt pauses in his writing for a second before continuing. "As well as your unlimited access to the archives." He tells him.

"No." Draco stares at him in suspicion but doesn't dwell on the matter as he hands over the revised copy of the letter.

"Since it's only one visit you'll be having, I'll remove the interview and the speeches from my terms." He announces.

Draco nods, not wanting to verbally thank the Minister. "I'll appreciate it if this stays between us, Minister." He stares pointedly. "I wouldn't like to know what would happen should this get out to the public." He adds as he stands up, taking his copy of the letter out of the Minister's hand.

"You will receive a letter closer to the dates detailing further information." Minister Shacklebolt tells him as he turns to leave.

As he opens the door, he mutters, "I'll look forward to it."

Back inside the lift, he opens the letter, rereading it again and again until he reaches the disapparation floor. He can't quite believe he is about to do this. Folding up the letter, he places it in his trouser pocket before disapparating to the gates of Azkaban.

At home, Hermione changes into her pyjama, grabs a book and curls up on the couch with a blanket to try and read. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as much of a distraction from Harry, Ron and the interview or Draco and Lucius.

It's such a relief off her shoulders that both Harry and Ron agreed to do the interview with her. She knew Harry would do anything for his friends, so would have agreed without the explanation as to why she needed to do an interview with the Daily Prophet. Ron, on the other hand, was always going to be the hardest to convince, even if they were still friends. She's thankful he agreed to though, otherwise she might have been asked to do another speech for The Minister. Kingsley is starting to worry her. He's been acting strange ever since Christmas. In hindsight, it was probably the marriage decree that was distracting him at the Burrow for their Boxing Day party.

Her biggest concern right now, though, is that Lucius will tell Draco that she has been visiting him recently. Even after he asked her if his son was aware. She hopes he realises that it is in his best interest not to even mention her name since she's his only frequent visitor and if he wants to ever find out about the mysterious friend in his mother's life, she's his only chance. She doubts Draco will ever visit him again after tonight and Lucius probably knows this as well.

For over an hour, Draco hasn't moved from where he apparated to. He's been staring up at the enormous building, trying to round up enough courage to push the gate open. Part of him wishes he had accepted Hermione's offer to come with him. He would have been brave for her and would be back home by now with the information he needed. He stands by his decision though. He doesn't want Hermione anywhere near Lucius. He doesn't know what he's going to be like. Azkaban has a certain effect on people. It sent Bellatrix insane, although that was most likely down to the Dementors who are no longer guards.

He takes a deep breath, glares at himself for being so weak-willed, then steps forward, placing his hand on the cool metal bars of the gate. He can do this. He pushes the gate, which loudly squeaks open. As he steps over the threshold, the surrounding darkness erupts with howls, laughter, crying and screaming, stopping Draco in his step. The sounds seem to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He knows logically they can only be coming from within the walls of Azkaban but that doesn't stop the shiver that slips down his back or the goosebumps that jump to life all over his body. Taking his wand out, he cast 'Lumos', points it to the path below his feet. Trying to ignore the shouts echoing around him, he follows the winding path around the headstones, which he's also trying to ignore. A cool wind whips around his neck, attempting to strangle him and drag him back towards the gate but he pushes on. A frog croaks from somewhere beside him, making him freeze in fear at the sudden closeness of noise. He quickly carries on, a simple, wooden door within sight. As he reaches the top of the hill, he starts to run, hand out ready to open the door. However, just as he's about to push the door, it eerily opens before him.

The foyer is pitch black so Draco raises his wand to light the room. He spots a thin, stone staircase and assumes this is where he's supposed to go. As he begins to climb, he realises that from inside Azkaban, the cries of its inhabitants are no long audible. In fact, he can't hear anything. The darkness is deafening. At the top of the staircase, there is another simple, wooden door which he slowly pushes open to reveal two ministry officials sat at a table with a deck of cards in front of them and their hands hesitating over their wands.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy." One of the official stands up, holding her hand out for him to shake. "Lexica Park." She introduces herself as he shakes her hand, standing taller in an attempt to hide his nerves. "You're lucky you came tonight, I've got a week off and Anthony won't go anywhere near your father's cell." She mentions as she leads him into her office.

"Who is Anthony?" He questions.

"Anthony Andrews. He's another head of Azkaban. There's three of us. Anthony usually deals with the paperwork and budgeting. He's a Muggleborn and quite a few of our inmates are purists." She explains. "Rasheed and I like to get out onto the floors and talk to our inmates, check in on them and our guards." She states as they sit down at her desk.

"Rasheed? Is he another head of Azkaban?" He asks.

"Yes, Rasheed Ahmed, Egyptian Muggleborn. Moved to England aged thirteen in 1970 with his parents and four younger siblings. You might have heard his name before. He's the only student to ever transfer to Hogwarts. He got sorted into Gryffindor at the Christmas feast." She tells him but he shakes his head, not really caring about the history of someone he's never met and probably never will since, after tonight, he's not coming back.

"Can we get this over with, Miss Park?" He asks her, handing over his copy of the letter Minister Shacklebolt had written.

She nods, taking it from him and giving it a quick glance before placing it on a pile of parchment.

"That all seems to be in order. Before we head up, I must inform you of a few things. You haven't seen your father in over a year and his current state might shock you." She explains carefully.

Draco curiously raises his eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'state'?" He questions her.

"When he first arrived here, we saw no change in him. For the longest time, he seemed unaffected by the 'Azkaban Madness'." She chuckles before carrying on when she doesn't get a reaction from him. "I'm aware that he always preferred to speak to Rasheed than with myself, I argued back to much." She mentions with a smile. "Rasheed's father was a counsellor in the Muggle world so Rasheed himself is a very good listener. Even so, myself and Mr Malfoy would have rather pleasant conversations whenever I stopped by." She sighs. "Then, when I returned to work after a week holiday for Christmas, he had changed. I went to visit him and he didn't even acknowledge my presence never mind converse with me. He's different with Rasheed. If he's writing his letters, he'll only stop to ask what's for dinner, if he asks, tonight it's pork and vegetable soup." She tells him. "Anyway, if he's not writing, he'll engage in small talk for a few minutes before shutting Rasheed out. I'm rather curious to know how he reacts to you, as both his son and someone from before here." She mentions.

Draco pushes the guilt and sympathy he feels down as he stands up. "Shall we go? I don't have all night." He states, waiting for her to stand up and lead the way to Lucius' cell.

Miss Park stares at him dumbfounded for a moment before jumping out of her seat and rushing to meet him at the door.

"Of course, Mr Malfoy." She opens the door for him then leads the way down a long corridor towards a lift door.

She presses the button and they wait in uncomfortable silence for it to arrive. When it does, she allows him to step in first before following and pressing the button or the fiftieth floor. "How's married life treating you?" She asks, making small talk.

He sighs as he stares at the floor number on the lift slowly count up to fifty. "Miss Park, I am here for business, not pleasure. I would not be here tonight if I did not absolutely need to be." He states. "I would appreciate it if you didn't force conversation upon me when I am preparing myself for speaking with Lucius for the first time since I testified against him over a year ago." He peers at her out the corner of his eyes to find her frowning at him disappointedly.

"I apologise, Mr Malfoy." She tells him but her tone suggests otherwise.

They stand in complete silence for the remaining of the journey, which Draco soon regrets since Miss Park's idle chit chat might have taken his mind away from his nerves, which were increasing the closer the got to the top floor. As the lift doors open, Miss Park steps out first, obviously annoyed at him.

"Your father," She makes a point of saying. "Is on the fifty-fifth floor, however, for security reasons, the lift only takes us this far." She quickly sets off down the corridor to a door at the end.

Draco notices that after every other cell, there is another corridor leading off into the darkness and he wonders how big Azkaban really is. A few inmates attempt to beckon Lexica into their cell. She doesn't entertain them, choosing to ignore them. At the door, she places her hand upon it and from within, they hear the multiple locks unlock themselves. The door opens up onto a staircase, leading up to floor fifty-one. Miss Park has to repeat the process for every floor until they step out onto floor fifty-five where two guards stood to attention in front of the only cell door on the floor.

He's glad to know that the Minister took his request for Lucius to be placed in a high-security cell with no other inmates nearby.

The two guards share a shocked look as he and Miss Park walk towards them.

"Lexi, what's happening here?" He questions her.

"The Minister has granted Mr Malfoy permission to visit his father." She explains.

The guard scoffs. "Is this a family affair?" He asks sarcastically.

"Hold your tongue, Ridge. Mr Ahmed's in tomorrow." He warns him.

Ridge sighs. "I apologise." He nods at them.

Draco notices some hidden meaning behind his words but doesn't have time to try and understand what he meant when he's trying to still his nerves for what he's about to do.

"Open the door, boys." Miss Park orders and the two guards follow her orders, both turning and placing their hands on the cell door.

Like before, multiple locks can be heard clicking, shifting and turning. It takes a minute before the door is unlocked and Ridge is holding it open, waiting for him to enter so he can swiftly lock it behind him. His hands at his side squeeze into a tight fist as he takes a deep breath and steps over the threshold.

Draco's eyes erratically flitter around the cell, searching for Lucius as he stands with his back pressed firmly against the wall with the escape switch. Hunched over his desk, greyish hands tightly gripping a quill as he scribbles away at a piece of parchment, is his father. He opens his mouth to announce his presence but he doesn't know what to say. He takes a few small steps closer and notices how matted his hair is and how creased his black Azkaban robes are. The man he grew up with as a father would never have let himself get into this state. Lucius had once taken pride in how vain he was.

Caught up in staring at Lucius, Draco doesn't notice when the scratching of a quill on parchment, that had only a few seconds ago filled the room, stops. He does, however, notice when Lucius glances over his shoulder to inspect who had silently entered his cell. Obviously, he had not been expecting to see his son since he abruptly clambers of his chair, knocking it over in the process. Draco stumbles backwards, expecting an attack but Lucius backs up, away from him, and into his chest of drawers, gripping the piece of parchment he had been writing on tightly to his chest.

Both Draco and Lucius stare at each other for a long moment, waiting for the other to make the first move. When after a couple of minutes, no one has moved, Lucius breaks their eye contact to glance down at his piece of parchment then back up to his son, looking nervous. The sudden burst of flames from the parchment makes Draco jump, his hand instantly reaching for his wand in his pocket. He watches as the flame burns down the piece of parchment towards Lucius' fingertips, however, before it reaches, he drops it on top of his chest of drawers. Without taking his eyes off Draco, he opens the top drawer, feels around for something before pulling out a large glass jar with a few inches of burnt parchment. Draco wonders what significance the burning of his writings has for Lucius, as the man swipes the ash from the top of the chest of drawers into the jar, eye's flickering between the ash and Draco, ensuring he doesn't move any closer. Lucius' hands shake as he screws the lid back onto the jar, hurriedly returning it to the top drawer.

Draco, feeling more confident than he did when he first entered the cell, takes a few steps away from the wall, not wanting to give the impression of being scared. However, at his smallest movement, Lucius backs further away from him, pressing himself against the wall, hands gripping the robes cladding his chest. Draco frowns in confusion as he wonders if his father could be scared of him. He realises when Lucius' eyes flicker down to his hand, that he's still gripping hold of his wand. Knowing that he'd be able to use wandless magic if he needs to, he replaces his want into his pocket and Lucius' posture relaxes.

"D-Draco," Lucius speaks, his voice softer than he can ever remember. "My son." He mutters, right-hand twitching as though wanting to reach out towards him.

Draco frowns at him. Reminding himself why his father is here and why he's visiting him.

"I would not be here if I had a quicker option." He states. "I have no regrets in sending you here, away from myself and my family." He adds.

"You have a family?" Lucius questions, his lips twitching into the smallest of smiles.

"That is not why I'm here." He shakes his head calmly as he walks into the middle of the cell, closer to his father. "I'm here because I discovered something within a book about The Malfoy Family. I need to know whether you knew and chose to keep it from me like mother did, or if you simply lacked the curiosity to discover our family secrets after your father died." He states.

Lucius closes his eyes, taking a deep breath as he stands tall, stretching his limbs out so they crack. When his eyes open, a smirk graces his lips with a laugh as he stalks towards Draco, who stands his ground. He lifts his hand up towards his face, stroking his stubbly cheek, reminding Draco that he should have shaved this morning.

"My boy, Draco," he sighs, shaking his head as he slaps his face then walks over to his bed where he lays down, clasping his hands upon his stomach and closing his eyes. "Ask your questions then leave me to rot like you promised." He smirks at the ceiling.

Draco's not entirely sure what happened to the man who was stood cowered in the corner a minute ago but this man is the father he remembers. The father he knows how to handle. He pulls the desk chair out into the middle of the cell and sits down, crossing his legs.

"Have you ever heard of a Hyperion?" He asks, getting straight to the point.

Lucius' eyes snap open but he doesn't speak, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

"Do you know who he is?" Draco asks again.

"I've never heard that name before. However, I assume he is my Mother's friend that I mention in my journal on the fifteenth of February 1961. Correct?" He questions, peering out the corner of his eye then laughing. "I know some secrets." He points out with a knowing smirk.

Draco finds it more than a coincidence that the day after he finds the journal Lucius mentions it.

"And what might these secrets be?" He asks, leaning curiously forward in the chair.

"You've been rendezvousing with Mudbloods." Lucius scoffs.

Draco is up out of his seat before he knows what he's doing, knee pressing hard against his father's stomach, pinning him to his bed as his wand jabs him in his throat.

"Who told you?" He hisses angrily. He specifically ordered that Lucius have no contact with the outside world, whether it be visitors or newspapers, he shouldn't know anything about his and Hermione's marriage.

Lucius laughs as he writhes beneath him, trying to escape his clutches. When Draco proves too strong, his arms reach out to scratch at his neck.

"Who told you?" He yells as he tries to bat his arms away but his father keeps laughing as he manages to get a hold of his neck and pressing his thumbs into his trachea.

Draco manages to non-verbally cast the binding spell upon his father, freeing his neck. He takes the opportunity to land a punch on his nose, hearing the satisfying crack of a breakage. He shakes his fist out before grabbing hold of the collar of Lucius' robes and pushing him into the bed where he groans in pain.

"Who told you?" He growls into his father's ear.

"You need to be more specific." He mutters back. "I don't know what you're talking about." He adds, acting oblivious.

Draco makes him take a punch to the mouth. "Who told you about Hermione and me?" He spits bitterly in his face.

"The Mudblood herself." He spits back, coughing up blood in the process that sprays Draco's face.

"Don't lie to me." He shouts furiously, raising his fist to land another blow.

Lucius flinches beneath his hold. "I've never lied to you, son." He whimpers, reverting back into the cowering position he had been in not five minutes earlier. "I've twisted and distorted the truth but never lied."

"Hermione would never come here. She knows how I feel about you. She knows how I feel about this place. She wouldn-" Draco shouts more to hear the words than to speak them to his father.

"She bribed the Minister. He needed something from her. She's visited me twice. First to question me about Gwenog Jones and her muggle family. Then again to ask about this Hyperion. Although, she never gave me a name. She only referred to him as my mother's friend. I told her I didn't know who he was but assumed he was one of my mother's lovers." He rambles on.

Draco's arm falls down to grip his father's shoulder sharply.

"Hermione wouldn't don't that to me. She wouldn't break my trust." He mutters, pushing Lucius hard.

"You shouldn't have given the Mudblood your trust, to begin with," Lucius mentions as he struggles against Draco's hold.

"Don't call her that." He hisses, slapping him across the face. "She wouldn't do this to me." He repeats with less confidence.

"She told me you've come to an arrangement built on mutual trust but that if you ever found out she visited me, you would never trust her again. What is your arrangement, Draco?" He asks breathlessly as he stops struggling.

Draco glares at his father. "Hermione didn't tell you."

"No, she didn't but I can tell the two of you have gotten… close." He spits in disgust and Draco raises an eyebrow. "She knew about our secret attic and that your favourite meal is Spaghetti Bolognese." He scoffs and Draco smiles slightly despite his efforts not to. "You disappoint me, Draco." Lucius tells him as his breath returns to an even pace.

"Good." He mutters as he climbs off his father to glare down at him. "You don't know who Hyperion is or where he might be today?" He asks him one last time.

Lucius sighs, closing his eyes. "No, Draco. I don't know who this Hyperion is or where he is or anything else about him." He finally answers.

Draco nods at Lucius. "That's all I wanted to know." He says before walking over to the escape switch.

"Draco, don't go. Don't leave." Lucius struggles to sit up in his bed with his bindings. "Please, son." He begs as he non-verbally releases himself and scrambles off to the top drawer where he hid the glass jar.

Draco curiously watches as Lucius unscrews his jar, pouring its entire contents onto his desk. He brushes them around, evenly distributing them before holding his palm over the ash. Slowly, fragments of burnt parchment raise into the air, fusing into multiple piece of parchment. After a few minutes, when Lucius has sorted through the rebirthed pieces of parchment, seemingly ordering them, he folds them each up individually and then turns to face Draco.

"Take these." He pushes them into his hands.

Draco glances down at them in confusion. "What are-" He starts to ask but Lucius shakes his head.

"Read them. Please read them." He brings his hands up to Draco's face once again. "Read them." He begs, pulling him into a hug that worries Draco because he can't remember the last time he was sincerely hugged by his father.

"I'll read them." He promises, placing the folded pieces of paper into his pocket.

"I've missed you, son." He hugs him tighter before letting go. "Is Narcissa well? Tell your mother I love her." He asks him.

"Mother is the same as she's always been, except she rarely leaves the Manor. She can't know I came here. She'll beg me to let her visit you or for me to visit you again and neither of those is something that's going to happen." Draco tells him, as he flicks the switch on the wall. and takes his wand out. "Hermione will no longer be visiting you either. I vowed to protect her and keep her safe and I've so far failed. I won't fail again." He tells him, pointing his wand at his father's face to clean up the blood and fix his broken nose.

Lucius groans in pain, his hand flying up to apply pressure to his nose.

"Goodbye, Lucius." He bids him farewell as the door swings open and he steps out of the cell and away from his father, hopefully for the next fourteen years.

Harry is finally kicked out of bed by a cranky Ginny after his muggle alarm clock rings for the sixth time in half an hour, waking them both up each time.

"Please, just leave me alone." Ginny cries into his pillow after stealing it to cover her head.

"I'm going. I'm going." Harry chuckles as he walks out the door.

"Take that bloody thing with you as well." She shouts, picking up the alarm clock and chucking it at his head. Thankfully for him, his Quidditch reflexes kick in and he catches it before it can hit him and fall to the floor.

"You stay right there and have a lie in." He tells her, placing the alarm clock back on his bedside table then leaning down to kiss his wife's forehead before leaving her in peace.

He doesn't see her again for five hours as he spends most of the morning downstairs, preparing lunch for them and the Malfoy's. He kind of wants to make a good impression with Draco. He's only ever known the other man as his enemy, and now that he's married to one of his best friends, and they seem to be getting along really well, he should make the effort to befriend him, for Hermione's sake.

Around half past eleven, Ginny joins him in the kitchen, wrapped in multiple towels and her dressing gown, having just gotten out of the bath. He has to slap her hand away from the food a few times before she gives up and heads back upstairs to get dressed.

An hour later, the doorbell rings and he calls for Ginny in the front room to answer it as he places the starters in the fridge to keep them cool. He can hear her complaining as she lifts herself off the couch to open the door. Harry checks everything is ready in the kitchen before walking into the living room to greet their guest. However, he finds only Hermione and Ginny sat on the couch. He settles himself in his armchair, listening to the two women laughing about a story Ginny is telling about Molly.

"How is the baby, anyway?" Hermione smiles, glancing down at Ginny's stomach.

"We had a scan yesterday. Do you want to see the photograph?" She stands up excitedly, rushing over to her handbag on the other armchair where she rummages around for the scan picture.

"Of course, I want to see it. Do you know the sex yet?" She questions as Ginny lowers herself back onto the couch, handing the scan over to her.

"No, we want it to be a surprise." Ginny states and Harry scoffs, gaining both of their attention. "Harry wants to know but I don't want to be disappointed." She admits. "I grew up in a house with six brothers. I just want a girl." She explains before smirking over at him. "And we're not stopping until we have one." She reminds him to which he nods.

"Unless baby one or two is a girl. We want at least three children." He clarifies to Hermione who's still staring down at the scan.

"This is surreal." She mutters. "I don't know why I assumed the scan would be still like a Muggle one but… that's an actual baby, moving its tiny little hand." She grins excitedly.

"I had the same reaction at our first scan." He admits.

"When is your due date?" She asks, looking up at them both.

"The 5th of November," Ginny tells her, taking the scan and smiling down at their child currently growing inside her

"Bonfire Night." She mentions.

"I know." He chuckles.

"I'm going to put the scan on the fridge," Ginny tells them as she stands up and heads into the kitchen.

As soon as the door closes, Harry leans forward towards Hermione. "Where's Draco?" He asks curiously and the smile drops from her face.

"He didn't come home last night." She whispers, leaning closer. "He went to visit Lucius to ask about a family issue. What am I going to do if Lucius told Draco I've been visiting him? I'll lose all of his trust." She explains, eyes tearing up. "I don't know where he is or what to do." She adds just as Ginny returns from the kitchen.

"What to do about what?" She asks, looking between him and Hermione sternly.

"Nothing," Hermione answers quickly with a blush.

Ginny's face turns angry as she glares at them. "I thought the secrets would have stopped after the war but here the two of you are, whispering behind my back and going off last night to Ron's to do Godric knows what but it certainly wasn't fixing your friendship." She jabs her finger at Hermione. "I'm going back to bed for a nap." She tells them, rushing upstairs to their bedroom.

"I don't know why you can't tell Ginny. She cares about you and just wants to help." Harry sighs, taking his glasses off to rub his forehead where a headache is beginning to form.

"'I've broken enough of Draco's trust. I only told you and Ron to convince you both to do the interviews with me." She explains.

"Don't tell her I told you this but she's worried about your friendship. You and she are supposed to be best friends and yet we've rarely seen you since the ceremony. I know you've been busy with Draco's family issues and your own family issues but you could have popped around here for twenty minutes to have a cup of tea and a chat with her." He points out. "She's also a little jealous of your friendship with Blaise and Pansy. You have to remember that we weren't around for our seventh year and we don't know what happened between the DA and the Slytherins. I understand that Draco, Pansy and Blaise most likely did what they had to do to keep the image of a purist Slytherin but that doesn't excuse what they did, especially not to Ginny who was there with them. She's just finding it difficult to accept them but she'll come around to them eventually. If you like them, they must be pretty cool people." He adds, making her chuckle

"I've been a terrible friend." She sighs.

"No… well, yes… a little bit but you've been spending the time to get to know Draco. I can understand that. Ginny and I are lucky we don't need to." He tells her.

"I'd love for us all to get along but Ginny doesn't even like Draco. She doesn't trust him." She states.

"She's just wary of him." He tries to explain. "And rightly so. There's a lot of history supporting the opinion that Draco Malfoy isn't someone to be trusted." He adds.

Hermione nods in realisation. "You were the one to testify for Draco. You're the main reason he isn't in Azkaban right now with his father. Why would you do that if you didn't trust him not to repeat his mistakes?" She questions him.

"I do trust Draco, to a certain extent. I know he isn't going to make the same mistakes twice but he did do some terrible things under the pretence of war so I wouldn't particularly trust him with my life, or yours for that matter, unless I absolutely have too. However, I do trust you and if you've decided place your trust in him then I trust that decision." He tells her and she smiles at him.

"I do trust him." She sighs. "With my life." She adds. "I need to find him and apologise." She mutters, mostly to herself as she stands up. "Sorry about lunch. We'll definitely dine together at some point soon." She promises him.

"There's no need to let a good meal go to waste. I'll send you your and Draco's dinner over later." He tells her.

"Thank you, Harry." She pulls him into a hug at his front door. "You're a great friend."

"No problem. See you soon." He waves her goodbye then heads upstairs to talk to Ginny.

Hermione has a few ideas of where Draco could be right now. The only reason she can think of for him failing to return home last night is that Lucius told him about her visits. In which case, he's most likely staying with a friend, most likely Blaise, at the Manor or at the Leaky Cauldron, or another pub. With Blaise's house being the closest, she decides to start there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENT and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	64. Chapter 64

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 64 for you!
> 
> I managed to write this 6,000-word chapter in a day. I surprised myself in doing so. Hopefully, it's what some of you wanted as I know there were a few complaints about Ginny and Hermione's friendship in the last couple of chapters.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love, Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

A few minutes later, she's stood outside of Blaise's house, knocking on his front door. She's surprised when Pansy opens the door and has to double check that she knocked on the correct door and not Pansy and Ron's.

"Pansy!" Hermione greets her.

"You're up early." Pansy comments, pulling the door closed behind her as she steps out into the street.

"It's midday," Hermione comments with a frown.

"Yeah, well, some of us didn't go to sleep until the early hours of the morning." She shrugs.

Hermione stares at her confused for a moment. She can tell she's hiding something. "Draco didn't come home last night." She states but Pansy doesn't seem surprised. "He's in there, isn't he?" She sighs, looking at the front window where the curtains are twitching.

"No, it's just Blaise and me in here." She shrugs.

Hermione stares at her unconvinced. "You're hiding something in there. What is…? Oh!" She says, coming to a realisation.

"Merlin no, Hermione. Are you serious?" Pansy looks disgusted. "I slept on his couch when Ronald wouldn't get out of bed to let me in at three in the morning." She rushes to explain. "Understandably so since he had work this morning." She adds.

"Oh, right. I apologise for jumping to conclusion. It just looks like you're trying to hide something from me." Hermione nods to the door.

"Blaise got an owl from Luna reminding him to keep the windows and doors closed since Nitnams are frequent in the Midlands during this one week in June." She rolls her eyes with a scoff. "Draco's probably at the Manor if he didn't return last night. He's most likely processing whatever Lucius told him." She suggests.

"That's what I'm worried about." She admits.

Pansy quirks an interested eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asks.

"I've done something really bad and I don't think Draco will ever forgive me." She states, tearing up at the thought of losing Draco because of a stupid mistake she made.

"Okay, do you want to talk about it? I can meet you at that café in the middle." She gestures behind Blaise's house towards the shops.

"I'd rather not talk about this in the wizarding world." She admits. "I wouldn't want the Daily Prophet to get a hold of this information." She adds.

Pansy stares at her intrigued for a long moment before nodding. "Give me five minutes to get dressed and washed and I'll meet you at the gate. You can take us to a muggle café or whatever for lunch." She tells her as she opens Blaise's front door behind her.

Hermione nods. "Can I not come in and wait?" She frowns, trying to peer pass Pansy.

"No, Blaise isn't really in any state for visitors," Pansy mentions as she enters, closing the door in her face.

Hermione leans against the wall next to Blaise's front door. There's definitely something the other woman and Blaise are hiding and it has nothing to do with Nitnams. She glances over to Blaise's living room window to find the curtain twitching. Hasn't Blaise got anything better to do then being nosy? She wonders before the realisation hits her.

Just then, the front door opens and Pansy steps out in the same clothes she had been wearing for Dean and Seamus' party yesterday.

"So where are we going?" She asks as she sets off towards the gate.

"I know Draco's in there," Hermione states, making Pansy halt and turn to her. "Blaise's translation job started this morning at eight 'clock." She points out.

"Fine, you caught me in a lie." Pansy shrugs, grabbing hold of Hermione's hand and dragging her towards the gate. "Draco doesn't want to see you right now. I don't know what you did but I've never seen him this angry and upset before. You've got some serious apologising to do." She glares back at her pointedly.

Hermione's eyes tear up as she finally admits to herself that the reason Draco didn't return home last night is that he knows she went behind his back and broke his trust. She pulls her hand free from Pansy's grasp.

"Please let me speak to him, Pansy." She begs her. "I need to explain to him why I did it. I don't regret it but he needs how sorry I am that I didn't tell him myself." She tells her, grabbing a hold of her friend's forearm. "Please Pansy, let me see him." Her tears break free, falling down her face.

Pansy tugs her arm free. "He doesn't want to see you right now." She harshly repeats. "I'm… I am sorry, Hermione." She adds guiltily as her friend cries. "Look, I can't deal with people crying. You said you wanted to talk about whatever it is that you've done so let's go so I can advise you on the best way to apologise to Draco. Nobody knows him better than I do." She tells her.

Hermione sniffs as she wipes her tears away with the sleeve of her jumper before taking Pansy's hand again to pull her towards the gate.

"Where are we going?" She asks again.

"Mrs Morris' Café." She tells her, gripping her hand tightly as they exit through the gate and disapparate before the reporters can even jump up from their positions sat on the grass.

Hermione drops Pansy's hand as they walk out of the alleyway behind Mrs Morris' Café in silence. They're greeted by Derek at the counter who smiles nervously at them both.

"Hi Derek," She greets him. "How've you been? Your grandma told me you've enrolled back into college. That's great." She smiles at him.

"Oh, yeah. Well, Mum's been begging me to go back and it'll give me something to do for the next year." He shrugs, glancing down at his notepad. "Is there anything I can get you?" He asks, pen poised.

"Do you want a tea?" Hermione turns to ask Pansy.

"No," She winces. "I need a strong coffee." She orders.

"Good night last night," Derek asks her with a flirty wink.

"No, I always dress like this when I'm going to quaint little cafés." She rolls her eyes as Hermione hands over the money for their drinks.

Derek chuckles as hands over her change, rips their order off the notepad and set about making the tea and coffee.

Hermione leads Pansy over to an empty table in front of the window. The air around them feels awkward as they both sit quietly glancing around the shop or out of the window.

"Well, this is nice," Pansy says in an attempt at a conversation.

Thankfully, Derek arrives with their drinks so Hermione doesn't have to reply to the poor example of small talk.

"So," Derek starts, pulling a chair over to join them. "How do you know Hermione?" He asks Pansy who turns in confusion to look at her.

"Do you know him?" She asks her.

"Yeah, we were best friends at primary school." She answers.

Pansy stares blankly at her for a few moments before turning back to Derek. "Hermione and I went to the same school as well." She tells him and Hermione's thankful that's she's being vague.

"Is this one of your Scottish friends then? He glances at Hermione.

"I'm not Scottish. I'm from Kent." She tells him with a frown.

"Yeah, but your school was in Scotland, wasn't it?" He looks at Hermione again, confused.

"I think there were only about fifteen Scottish students throughout the school." Pansy states.

"Whatever, you're still her friend from school," Derek says. No need to be pedantic." He adds in annoyance.

Pansy smirks at him. "Actually, we hated each other. It wasn't until we got married and our other halves happened to be the others friend did we become friends." She explains and Derek's head whips around to Hermione.

"You're married?" He questions her. "You told me you were only engaged to that Drake guy."

"Who's being pedantic now, Rick?" She rolls her eyes at him. "I got married, Hermione got engaged. Either way, her other half is one of my best friend and mine is one for." Pansy clarifies, sending her an apologetic look which Hermione returns with a smile. "We're actually here to discuss something so do you mind going away." She smiles politely at Derek.

Derek looks at Hermione who nods at him so he stands up, tucks the chair back into the other table then leaves them.

"I do not like him," Pansy states as she sips her coffee, making Hermione smile.

"He's alright." She shrugs. "People change in eight years and we don't exactly have anything in common anymore."

Pansy places her coffee cup on the table and leans forward with her chin in her hands. "I don't mean to push you but Molly has invited me over for dinner tonight with Ronald and I would like to shower and change clothes beforehand." She mentions.

"Molly invited you over for dinner?" Hermione raises her eyebrow.

"I know, I was just as shocked as you were. Something about how she'd like to get to know all her daughters-in-law." She shrugs. "What is this bad thing you did that Draco will never forgive you for?" She abruptly questions.

Hermione looks at Pansy face, nervous to her reaction. She decides to just come straight out and tell her. "I… went behind Draco's back and… visited Lucius in Azkaban." She admits.

Pansy stares at her for a long second, trying to gauge if she's being serious before finally letting her face fall into her hands. "For Merlin's sake, Hermione." She sighs deeply, rubbing her eyes tiredly before staring up at her through her fringe. "I don't even know what to say right now." She shrugs as she continues to stare at her. "I'd really like to shout at you though." She adds.

"Can you not say what you want to shout at me?" Hermione asks her nervously.

Pansy shakes her head, lowing her hands from her face to claps upon the table. "No, my anger does not transpire well through spoken word." She tells her bluntly.

"You're angry at me too." She nods in understanding.

"Not really, I'm just angry for Draco. I'm trying to understand how you could do this to him and I'm not coming with any good, reasonable explanation. Maybe you could explain your reasoning so I can get a better idea of what I need to shout at you about." Pansy suggests with a small smirk.

"It was after we found out that Gwenog Jones was Sophie's mother. Her explanation behind why she left my uncle and cousin for nearly seven years was rather convoluted and the only person who could corroborate her story was sitting in the highest security cell in Azkaban. It was actually Draco's bribing of the Minister that gave me the idea to do the same. Kingsley's desperate for me to give a speech about the aftermath of the war so we both got something out of the deal. I visited Lucius and got the answers I needed. When Draco refused to visit Lucius himself to ask about his uncle, I took advantage of my visitation rights to ask him myself." She explains.

"You visited him twice," Pansy says, shaking her head.

Hermione nods. "I needed to. Draco was adamant about never visiting his father in Azkaban. I was going to tell him eventually." She sighs. "When he agreed to visit him last night, I thought Lucius wouldn't tell him. He's aware that I'm the only visitor he will ever get from the outside world."

"You can't ever visit him again. Draco loves you so he might forgive you for these two visits but he'll never forgive you if you continuously visit him. He won't allow it." Pansy points out.

"What makes you think Draco will be able to do anything to stop me if I want to continue to visit Lucius?" She rhetorically asks.

Pansy frowns at her. "Why would you want to continue to visit him? You got all the information you needed out of him. Leave him to rot in there." She tells her.

"You seem to forget that Lucius will be released from Azkaban in fourteen years. How well do you think he will cope in 2013 when he knows nothing of what has transpired in the past fifteen years? In the two visits I've had, I've seen such a difference in him. Azkaban is having a bad effect on him. I feel as though I can help. If I, a Muggleborn with a completely different worldview to him, continue to visit him, then maybe he can change and in fourteen years, when he's released, he'll be able to survive in our world." She explains.

Pansy nods. "I must admit, you make a compelling argument. However, you're crazy if you think Draco's going to sit idly by whilst you visit his father for the next fourteen years." She laughs shaking her head.

"I'm hoping Draco will see the advantage of having me visit Lucius. First, I need to apologise to him and explain what I've just explained to you. Do you think he'll forgive me?" She asks hopefully.

"Well, I certainly want to shout at you a little less and I'm not as angry but then again, Lucius isn't my father and I don't hate him as much as Draco does. It's going to take more than one apology I think but as I mentioned, Draco loves you and eventually, he will forgive you for this outrageously stupid mistake you've made." She smiles at Hermione as she lifts her coffee to her lips to down the rest. "Are you finished because I'd really like to go to that alleyway to shout at you before be disapparate home?" She asks, nodding at her cup of tea, which she hadn't touch but had gone cold.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." She sighs, standing up and following Pansy out of the café, waving bye to Derek.

Once in the alleyway, Pansy turns to her, looking unenthusiastic. "I can't really be bothered to shout at you, I've got the beginnings of a head from last night's drink and this whole situation. However, I promised to shout at you."

"You don't have to. You've given me your thoughts on the matter. We can just pretend that you shouted at me." Hermione suggests.

"No, I'm going to tell Draco I shouted at you and he'll know if I'm lying so it's better if I just do the shouting." She explains.

"Okay, I understand." Hermione nods.

Pansy takes a deep breath before she starts. "DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS FOR DRACO TO TRUST PEOPLE? HIS FATHER LET HIM DOWN, HIS MOTHER LET HIM DOWN, SNAPE LET HIM DOWN, HIS AUNT LET HIM DOWN, THE DARK LORD LET HIM DOWN AND NOW HERE YOU ARE, LETTING HIM DOWN WHEN HE'S FINALLY LETTING HIMSELF TRUST PEOPLE AGAIN. HE NOT ONLY LET HIMSELF TRUST YOU, HE LET HIMSELF LOVE YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIM. BY GOING BEHIND HIS BACK TO VISIT THE ONE LIVING PERSON HE DESPISES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. HIS FATHER. NOW YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO VISIT HIM WHEN YOU KNOW HOW DRACO FEEL ABOUT HIM. I THINK THEY SHOULD REVOKE YOUR TITLE OF BRIGHTEST WITCH OF YOUR AGE BECAUSE I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING SO STUPID IN ALL MY LIFE." She finishes, breathing heavily.

"Are you done?" Hermione asks, trying to hold back her tears because she knows everything Pansy has just said is true.

"Please don't cry again. I'm sorry I had to say that but you needed to hear it." Pansy stares at her pointedly.

"I know. You are a great friend to both myself and Draco." She takes Pansy's hand and squeezes it in thanks.

"Thank you, I try my best to be an honest friend. Usually, I end up being brutally honest but sometimes that's what people need to hear." She smiles at Hermione. "Now I really must be going. I've got an hour to get ready for dinner." She says before disapparating them both back to the estate.

"Can I see Draco now?" Hermione asks hopefully after they've walked through the gate away from the reporters.

"I don't think so. You need to give him more time and space to think and calm down or whatever it is he's doing. I won't tell him what you've said. I don't want to get in the middle of this but I'll tell him we talked and you want to apologise and explain to him." She promises.

"Thank you, Pansy," Hermione says, pulling her into a hug.

"What have I told you about hugging me?" Pansy pushes her away after a few seconds.

"Sorry." She apologises. "I'm going to visit my parents. I want to talk to someone else about this." She tells Pansy who nods.

"I'll see you later then." She turns and walks off towards Blaise's house.

Hermione watches the living room window for any movement after Pansy has entered but when there isn't any, she steps back outside the gate and disapparates to the alleyway behind her parents' house.

When Pansy enters Blaise's house, she steps out of her heeled boots, dropping them in the hallway before walking into the living room and throwing herself down next to Draco on the couch. She places her feet on his lap and the fact he doesn't push them away shows how lost in his own thoughts he is.

She kicks him in the hip to gain his attention, a stern glare. "I'm back." She announces.

"Yeah, I noticed." He grumbles, going back to glaring at the fireplace in front of him.

"Don't you want to know what Hermione had to say for herself?" She questions him.

"Not particularly." He shrugs, closing his eyes as he leans his head back.

"Does your wife always cry this much or was it purely because I shouted at her?" She asks, watching intently for his reaction.

His head whips to face her. "You made her cry?" He mutters.

"Yeah, she told me what she did. Kind of a bitchy thing to do, isn't it?" She raises her eyebrows.

"Are you purposely trying to get a reaction out of me?" He questions her.

"Of course, I want to know how you feel about the whole thing." She smiles.

"Then ask me instead of calling her a bitch. She's still my wife and I still love her." He tells her.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere. You still love her so this relationship is still salvageable." She points out. "Now that I know what she did, can you tell me what happened when you went to Azkaban?" She asks him, sitting further up.

Draco sighs, closing his eyes again. "Azkaban has changed Lucius." He starts. "When he first saw me, he jumped out of his chair and cowered away from me int the corner of his room. Then he seemed to remember himself. He laid down on his bed and I asked him if he knew a Hyperion. He wouldn't answer at first but eventually said no but he assumes it's his mother friend he wrote about in his journal. I found that rather suspicious. Then he told me he knew some secrets. I asked him what secrets he was referring to. He told me he knew I was rendezvousing with Mudbloods. I may have pinned him to his bed and pointed my wand at him. I specifically told the Minister that Lucius should have no contact with the outside world. I asked him who told him but he laughed in my face so I may have punched him." He admits, opening his eyes to glance down at his knuckles that were bruised.

"You finally got the opportunity to punch him." Pansy congratulates him, earning herself a glare.

"He told me the Mudblood herself had told him. Of course, I didn't believe him. Why would Hermione visit him when I expressed my hatred of him? I told him as much. That she wouldn't break my trust like that then slapped him. He explained what she had done, why she had come to visit him. I may have slapped him. He told me he was disappointed in me for getting close to her." He smiles. "I get ready to leave but he begged me not to. He reverted back to his cowering self and gave me some letters, making me promise to read them. I told him I would never visit him again and neither would Hermione then left." He finishes.

"You can't make that decision for Hermione," Pansy tells him.

"I vowed to protect her and if I continue to let her visit that man, I will be failing as her husband," Draco states.

Pansy kicks him again in the hip. "Hermione doesn't need protecting." She tells him, annoyed as she stands up. "She is perfectly capable of defending herself from far worse than your father and she doesn't need your permission to visit him. Or to do anything for that matter." She begins to gather her belongings from the armchair and the coffee table. "She is her own person who can make her own decisions, whether they be the right decision or not, they are her decisions to make. What you need to do now is listen to her apology ad her reasoning, which is rather compelling, tell her how you feel, have some make up sex then move on with your lives." She tells him sternly, to which he glares at her. "Now I need to go get ready for dinner with the in-laws so I'll see you later. If you want to find Hermione, she's at her parents' house." She adds before walking out the living room, picking up her shoes and leaving Blaise's house to walk next door to her own.

When Hermione arrives at her parents' house, she walks up the back-garden path and tries to open the back door only to find it locked, which is when she realises it's a Monday and her parents are busy at work. Not wanting to disturb them at work or break into their house to wait four hours for them to return home, she disapparates back to the estate, most likely confusing the reporters in the process.

She sets off for her house and is halfway there when she decides that she doesn't want to be in their house, by herself, whilst their relationship is uncertain. Just the thought of her stupid mistake causing the end of their relationship sends a cold shiver through her body as she tears up. She needs to talk to someone about this, someone who can be impartial. When nobody comes to mind, she realises the one person, other than her parents, who she wants the comfort of right now is Ginny and she sets off towards the Potters' house again.

Harry answers the door in confusion after she knocks repeatedly.

"Hermione! Are you alright? Did you find Draco?" He asks, stepping aside to let her in.

"Kind of, I suppose. Is Ginny in?" She asks as she steps inside, closing the door behind her. "I really need to speak to her." She adds.

Harry stares at her worriedly. "Are you sure you're okay? What did Draco say?" He asks quietly, most likely so Ginny can't hear them

"Nothing, he didn't want to see me so I spoke with Pansy instead. She's going to talk to Draco but I need someone to talk to who isn't best friends with Draco and shout at me." She admits.

"Pansy shouted at you?" Harry frowns.

"Yeah, but I deserved it. She made me see things from Draco's point of view. Is Ginny in?" She asks again, peering over Harry's shoulder into the empty living room.

"Yeah, she's still sulking upstairs. You can head straight up. I'll bring you a cup of tea up." He tells her.

"Thanks, Harry." She smiles as she slips out of her shoes and climbs the stairs. She knocks on their bedroom door. "Ginny, can I come in?" She asks, listening at the door for her reply.

"Hermione!" Ginny sounds shocked. "Harry said you left."

"I came back. It turns out you're one of the only people I want to talk to about what's going on right now." She tells her through the door. "Can I come in?" She asks again.

"Fine." She answers.

Hermione pushes the door open to find Ginny scooting over from the middle of the bed to the side, making room for Hermione to lie beside her. Littered on the bed are numerous copies of different magazines that her friend had been flicking through. Hermione picks one up, opening it to a random page only to see a picture of herself and Draco so she closes it and throws it on the floor. Turning on her side to face her best friend, Hermione sighs.

"I'm so sorry I've been such a terrible friend since the ceremony." She apologises sincerely.

Ginny smiles at her. "Apology accepted. Although, I haven't exactly made an effort either and I've been acting like a jealous girlfriend whenever I see you with Draco, Blaise or Pansy." She admits.

"How can you be jealous of them? You were my first girl best friend. We've been through so much together. I tell you everything." She tries to comfort her best friend.

"Not everything." Ginny points out, sadly looking down at the space between.

"No, I suppose not but do you really think I can talk to Blaise or Pansy about the things I've told you over the years." She raises a questioning eyebrow making them both chuckle.

"I hope not. Especially not about that dream you had in eighth year about-" Ginny giggles as she starts to explain.

"Yes, I remember the dream and there's no way I'll ever tell anyone else about it." She blushes as she sternly looks at her friend before laughing.

"Unless you're drunk. You nearly told Ron about it at that party we had for Halloween in the Gryffindor common room." She reminds her.

Hermione pales at the thought. "Thanks again for saving me from that embarrassment."

Ginny sighs. "I've missed this. I knew some things would change with this marriage decree and the baby," She rests a hand on her stomach. "But I never thought our friendship would." She admits.

"It was bound to suffer a little. You didn't need to get to know your husband but I felt the need to spend as much time as I could with Draco to get to know the real him and to build up a trusting friendship with him and I know I put all my other friendships on hold to do so and that wasn't fair of me." She explains and Ginny rolls her eyes. "I know you don't like Draco and I know I wasn't around your sixth year when he was at his worst but has any of your hatred got to do with your jealousy?" She questions her.

Ginny looks down childishly. "That could be a factor." She shrugs.

"Good, once you see that you have nothing to be jealous of when it comes to Draco, you might be able to accept him as my husband and maybe start to like him," Hermione mentions hopefully.

"Maybe, but it's not like he's making any effort like us. He didn't even want to come over for lunch today." Ginny points out.

"That's actually what Harry and I were talking about and what I want to talk to you about now. I've done something really stupid and I might have lost Draco's trust, friendship and relationship." She states and the actual expression of concern on Ginny's face give her hope for the future of their friendship and her getting on with Draco eventually.

"Okay, so my mind is running with some pretty crazy ideas that are totally out of character for you so you need to put me straight. What did you do?" Ginny asks, sitting up cross-legged in bed.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asks, curious as to what her best friend is suspecting her of.

"Just remember I said these are totally out of your character. I don't actually think you would do some of these things." She reminds her.

"Of course, just tell me." Hermione smiles, sitting up with her.

"You've had an affair," She admits quietly.

"I would nev-" She starts to defend herself

"With Blaise." She adds with a laugh.

"Shut up, Ginny." She warns her.

"What? We were just talking about your dream." She continues to laugh.

"I told you to shut up," Hermione tells her, blushing as she covers her face in embarrassment.

"Okay, I'll stop." She giggles as she takes deep, calming breaths. "It was either that or you, I don't, tried to kill him." She shrugs.

"So, your only thoughts on the stupid thing I did to lose Draco's trust, friendship and relationship are two things that would definitely result in my imprisonment and a divorce." Hermione stares at her pointedly.

"I don't know." She shrugs again. "I've got baby brain. I poured orange juice in my tea instead of milk the other day and cried for half an hour when Harry pointed it out after I drank it and hadn't noticed myself because I actually liked it." She points out.

"Oh my goodness," Hermione feels sick as there's a knock on the door.

"It's just me," Harry announces, pushing the door open with his foot. "I've brought you both cups of tea." He smiles, placing the tray on the bed.

Hermione snickers and Ginny hits her with a pillow.

"I made your special tea, Gin." Harry smiles at her and Hermione laughs as Ginny throws the pillow at her husband. "Okay, I'm going. Have fun." He closes the door behind him.

"The cravings really are unbearable sometimes." She mutters taking a sip from her orange juice tea and sighing in relief.

"I'm disgusted." Hermione shakes her head, picking up her own cup of tea and giving it a sniff for any suspicious orange scents before taking a cautious sip.

"So, Hermione, are you going to tell what you did or are you going to keep making me guess?" She asks, over the top of her cup.

"Fine," She sighs. "I went behind Draco's back and visited Lucius in Azkaban." She admits for the second time that day.

Ginny stares at her for a moment before calmly placing her cup on her bedside table and turning back to her. "WHAT THE FU-" She stops herself short. "I don't want to swear in front of the baby." She glances down at her bump. "But what the f were you thinking going to the place to visit Lucius Malfoy." She hisses in disbelief.

"It's a long story," Hermione tells her.

"Well, you better start?" Ginny says, leaning back against the headboard and picking her tea up.

Once she's comfortable, Hermione starts and amazingly, Ginny doesn't interrupt her once. Instead, she nods her head, sips her tea and listens intently to her as she explains the reason behind her stupidity. When she finishes, Ginny places her empty cup back on the tray before turning to look disappointedly at her.

"I hate to admit this but… Draco has every right to be angry at you right now. I can understand why you visited Lucius and why you want to continue to visit him, even if I don't agree with that last one. If Draco has any sense, he'll forgive you once you've apologised and explained all this to him." She tells her with absolute certainty. "You're the best thing to happen to him and if he… loves you as much as it looks seems he does, he'll forgive you and move on with your lives. It might take him a while to come around to the idea of you continuing to visit Lucius though. He seems rather protective of you." She points out.

"Your confidence in the fact makes me feel a lot better, thank you." She pulls her best friend into a hug.

The two girls spend the rest of the afternoon, lying in bed and reading, and laughing, at the crap written in magazines that were scattered across the bed. Harry had brought them, what had supposed to be their lunch, up for dinner at five o'clock then left them to eat and bong over an article that pitted them bot against each other as the best dressed modern-day witch. Hermione's still sure that the skirt Ginny had been wearing in the picture was originally hers but Ginny insisted it wasn't so she lets the issue drop. When Ginny starts yawning around eight o'clock, Hermione announces her departure, not want to keep her pregnant friend awake. She needs all the rest she can get for her and baby. Both Ginny and Harry offer her a place for the night, stating Harry can sleep on the couch whilst the two ladies share a bed like the good old days but Hermione declines, stating she should go home in case Draco comes home to hear her explanation and apology.

Hermione hugs both of her best friends' goodnight before walking the short distance him. When she's a few houses away from her own, she notices the living room light is on and wonders if she left them on this morning but remembers not seeing them on when she walked past on her way to the Potters' house.

Her stomach drops as the nerves take over her body. Her hand is shaking when she opens the front door and steps inside the hallway where she slips her shoes off. She wonders where Draco is, whether he's upstairs or in the living room waiting for her. She decides that she needs to do this now so they can hopefully start tomorrow as a new day with this behind them.

Taking a deep breath, she pushes the living room door open and finds Draco sat on the couch staring straight ahead at the fireplace. He doesn't speak at first and neither does she, trying to gauge the situation.

In the end, it's Draco who speaks first. "Where have you been?" He asks coldly, not making any move to face her or look away from the fireplace.

"Harry and Ginny's house." She answers nervously.

"Pansy said you were going to your parents' house but they weren't in." He says. "I thought-" he starts but stops himself.

"We need to talk." She states, walking into the room and standing in front of him on the other side of the coffee table, forcing him to look at her but his eyes don't focus on her until he stands up.

"I'm aware." He finally makes eye contact and his dark demeanour frightens her.

"I-I need to explain." She tells him, hoping he'll give her the opportunity to do so.

"You can try." He harshly tells her.

"I'm going to apologise." She promises him. "I am sorry but I want to explain before I sincerely apologise for breaking your trust and going behind your back." She tells him, voice breaking emotionally.

Draco turns his head away from her as he seems to be fighting something within himself. He shakes his head before walking away from her into the kitchen where she hears him put the kettle on and take two cups out of the cupboard, placing them down on the counter. Hermione sighs deeply as she lowers herself onto the armchair beside her, trying to hold back the tears. Crying won't help her now and she doesn't want to fall apart in front of Draco.

When he returns, he places her cup of tea in front of her before sitting back down on the couch, placing his own cup of tea on the coffee table as well. He stares at it for a long moment, and Hermione stares at the top of his head, before he looks back up at her, leaning back on the couch.

"Are you going to explain?" He questions, giving off the impression of being indifferent as to whether she did or didn't explain as he already knew how this conversation was going to end.

Hermione nods anxiously, sitting up straighter in her armchair before starting in her effort to beg for forgiveness and make Draco understand the reasoning behind her visits to Lucius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Please comment any questions you have that have got anything to do with The Marriage Decree or myself here or on my Instagram and I'll answer them on Instagram as a special little thing when I reach 1,000 reviews.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	65. Chapter 65

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 65 for you!
> 
> Thank you for all the 'Get Well Soon' messages. I'm feeling much better now. :D
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> I dedicate this chapter to costybtt for the Italian translations.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

Since living within the United Kingdom from the age of six, Blaise has become accustomed to eating lunch at midday instead of two or three o'clock like he would when living with his grandparents in Italy. However, Minister Emilio Constantini had insisted on carrying on their morning meeting with Minister Shacklebolt until half past one, leaving Blaise famished since he had skipped breakfast.

Blaise is now stood in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic, waiting with nine Heads of the Italian Ministry for Minister Emilio to return from the bathroom with his two bodyguards. What he had discovered through eavesdropping on the small group's conversation, is that they all, including the Minister himself, spoke particularly good English and so he wasn't entirely sure why Minister Shacklebolt hired him in the first place.

"Signor Zabini," (Mister Zabini.) The Head of the Italian Department of International Magical Cooperation, Liliana Romano calls his attention.

"Sí, Liliana." (Yes, Liliana.) He flashes her a playful smile.

"Sembra che ci sia una donna che cerca di attirare la Sua attenzione." (There seems to be a woman trying to gain your attention.) Liliana nods over in the general direction of the lifts. Blaise glance over his shoulder. "La bella donna in abito corto nero." (The pretty woman in the short black dress.) She leans over his shoulder to point at a crowd of people walking towards them. "Ora sta salutando con la mano e correndo verso di Lei. Guarda." (She is waving and running towards you now. Look.)

"Oh! Pansy." He mutters confused as to her sudden appearance.

"Checca?" (Pansy; Queer) Liliana questions amusingly.

"No, viola del pensiero. Pansy, lei é mia amica." (No, pansy. Pansy, she's my friend.) Blaise corrects as he waves back at Pansy. "Inoltre, Liliana, non usi il termine 'checca'. Lo trovo irrispettoso e molto ofensivo. Per favore mi scusi." (Also, Liliana, do not use the word 'checca'. I find it disrespectful and very offensive. Please excuse me.) He turns on his heel away from her and walks over to meet Pansy.

She grabs hold of his hand, pulling him into a hug, shocking him still in the process.

"Cosa fai- What are you doing?" He questions her, returning the hug tentatively.

"Reporters. Everywhere." She states as an explanation, leaning away from him slightly to see his face. "You won't believe what Hermione did to Draco." She whispers with an excited smirk.

"Draco finally told you?" He asks, with a hopeful smirk.

"No, Hermione came around yours around midday. She told me everything." She chuckles excitedly as she glances around the foyer before leaning back into his ear. "She visited Lucius in Azkaban." She admits, leaning back to see his reaction.

Blaise frowns as he steps away from her again. "Why would she do that?" He states unequivocally. "She knows how Draco feels about his father, how he never wanted to see him again. She wouldn't break his heart like that." He shakes his head, in denial, turning away from her.

"She needed to do it. For Sophie and Hyperion." Pansy calls quietly behind him as she follows him back to the group of Italians, still waiting for Minister Emilio. "She makes a good case for seeing him again as well." She adds, stopping him in his track.

"Okay, Draco would never allow that. Even if he doesn't forgive her and they end up divorcing. He still has feelings for her and he'll never allow her to go anywhere near him again." He mutters so neither the Italians nor any eavesdropping reporters or passers-by can hear them.

"I know that but she's pretty adamant on visiting him again. She thinks she can change him." Pansy rolls her eyes with a smirk.

"Signor Blaise," (Mister Blaise.) Minister Emilio sighs as he rests a hand on his shoulder. "Ci fará aspettare ancora a lungo?" (Are you going to make us wait much longer?) He asks with an indifferent shrug.

"Certamente no, Ministro. Mi dia un momento per salutare la mia amica." (Of course not, Minister. Give me a moment to say goodbye to my friend.) Blaise gives him a suave smile, making the Minister laugh.

"Sono un uomo ragionevole. Le do due momenti." (I'm a reasonable man. I'll give you two moments.) He jokes. "Signora, scusami." (Madam, excuse me.) He nods at Pansy before returning to his group of advisors.

"I've got to get back to work. Are you coming over tonight?" He asks her hopefully.

"I can't. I've got dinner with the in-laws." She reminds him, gesturing down at her dress.

"Afterwards then. I've got some of the good wine left" He tries to tempt her.

He can see her thinking it over before sighing deeply. "Fine, I'll be there around ten." She shakes her head defeatedly. "You better get going. That woman with the red glasses is glaring at us." She smirks, waving over to Liliana who scoffs, turning away.

Blaise chuckles. "Liliana. She doesn't like me much." He says as he starts walking backwards, away from her. "Have fun with the Weasley-in-laws." He jokes as he turns on his heel and jogs over to the Italian Minister and his advisors.

"Ha finito di flirtare, Signor Zabini?" (Are you finished flirting, Mister Zabini?) Liliana bitterly asks him as she adjusts her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Liliana!" Minister Emilio tuts disapprovingly. "Non accusi una persona di flirtare con qualcuno che non sia il suo coniuge. Lei sa sai meglio di chiunque altro la paranoia che questo puo infondere nella mente di una persona." (Do not accuse a person of flirting with someone who is not their spouse. You know better than anyone the paranoia that can instil in a person's mind.) He scalds her but she simply shakes her head, setting off herself towards the lifts they had ridden up to Minister Shacklebolt's meeting room this morning.

Hermione opens her mouth to speak but none of the words she used to explain to Pansy or Ginny come to her. It's harder to explain to her husband when he's the one she hurt. It's his trust she broke and she doesn't know what to do to fix it. Pansy did particularly help her understand what to do to apologise to Draco or advise her in any way really. All she did was shout at her and tell her off.

"I- I don't regret what I did." She starts and Draco's eyes narrow as he glares at her. "I do regret not telling you myself and I regret that you found out from Lucius." She admits and his expression darkens.

"So, you were planning on telling me?" He states.

"Of course I was, Draco." Hermione's hand twitches as she tops herself from reaching out to hold his hand. She doubts he'll appreciate her comfort at the moment. "You're one of my best friends and my husband, I know you would be angry at me when you found out. I suppose I told myself to put it off until I got all the information I needed from him so that one I told you, I could tell you I would never be visiting him again." She explains.

"You won't be visiting ever again." Draco snaps at her angrily.

"You… let me finish explaining." She tells him, wanting to prolong the imminent argument. "I don't know what he told you but I visited him twice." Draco nods his awareness so she carries on. "The first visit was about Gwenog, David and Sophie. I needed to know if she was telling the truth about her reason for leaving before I spoke to David about letting her visit Sophie. Very few people outside the Ministry knew of the vote and there's something going on within the Ministry at the moment that I would trust much of anything they say." She frowns down at her cup of tea on the coffee table as she starts to go off topic. She glances up at Draco to find him intrigued but too angry to question her further.

"Lucius confirmed what Gwenog had told me so I spoke to David and you know how well that went." Draco nods as she finishes the explanation of her first visit.

"And the visit about Hyperion?" He urges her to carry on.

"At the time, you were never going to visit him yourself to ask whether he knew anything about Hyperion. You'd made your feelings of Lucius clear and I wasn't going to even suggest you visit him after our last argument. So, I went myself." She starts.

"It's my fault then." He states, standing up from the couch. "My fear and pride, as Pansy puts it, drove you to visit him a second time." He growls to himself as he paces behind the couch.

Hermione stands up, taking a step towards him. "None of this is your fault, Draco." She tells him. "It was the quickest and easiest way to hypothetically find Hyperion so I took advantage of my unlimited visitation rights and asked him myself. I made sure I never told him Hyperion's name of who he was in relation to the Malfoy's." She says, taking the blame away from him.

"He still knew too much." Draco stops in his tracks to yell at her. "He knew you bribed Shacklebolt, he knew about his diary, he knew you know about the secret attic and my favourite meal. At least you never told him about the bloody marriage decree." He laughs harshly as his pacing begin again.

"Of course, I didn't. I needed to get as much information as I could out of him and I doubt he would have been very cooperating to do so had I told him I was his daughter-in-law." She snaps at him.

Draco shakes his head angrily as he glares down at his feet. "I told the minister." He mutters to himself. "I told him Lucius was to have no visitors. He was to know nothing of the outside world. And then you come along." He turns to look at her.

"And what good is that going to do?" Hermione raises her voice. "He's in the highest security cell Azkaban has ever had, at your request. He is permanently guarded by two ex-aurors. There isn't a chance he will even escape Azkaban of his own accord. Why can't he know what's going on outside? If this carries on, he won't be able to function once he's released in fourteen years' time." She points out. "Let him have access to newspapers. Let Rasheed and the other Heads of Azkaban speak to him about the world. Let me continue to visit him." She tries to convince him.

"NO," Draco shouts. "I told you. You will never see him again."

Hermione laughs. "You can't tell me who I can and can't see, Draco. That's not your decision to make. It's mine." She tells him bitterly. "And when it comes down to Lucius, the man you have renounced as your father, the only people who have a say in whether or not my visits to him stop is myself and Kingsley." She grips her fists tightly to stop them from shaking as she takes a deep breath. "How did Lucius act to you visiting him?" She asks, hopeful for an answer.

"He's changed. Azkaban brought the madness out in him. His actions and state of mind are unpredictable making him unsafe for anyone to be near him for any period of time. If I had it my way, he would never leave Azkaban. He would die in that place, with no one who cares about him by his bedside. He deserves nothing more." He states, running his hands through his hair as he perches on the arm of the couch. "I never wanted to see him like that. Vulnerable and cowering away from me." He sighs, resting his head in his hands.

"Was he writing when you entered his cell?" She asks.

Draco glances up through his fingers at her. "He gave me some of his letters from a jar of ash." He nods.

"He was writing one to you during my second visit. I couldn't read his handwriting." She tells him.

"Not many people can. His handwriting was always atrocious." He slides himself back onto the couch, laying his head back against the other arm.

"Have you read any of the letters yet?" She asks.

"No." He scoffs. "I'm never going to read them. Lucius is manipulative. He's poison. He has the ability to get a person to do what he wants through a simple look. I will not be brainwashed by his words anymore." He mutters, covering his eyes with his arm.

"Draco," Hermione calls his attention as she sits down on the coffee table. "In the two visits I've had with Lucius, I've seen such a difference in him." She wraps her arms around herself as he turns his head to stare at her suspiciously. "You're right about Azkaban bringing a madness out of him. During my first visit, he was very reserved. He didn't speak much at all. For my second visit, he was a different man. He held a conversation with me. He joked about me being the only visitor he'll ever get. He talked about his childhood. I think I can get through to him, Draco. He's letting me get through. I think he wants me to help him." She admits.

Draco shakes his head, covering his eyes with his hands as he sighs deeply. "He's gotten into your head. You can't change him. He's forty-five years old, it's too late." He shakes his head. "This is why I didn't want you to come with me yesterday. I didn't want you anywhere near him. This is why I don't want you to ever see him again." He tells her, surprisingly calm.

"Draco, look at me!" She reaches over, taking his wrist in her hands and pulling them away from his face, onto his chest. "Who better than me to continue to visit him?" She tugs his wrist gently when he starts shaking his head disapprovingly. "Who am I to Lucius? A Mudblood? A Gryffindor? One of the saviours of the wizarding world who defeated his Dark Lord? I am everything Lucius hates in a person and yet he lets me converse with him when he won't with others. I am capable of holding onto my own thoughts, opinions and morals." She lets go of his hands and they stay rested upon his chest. If he's changed so much with only two visits from me, how much will he change with fourteen years' worth of weekly visits?" Hermione states.

Draco closes his eyes. "I don't like this." He sighs, shaking his head with an air of defeat.

"Enough to be able to survive and function within the future wizarding world." She answers herself.

He opens his eyes to look at her. "What I don't understand is why you care so much about Lucius? Why do you want to help him change? After everything he's done to you, your friends, your family, muggles, Muggleborns, house-elves, werewolves, centaurs,"-

"I get it, Draco." She interrupts him.

"The list really does go on." He adds.

Hermione sighs, shoulders falling as she looks past Draco to the living room door that leads towards the hallway. "I don't know. There's just something inside me that's telling me to help him. I know you don't understand and probably never will but it's just something I need to do." She admits.

Neither of them says anything for a long time. Draco closes his eyes once again as he continues to lie on the couch, whilst Hermione remains sat on the coffee table, staring at her husband's saddened face as she goes over everything that had been said. As the clock on their living room wall chimes for half-past nine, Draco abruptly stands up, making Hermione jump.

"I'm going to spend the night at Blaise's house." He tells her as he walks towards the hallway.

Hermione watches in silence as he pulls on his jacket, sits on the bottom step of the stairs to tie his shoe and opens the front door. Just as he's about to step out into the cool summer air, she grabs hold of his hand, bringing him to a stop. The look of annoyance on his face as he turns to face her tings her hand, making her drop it.

"I didn't apologise, Draco." She states, her eyes tearing for the countless time that day. "I am sorry for so many things but the one thing that I am truly, so very deeply sorry for breaking your trust. I know you don't trust people easily and I haven't made it any easier but I just want you to know how sorry I am." She finally apologises, her tears breaking free as she tries to wipe them away.

Startlingly, Draco grabs hold of her shoulders and pulls her into a hug. His arms wrap around her back, pinning her arms to her body as she sobs onto his shoulder. His chin rests upon her head as he rubs soothing circles onto her back.

"I know, I know." He mutters, calming her down. "I know how sorry you are and I'm trying to understand but I need more time to just think everything through. I'll come home tomorrow lunchtime after Macnair's trial." He tells her and he must feel her frown on his shoulder. "I received an owl this morning. I must be at the Ministry for twenty to nine in the morning." He explains, pulling away from her and letting go of her shoulders.

"You'll need a good night's sleep." She tells him as he steps outside. "Good luck." She adds with a small smile before he nods at her and sets off for Blaise's house.

Once Draco turned the corner and is no longer in her sight, Hermione locks the front door. She trudges back into the living room where she curls up on the couch with the blanket wrapped tightly around her. She nonverbally and wandlessly turns the lights off, smothering herself in the darkness as she drifts off into a restless sleep.

"That was… fun." Pansy smiles awkwardly as she and Ron walk towards their house after dinner with his parents. Molly had been very accommodating, making sure she had enough food and drink, asking her how she and her parents were, giving her a plate of dessert to take home when she told them she was too full to eat the cheesecake.

"Yeah." Ron shrugs, staring down at his feet. "You didn't have to come." He tells her.

Pansy glares at him. "I know I didn't have to but I wasn't going to turn down a free meal. If you didn't want me to come, you should have told me." She snaps at him.

"I wasn't bothered if you came or not, it was my mum who wanted you there." He snaps back.

"Thanks, Ronald, your love is blinding." She jokes as she passes the plate to him, making him scoff. "I'm going to Blaise's." She tells him as they reach his house.

"Of course," Ron mutters as he carries on to their house.

Pansy shakes her head as she opens Blaise's front door, slipping out of her shoes as she steps into the hallway.

"You better not have drunk all the good wine. It's the only reason I'm here." She says, announcing her presence as she walks through the living room door to find Blaise and Draco sat facing each other at opposite ends of the couch.

"Draco brought some more good wine with him," Blaise tells her, gesturing to the coffee table where an unopened bottle sits.

"Good boy." She ruffles his hair as she walks past on her way to the armchair, where she lounges with her legs over the arm. "How long have you been drinking?" She asks as Blaise pours her a glass.

"About half nine when I got home." He answers.

She stares at Draco as she sips her wine. "Please tell me you haven't been cooped up in here all day?" She asks him.

"No, I went home not long after you left here." He tells her.

"Was Hermione there? Did she talk to you?" She questions him hopefully.

"Yeah, she told me everything." He grumbles as he drinks his wine.

"Then why are you here and not at home with your wife?" She raises a questioning eyebrow at him.

Draco looks away from her. "I just need more time."

"To do what, lick your wounds? She's explained. She's apologised. You need to forgive her and move on." She states and Blaise nods in agreement.

"I have forgiven her. I'm still angry that she did it but I understand why she felt she needed to do it and I can't blame her for that." He admits. "I just need time to think about the continuation of her visits to him." He sighs deeply.

"Wait, you're actually considering this?" Blaise frowns at him.

"Of course, he is. He loves Hermione and if visiting Lucius is something she wants to do, he's going to end up letting her. That's what people in love do, isn't it?" She pulls a disturbed face.

"Draco, he's dangerous. You can't let Hermione go anywhere near him and she has to respect your wishes." Blaise states.

"But Hermione makes a good point." Pansy counters him. "How is Lucius going to survive in 2013 without any knowledge of what's happened in the past fifteen years? If anything, it's more dangerous to shelter him from the wizarding world. When he comes out, he's not going to know anything about the world. It's going to scare him and send him further into whatever madness he's already in and we don't know what he'll do in that state." She finishes.

"That is a good point!" Blaise sighs, sliding down the couch and lifting his feet onto the coffee table. "What are you going to do, Draco?" He questions but Draco just shrugs, lost in his thoughts. "Well, I'm famished. Haven't eaten anything since three o'clock. Do you want anything to eat?" He asks Pansy as he stands up.

"No, Molly's just fed me enough food to keep me going for a few days." She jokes, following him into the kitchen.

Blaise sets about making something to eat for himself and Draco whilst Pansy sits on the stool at the breakfast bar, drinking her wine and watching him.

"Do you think they'll get through this?" She asks him after a few minutes of silence.

Blaise glances at her over his shoulder. "Of course, they will. It's Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger." He chuckles shaking his head.

"That doesn't mean anything." She frowns at him.

"It's who they are and they work so well together." He shrugs. "And if they don't sort this out, we'll force them to." He adds.

"Will we now?" She amusingly asks.

"Yes, we will, because we love both Draco and Hermione." He answers and she nods in agreement.

Pansy doesn't end up leaving Blaise's house until half-past twelve when Draco announces he's going to bed because he's up early for a Death Eater trial. Thankfully, Ron has left their front door unlocked so she doesn't have to wake him up to open the door for her. They really should make another copy since he always gets moody when she wakes him up. She quietly climbs up the stairs, pushing their bedroom door open to find Ron curled up on his side of the bed. On their first time sharing a bed, she had assumed he would be one to spread out and had half expected to be woken up in the middle of the night by a punch to the face but surprisingly, Ron keeps to his own side and rarely tosses or turns during the night. Most likely a side effect from the war. Pansy finds a clean pair of pyjamas to change into in the bathroom where she also brushes her teeth. She climbs into bed with a soft sigh as she pulls the covers tightly up to her chin before falling asleep.

Hermione is awoken early the next morning by the tap of an owl at her living room window. The sound sends her back to January when the Ministry Owl had arrived with her letter about the new Ministry Decree. She climbs off the couch, stretching her limbs out before throwing the curtains open to reveal not just one owl but two. A Ministry owl and a Hogwarts owl. Assuming the Hogwarts owl is delivering a letter from Horace about the upcoming Slug Club he had mentioned the other day, she opens the Ministry letter first.

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England**

**Tuesday 21** **st** **June 1999**

**Dear Ms Granger,**

**As per our agreement, I have taken the liberty to arrange your first interview with the Daily Prophet for tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. I trust you will inform Mr Potter and Mr Weasley. The interview will take place at the Ministry in the interviewing room. Please don't be late.**

**Approved and Signed by**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**Minister of Magic.**

Hermione glares down at the piece of parchment that the letter is written on. Kingsley must be getting desperate for them to finally come forward in favour of his actions. She makes two copies of the letter, opens her window and sends them off to both Harry and Ron, hoping they hadn't made any plans that can't be rearranged. She places the Ministry letter upon the coffee table, then opens the letter from Hogwarts.

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands**

**Scotland**

**Tuesday 21** **st** **June 1999**

**Dear Ms Granger,**

**I hope this letter finds you in good health. After speaking with Horace Slughorn, I would like to invite you to a meeting with both myself and Filius Flitwick to discuss your future within the school. I hope to meet you outside the Great Hall at twelve o'clock sharp.**

**Signed by**

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**

Hermione stares at the letter in shock, wondering if what she's just read means what she thinks it means. Horace obviously told Professor McGonagall what they had talked about the other night. She wonders if a similar letter was delivered to Blaise's house for Draco. She checks the time. Half past eight. Draco would already have left for the Macnair trial. She decides to get dressed, washed and make something to eat then head over to the Ministry to wait for Draco outside the courtroom.

By ten o'clock, she's sat on a bench outside the courtroom doors reading a book she was pleased to find in her jacket pocket. At one point, she had heard shouting from inside the courtroom but the Minister had quickly called everyone to order and the disruption had stopped. Around half past ten, the doors burst open, making Hermione jump to her feet and close her book as she waits nervously for Draco to walk out.

"Fifty-five years. It's disgusting." One woman shakes her head angrily as she leaves. "He ought to have gotten eight-five years for what he did." She adds.

Her friend wraps her arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "He's fifty-eight years old, Jennie. He's going to die in that place anyway."

"That's not the point." Jennie pushes her friend's arm away. "He killed my Johnny and all those other people. He deserves more." She starts to cry as they turn around the corner and Hermione feels sorry for her.

Draco doesn't even hesitate as he walks straight up to Minister Shacklebolt, who's speaking, through Blaise, to the Italian Minister and his Heads of Departments.

"Mi scusi, Ministro." (Excuse me, Minister.) He nods to the Italian Minister before turning to Shacklebolt with a knowing smirk. Draco watches in amusement as he comes to an understanding. "A word, Minister."

"Draco, don't d-" Blaise steps forward to try and stop him.

He places a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I know what I'm doing." He attempts to reassure him but it doesn't seem to work by the look on Blaise's face. "Shall we, Minister." He turns back to Shacklebolt who looks unsure.

"My office, Mr Malfoy." He suggests, gesturing towards the side door.

"No need, Minister. We're the only ones here." He glances around to ensure he's correct.

Minister Shacklebolt looks over to where Blaise is leading the Italian's out of the side door that leads straight to the waiting area outside his office. "Fine, what is it you wish to discuss?" He asks, sitting down on the Wizengamot benches.

Draco doesn't make any move to follow him to a seat. "Don't be so naïve, Minister. Your face lets on more than you know." He laughs. "You know exactly what I'm here to discuss."

The Minister sighs, "Hermione Granger." He covers his face in his hands. "She told you." He mutters.

"No, Lucius told me." He corrects him. "He was supposed to have no visitor and know nothing of the outside world. That was part of the deal we made when you begged me to testify against him. You broke our deal, so now you're going to break another. You're going to revoke Hermione's visitation rights." He states sternly.

"I can't do that. I need Hermione to fulfil her part of the deal and to do that, I need to fulfil my part of the deal." He shakes his head as he stands up tall in front of him. "You and your wife have caused me more trouble than you're worth these past few weeks and I'm tired of it."

"Don't think I don't know what's going on within the Ministry, Minister." Draco spits. "If you won't revoke her visitations, you will grant me unlimited permission and I will go with her to every visit she makes to Lucius Malfoy because one way or another, I will protect her from that man." He tells him.

"I won't do anything else for you." The Minister angrily hisses at him.

"Yes, you will, because I'm the only one with the knowledge to put all these Death Eaters away for over fifty years. You need me so you will do what I ask, or you will lose power within the Ministry so quickly, you'll be admitted to St Mungos with whiplash. Understood?" He finishes and the Minister's jaw stiffens as he nods. "Good, now you will give me unlimited access to Lucius Malfoy's cell."

"You will receive your letter this afternoon," Shacklebolt tells him, anger evident in his voice. "And if you ever threaten me again-" He starts his attempt to intimidate him.

"You won't do anything, Minister. Hermione and I are too valuable to you right now." Draco turns on his heel and walks away from the Minister. He hears him mutter something about him being a 'cocky bastard' but chooses to ignore it as he pushes the door open.

Blaise had told Hermione, on his way out of the courtrooms with the Italian Minister, that Draco was still inside, speaking to Kingsley. He punctuated his statement with a pointed look that told her exactly what Draco was talking to the Minister about. He's trying to stop her from continuing to visit Lucius. She resisted the urge to storm into the courtroom and wait for Draco to leave so she can question him on the matter.

A few minutes later, Draco comes walking out of the courtroom so quickly, he almost misses her stood in front of him. He stops a few meters away and turns back to face her.

"Hermione!" He says in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He looks up and down the corridor.

"I received a letter from McGonagall. I was wondering if you got one too." She asks him, taking her letter out of her pocket to show him.

Draco reads it over then nods. "Yes, I received one too." He confirms. "We've got just over an hour before we should set off for the meeting. Would you like to grab something to eat?" He asks as he sets off down the corridor towards the lifts that would take them to the disapparation floor.

Not expecting Draco to act as though nothing's happened, Hermione stutters as she accepts his offer and jogs to catch up with him. They wait in awkward silence for the lift to arrive and on the journey down. It isn't until they're on the disapparation floor does Draco take her hand in his and apparates to Diagon Alley where he quickly drops it.

Hermione shoves her hands into her pocket as they begin to shake.

"Is the Leaky Cauldron alright for you?" He asks her.

"Yes, that fine." She nods, following beside him as they walk towards the pub.

"Find a secluded booth whilst I order our drinks." He tells her as he heads over to the bar.

Hermione walks over to an empty booth at the back where she had sat in to read Lucius' Diary whilst Draco visited Mr Parkinson. Draco joins her a few minutes later, placing a cup of tea in front of her as he sips a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Draco." She nods as she takes a sip from the tea.

"I spoke with the Minister today." He unexpectedly states. "I asked him to revoke your visitation rights with Lucius." He admits, staring down at his cup of coffee.

"Draco-" Hermione starts but he raises his hand to stop her.

"He wouldn't go back on his deal with you. Just shows how desperate he must be for supporters." He sighs. "Instead, I asked for unlimited visitations myself." He finally looks up at her. "If you want to continue to visit Lucius, then you will do so with me. You are my wife and I shall protect you at any and all costs." He promises, reaching over to place his hand over hers.

Hermione hesitantly turns her hand over and entwines her fingers with his. When he doesn't remove his hand, she gives it a soft squeeze in thanks which he slowly returns. They don't speak for a long time, choosing to sip their drinks whilst they grip onto the other's hand, not wanting to let go.

When they've both finished their drinks, Hermione breaks the silence to ask whether he would like another drink, which he declines.

"How was Blaise's first day at work yesterday?" She asks, not wanting them to fall back into silence.

"Rather well, I believe. He has built a good relationship with the Italian Minister; Emilio I think he's called. Although, he did tell the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation off for using a homophobic word." He smiles. "He did mention that they speak very good English themselves and that he needn't have been there. He doesn't know why Minister Shacklebolt hired him." He mentions.

"Another power move, perhaps." She offers as a suggestion.

"It could be. The Minister is starting to worry. He said he needed you to fulfil your part of the deal." He squeezes her hand tightly. "What deal did you make?"

"He wants me to attend two ceremonial dinners, do two interviews with Harry and Ron and give two speeches. My first interview is tomorrow morning, I received the letter this morning." She tells him, looking down at their hands.

"What are you going to say at these interviews?" He questions.

"The truth, whatever they might be. Harry and Ron will be doing the same. We've agreed that we aren't going to lie for Kingsley." She admits. "We don't want to become a puppet for another leader." She growls quietly.

"We need to find out why the Minister enforced the Marriage Decree and who agreed with him on the matter. We've been quite sidetracked recently but we need to get back on with our research." He reminds her.

"I still believe that the information we need is in that book vault within the archives. There must be a reason they banned all books on the topic. When can we next pay our friend Mr Vyner and his archives a visit?" She asks, thinking about her own schedule. "Thursday?" She suggests.

"Thursday's good. David wants me to get copies of the Malfoy records. I don't know how Wizarding records will help him find someone in the muggle world but he said it's a good place to start. He invited me over on Friday after he finishes work." He mentions.

Hermione nods in agreement. "I'll come help. If you like." She offers.

"Of course, you're just as much involved in finding my uncle as I am. I wouldn't be this far along if it weren't for you." He smiles at her.

Hermione returns the smile. "I think we should set off. It's nearly half past eleven." She tells him.

"Come on then." He pulls her by the hand, leading her back out into Diagon Alley where he disapparates them to the gates of Hogwarts.

Even though it only just turned five to twelve when they step foot into the grand foyer of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall is already waiting for them.

"You should know that it is customary to arrive at least ten minutes early for meetings." She states as she abruptly turns on her heel, cloak billowing out behind her as she climbs the staircases towards her office. "Everybody will be waiting for us." She adds.

Hermione looks at Draco and mouths 'everybody' but he shrugs, not knowing who else is waiting beside Professor Flitwick. "Excuse me, Professor, who else is attending this meeting?" She asks.

"A few other past students that have expressed a keen interest in certain subjects." She answers without naming any names.

The rest of the journey is in silence until they reach the Gargoyle where McGonagall clearly says the word, "Ballachulish."

"What does that mean?" Draco asks as the three of them step onto the spiralling staircase.

"It is a Scottish, Highlands town." She answers simply as they reach the top. "Take one of the empty seats at the back." She states as they walk into her office to find Professor Flitwick sat beside Professor McGonagall's chair, talking to three other people, who all turn to look at them as they enter.

"Pansy! What are you doing here?" Draco asks as he sits down in a chair behind her.

"I don't have a clue. My attendance at this meeting was requested this morning and I didn't have anything else to do." She shrugs.

"I'm glad you are so enthusiastic about your future, Miss Parkinson." Professor Flitwick tuts.

"I might be if I knew why I was here. Was there an issue with my grades?" She asks, trying to hide the nerves in her voice.

"Not in the slightest. Quite the opposite in fact." He states.

"Hi, Hermione," Neville whisper over to her from his seat beside Pansy.

"Shall we begin." Professor McGonagall interrupts, gaining everyone's attention. "Each one of you is here today because you scored some of the highest marks in your exams that we have seen in decades. Mr Atkins, you gained a 98.8% in Muggle Studies, Ms Granger, a 99.7% in transfiguration, Mr Longbottom, a 98.5% in Herbology, Mr Malfoy, a 99.7% in Potions and Ms Parkinson, a 99.8% in History of Magic." She announces.

"I beat you both in something." Pansy laughs as she turns around to face both Hermione and Draco. "Brightest wizard and witch." She scoffs rolling her eyes as she turns back.

"Ms Parkinson." Professor Flitwick scalds her. "I'll have you know that Mr and Mrs Malfoy both gained a 99.5% in History of Magic."

Both Draco and Hermione stiffen at the mention of Mrs Malfoy but neither corrects him.

"I still beat them though." Pansy shrugs proudly.

"Moving swiftly on, I'm here to offer the five of you an Apprenticeship under the current professor of your subjects, leading to the eventual take over from them in September 2000." She states.

"Wait, Professor. Are you offering us a job? As professors?" Neville asks for clarification.

"You will spend a year training but yes, the plan is for the five of you to replace the current professors who will be retiring from teaching in July 2000." Professor McGonagall confirms.

"Excuse me, Professor but who would be mentoring me in Muggle Studies since Professor Burbage was killed during the war?" Atkins raises his question.

"For this year, the subject will be taught partially by Professor Vector and Professor Babbling." She says.

"So, two half-bloods that don't know much of anything about the Muggle world. I can't see how they'll be suitable mentors." Atkins points out.

"Your mentors aren't here to teach you your subject. If you don't know something, by all means, ask but they'll encourage you to research you subject yourself. Your mentors are here to train you in becoming a professor. This includes lesson planning, controlling a classroom, marking homework, patrolling the school, detentions, etc, etc." She explains and Atkins nods in understanding sitting back in his chair.

Pansy raises her hand and Professor McGonagall sighs. "Ms Parkinson, you're no longer a student. You don't need to raise your hand."

"Right." She lowers her hand. "I want you to know that by asking this question, I am not accepting your apprenticeship offer I'm just want to be able to make an informed decision." She states.

Professor McGonagall nods at her with a small smile. "Go on then."

"Are you expecting me to study under Professor Binns, a ghost who probably couldn't even teach when he was alive?" She asks and the majority of the room has to hold back their laughs.

"I shall have you know, Ms Parkinson, that no one is more knowledgeable about the History of Magic than Cuthbert Binns." Professor McGonagall informs her.

"I'm aware, but that doesn't mean he can teach. I'm assuming that's why you're offering us an apprenticeship and not a job. We obviously know our chosen subject exceptionally well, we just need to know how to teach it." Pansy counters her and Professor Flitwick gasps excitedly.

Professor McGonagall nods once. "Right you are. If you are to accept my offer, I'll ensure that you are under the mentor of another professor as well as Professor Binns."

"And who might that be?" She questions. "Like I said, I'd like to make an informed decision." She smiles.

"I would like to put forward my services as Ms Parkinson's mentor." Professor Flitwick speaks up.

Pansy raises her eyebrow. "Really? I wasn't exactly the best at charms."

"No, you weren't, but you've proven to be the best in history of Magic and as Minerva said, I'll only be teaching you how to teach and I'm up for the challenge." He chuckles.

Pansy nods once sitting back in her chair, allowing Professor McGonagall to continue.

"It is usually customary for all staff to reside within the school. However, due to the Ministry's Marriage Decree," She forcibly smiles, lips in a thin line. "I can only offer Mr Atkins a room."

"Why?" Pansy frowns.

"We do not allow the children of staff to reside within the school. It would cause to much trouble during term time." Professor McGonagall states.

"Can I have a room for the days I won't have my child, then?" She asks. "Ronald and I will be sharing custody of our child. Probably four days each." She clarifies when Professor McGonagall looks at her confused.

"For those days, you are more than welcome to reside within the school." The Headmistress nods. "Does anyone else have any special requirement?"

"Will there be a floo network opened for those of us without rooms to travel directly to the school?" Draco questions.

"Yes, I'll speak to someone at the Ministry to get your house linked up to the staffroom." She nods.

"Anything else?" She makes brief eye-contact with each of them and when nobody speaks up, she carries on. "I realise this may be short notice, but I'm giving you until the thirtieth of June to inform me of your decision." She tells them. "Thank you for attending this meeting and I'll look forward to receiving your letter within the next nine days. Filius will take you back down to the foyer." She states, dismissing the meeting.

Hermione and Draco, being at the back of the room, stand up, taking their leave first. They wait outside the door for Professor Flitwick and Pansy and Neville. The small group engages in small talk for the short walk down the moving staircases towards the Grand doors of Hogwarts.

As soon as Professor Flitwick leaves them, Neville laughs. "Well that was unexpected, wasn't it?" He states, beaming a smile as he nearly skips down the steps. "Do you think you'll accept the offer?"

"Definitely." Hermione answers. "I've always wanted to go into teaching." She adds as the five of them walk down the path they had all taken many times to Hogsmeade.

"I'll have to think about it. I had my heart pretty much set on living off my family's fortune." Pansy admits truthfully with a shrug as she shoves her hands in her pockets. "It might be interesting."

"Draco, what about you?" Neville asks him.

"I'll most likely accept. I don't have much else going for me." He admits and Hermione takes his hand.

"Draco, you will be one of the best potions masters the world will ever see." She tells him and he smiles shyly down at her.

"At least all your mentors know the subject they teach," Atkins complains as he follows the four friends.

Pansy turns to glare over her shoulder at him. "Who are you anyway, Atkins? I don't remember ever seeing you around the castle during my time." She questions him.

"Jonathan Atkins. I graduated in 1994. That would have been your third year, wouldn't it?" He answers. "You can't have been very observant." He adds snidely.

Pansy stares mouth agape in surprise before turning away.

"What's his problem?" She mutters, sending the five of them into an awkward silence.

When they reach the gates of Hogwarts, Hermione squeezes Draco's hand, an indication that she'll apparate them back to the estate.

"Are you both heading home?" Hermione questions Pansy and Neville after he closes the gate behind them.

"No, I think I'll head into Hogsmeade." Pansy shrugs. "Change of scenery." She smirks as she turns on her heel and inadvertently follows Atkins further down the winding path to the village.

"I'm going to have to go visit Hannah at work and tell her about McGonagall's offer." He says before giving them a quick nod before disapparating.

Hermione squeezes Draco's hand once more before apparating to the gate of the estate where Draco entwines their fingers together before they walk in a semi-comfortable silence back to their house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	66. Chapter 66

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 66 for you!
> 
> Thank you for all the 'Get Well Soon' messages. I'm feeling much better now. :D
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy Xx

* * *

As the sun makes its way across the sky, sending rays of light through the cracks in the curtain of the east facing bedroom windows, Hermione stirs. Her eyes flicker open landing on Draco's pale naked back. For the first time in over two weeks, they had both kept to their own side of the bed during the night. Just the thought that even Draco's subconsciousness hasn't forgiven her makes the guilt return to her stomach.

Climbing out of bed, she grabs a pair of trousers and a shirt so she can change in the bathroom after having a shower and brushing her teeth. By seven o'clock, she's tidied up the dinner plates she had left to dry overnight, then cleaned out the toaster, mopped the kitchen floor and dusted the whole of downstairs. Now, she had nothing to do but wait for Draco to wake up so she can make him breakfast or a cup of tea.

With that thought, she picks the kettle, heading to the sink. As she waits for the kettle to fill, she glances out of the kitchen window across the green towards the shops, where she spots Ginny strolling across the grass. Impulsively, she replaces the kettle on its stand, pulls on a pair of shoes and a jacket before running out the back door, ignoring Geoffrey as he shouts something behind her.

She catches up to her friend inside the grocer's, making her jump when she calls her name directly behind her.

"Hermione!" She gasps in shock. "Where did you come from?" She asks, glancing around the grocer's and outside the door.

"I saw you walking over here and thought I'd join you." She admits. "Let me carry that for you." She offers, attempting to take the basket off Ginny's arm.

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I'm capable of holding a basket that doesn't even weigh anything." She snatches it back. "If you want to help, you can grab me some pears and cherries. Then we can go to the café around the corner for breakfast." Ginny suggests, pushing her towards the fruit aisle.

After she's bagged up the fruit Ginny had asked for, Hermione heads over to the counter where her friend is talking to the owner as he prices up her basket. She places the bags with the rest of the purchases so Ginny can pay.

When they reach the café around the corner, it has only just opened, so they find themselves to be the only customers. They find a table near the window where they glance at the menu.

"What do you want? It's my treat." Ginny smiles as she folds her menu back up.

"You don't have to pay." Hermione shakes her head as she closes her own menu.

"I know you I don't have to," She rolls her eyes. "But I want to. My treat, a thank you for all the ice-creams and sweets you've bought me over the years." She laughs as she stands up.

"Fine, thank you, I'll have some toast and a cup of tea." She smiles in defeat, watching as her friend walks over to the counter to order.

When she returns, she throws herself down in her seat and stares at her. "So, how did Draco take it?" She leans forward to whisper.

"How did you expect him to take it." She snaps, then sighs. "I'm sorry. He was angry, upset and when I suggested I continue to visit him, he got overprotective. He spent the night at Blaise's house but he did hug me before he left."

"Well, that's good." She comments.

"We both got a letter from McGonagall yesterday inviting us to a meeting at midday. I met him at the Ministry after one of his trials and we went to the Leaky Cauldron together for a cup of tea before the meeting." She explains.

"What did McGonagall want?" Ginny questions with a soft frown.

"She offered us an apprenticeship. She wants us to eventually replace a few professors that are retiring in July 2000. Neville, Pansy and someone called Jonathan Atkins were there as well." She explains.

Ginny's face lights up. "That's amazing, Hermione." She smiles before she seems to realise something. "Which professors are retiring?" She asks as the waiter brings over their cups of teas and a plate of toast.

"McGonagall's retiring from teaching to focus on her headmistress duties. It's apparently easier to replace a professor than a headmistress. Professors Slughorn, Sprout and Binns are retiring and then they're finally getting around to replacing Professor Burbage." She answers, picking up her cup of tea and blowing to cool it down.

"Dad said that there's talk in the Ministry that McGonagall is trying to make Muggle Studies compulsive from first year to at least OWLs like transfiguration, potions, charms and everything. Kingsley actually agrees with her but they're just trying to convince the decree makers. Dad thinks the decree will be made ready for September 2000." Ginny tells her, picking up a slice of toast.

"That explains why McGonagall has offered Jonathan the apprenticeship. It'll get him ready for next September." Hermione nods.

"I'm surprised Pansy is even interested in history of magic." She smirks, having used process of elimination to come to that conclusion.

"I know but she got a 99.8 in her NEWT, which was actually the best score any student got that year in all NEWT exams," Hermione says with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"What? She did better than you and Draco." Ginny gasps in fake horror.

"Yes, although Draco and I did consistently well within all our exams whilst Pansy's strongest subject is History of Magic." Hermione defends her and Draco's grades. "Still, a 99.8 is amazing and I do hope she accepts the offer." She adds, knowing Pansy must care about the subject to have gotten such a good grade.

"Are you and Draco going to accept her offer?" She questions, sipping her tea and taking a bite from her second slice of toast.

"We haven't really talked about it but I'm definitely considering it and I think Draco is too. He feels that because of his position in the war, he isn't going to have many career options." She explains. "Anyway, have you or Harry looked into your future careers?" She asks, biting into a slice of toast.

"Yeah, Kingsley's offered Harry a position in the Aurors Department. Harry's accepted as long as he starts off at the bottom with the other trainees in July. He doesn't want any special treatment." She explains and Hermione nods, knowing where he's coming from. "And I'm hoping to go into Professional Quidditch but that's going to have to wait." She laughs, looking down at her bump. "A few clubs have been owling me about training with them once the baby's been born. I've got a while to go so I'm just going through my options at the moment." She admits as she picks the last piece of toast on the plate. "Oh, sorry, did you want another slice?" She offers it out to her.

"I'm fine." She smiles at her friend as she takes a giant bite out of the triangle of toast.

"Thanks." She smiles. "I better get going soon. I'll have to wake Harry up so he's ready for this interview of yours." She rolls her eyes. "Can you make sure they don't say anything stupid? We both know what the boys are like. They wouldn't have made it this far without you." She jokes.

"I can only try." She laughs as they both finish off their cups of teas and stand up.

Hermione nods her thanks to the waiter, who smiles and waves goodbye to them as they leave. Before they say goodbye, Hermione pulls her friend into a hug promising to see her soon. As Hermione pushes her gate open, she hears Geoffrey scoffs beside her. She glances down at him to spot him rolling his eyes.

"Oh, hello, yes, I'm here, was here when you left too." He sarcastically snaps at her.

"Sorry, Geoffrey, I was in a rush. How are you?" She kneels down beside him.

"I'm annoyed with you." He bluntly tells her.

"What did I do?" She frowns.

"I've spoken to the one who bought me more than I've spoken to either you or the birthday boy." He says.

"Blaise speaks to you?" She questions in surprise.

"All the time." Geoffrey nods. "Did you hear about the Italian chef that died?" He asks.

"No, were they Blaise's friend?" She asks, wondering why Blaise never mentioned anything.

"He pasta way." Geoffrey guffaws.

Hermione stares at him for a second before she realises it's a joke. "Oh," She chuckles politely. "Very good. Anyway, I've got to get going, I'll speak to you later." She stands up, shaking her heads as she makes her way down the garden path.

As she turns to shut the back door, she finds Draco stood at the kitchen sink staring at her with a cup in his hand.

"Good morning." She greets him with a small smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you. What did Geoffrey say?" He returns her smile.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "To complain that we don't speak to him often enough. Apparently, Blaise has been visiting him all the time."

"Doesn't surprise me." He shrugs. "Blaise seemed to actually like him." He chuckles. "Was his joke as terrible as always?"

"Did you hear about the Italian chef that died?" She repeats. Draco raises a questioning eyebrow. "He pasta way." She delivers the punchline and Draco shakes his head.

"I'm almost disappointed." Draco sighs, placing his empty cup in the sink and waving his wand over it. "Where were you?" He asks.

"I saw Ginny walking across the green so I caught up with her and we went to the café for a cup of tea." She tells him. "I told her about McGonagall's offer. She was really excited for us."

"For us?" He repeats with a doubtful frown as he walks into the living room, fixing the cushions on the couch.

"Yes, she thinks it's amazing." She says, standing in the doorway.

"What time is your interview this morning?" He asks, plumping a large cushion a few times before placing it at the right angle.

"It's at ten o'clock but I doubt the boys are aware that we'll need to be there beforehand so I'll head out soon," Hermione explains.

"This is Potter and Weasley we're talking about." He scoffs as moves onto the armchair.

"Have you got any plans this morning?" She asks curiously.

"Yes, actually." Draco pauses in his action to turn and face her. "I haven't had time to tell you. I found Hyperion's bedroom at the Manor. I had to bombarda my way through but didn't get chance to explore the room. Mother kicked me out the Manor for causing a mess." He smirks, heading towards the stairs.

"So, you're going back to have a look around his room today." She clarifies, following him into the hall.

"Hopefully, if I can convince my mother to leave the Manor for an hour or two." He nods as he carries on his way upstairs.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." She assures him. "I'm going to go now. I should probably make sure Harry and Ron are actually up and ready." She jokes.

"Will you be back for dinner?" Draco calls from their bedroom.

"Yeah, I'm planning on it." She calls back.

"Okay, I'll make us something." He tells her.

Hermione smiles to herself as she shouts back her thanks before leaving the house to head to Harry's. She knows Draco isn't going to completely forgive her straightaway but the fact that he's trying to put the whole incident behind them and move on is encouraging.

She knocks on Harry's front door and Ginny answers.

"Okay, I know I said I hadn't seen you enough since the ceremony but this is getting too much. I feel like you're stalking me." She jokes as she opens the door wider for Hermione to enter.

"You can rest, Gin. I'm here to make sure your husband is actually awake and getting ready." Hermione says as she enters the living room to find Harry sat in a pair of trousers and a half-buttoned up shirt with a tie strewn around his neck as he quickly scoffed his cereal.

He smiles as he chews and Hermione rolls her eyes at him.

"You are aware it's nine. We don't want to be late and we need to check that Ron's actually awake because I can guarantee that unless Pansy woke him up, he won't be." She tells him.

"It'll be fine, Hermione." He shrugs as he continues to eat.

"I just don't want to be late." She points out.

"We've got an hour." He mentions as he drinks the remaining milk from the bowl.

"We need to be there at least fifteen minutes early and if we need to wake Ron up then wait for him to get ready..." She stares at him pointedly.

"Alright," Harry stands up and begins fastening the rest of his shirt buttons. "I'm up and Adam." He states as he tries to push his feet into his shoes at the same time.

"What? Whose Adam" Ginny asks as he flicks her wand at Harry and his buttons and tie fastens themselves.

"I don't know. I've never really thought about it." He mutters as he uses his freed hands to ties his shoes.

"It's up and at 'em." Hermione clarifies for them. "There's no Adam."

"Oh, that doesn't really make any more sense," Harry admits as he stands up pulling on his jacket.

"It most likely derives from when the Duke of Wellington said 'Up, Guards and at them again' during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 to motivate his army." She explains as she follows her two friends to the front door. "We need to get going." She announces as she steps outside.

"Up and at em then." Ginny jokes as she kisses Harry goodbye as they set off.

"You're going to make a great professor." Harry suddenly states. "Ginny told me about your apprenticeship." He explains when she looks at him confused. "Although, you might spend half the lesson explaining the history of a button before teaching them how to transfigure." He jokes and Hermione laughs along.

"Well, if my students want to know that the earliest known button is about 5000 years old and was actually an ornament, not a fastening, then they are more than welcome to find me after class for short button history lesson." She announces, making Harry laugh.

"Maybe you should swap Pansy for the History of Magic apprenticeship" He suggests as they turn the corner to the gate and Epsilon street where Ron lives.

Harry does the honours of knocking on the front door and they're both surprised when a few seconds later, Ron answers, fully dressed and ready to leave.

"I was just coming round yours, Harry. I wasn't sure when we were leaving." He admits as he steps outside, shutting the front door behind him. "Pansy's still sleeping. She was out late last night." He explains as he locks the door and they set off.

"Was she?" Hermione frowns. "Who was she with?" She asks, knowing that it wasn't she, Draco or Blaise.

"I dunno. It's none of my business." He shrugs.

"I'm surprised you're awake, mate." Harry comments.

"Well, it's important, isn't it?" He shrugs again. "For Hermione." He glances at her quickly before looking away as they step through gate. "Meet you at the Ministry." He salutes before disapparating away.

"What's gotten into him?" Hermione asks, glancing at Harry.

"He's sober?" He suggests with a shrug as he disapparates and Hermione quickly follow behind.

"So, anyone actually know where the Ministry's interviewing rooms are?" Ron asks as he glances at the many buttons on the lifts.

"It's on the eighth floor and the Daily Prophet usually use interviewing room C which interestingly is actually the fourth room along, not the third," Hermione states as she reaches over to press the button for the eighth floor.

"How do you even know that?" Harry asks.

"How does Hermione know anything?" Ron rhetorically asks. "She most likely read about it." He rolls his eyes.

"A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic." She admits quietly in embarrassment, making both Harry and Ron laugh.

"I told you, mate." Ron slaps Harry's back just as the lift's door opens up on the eighth floor.

"So, do we just wait in room C for the interviewer to arrive or...?" Ron questions as he glances around the corridor.

"We need to let the Ministry know we're actually here." She tells them, guiding them to the first door in the corridor.

Harry bursts straight in and Ron follows after making Hermione roll her eyes. "Ever heard of knocking?" She rhetorically asks them as they sheepishly stop and glance between her and the man behind the desk, who is just staring at them agape.

"I think we broke him, mate." Ron laughs, waving his hand at the man who jumps up abruptly.

"Can I get a picture?" He asks, scrambling around his desk for something before producing a muggle polaroid camera. "Please?" He adds as an afterthought.

Hermione glance at Harry and Ron who are both looking at her for an answer. She turns back to the man. "Why do you want a picture of us?" She questions him suspiciously, wondering if he wants to sell it to the Daily Prophet or another newspaper.

"My wife and I are Muggleborn. The three of you pretty much saved our and our daughter's lives and ensures Mary grows up safe in both the Wizard and Muggle World." He explains.

"Oh, okay then. What's your name?" She asks as she motions for Harry and Ron to stand up.

"Mark." He answers as he gets the camera ready. "Millie, my wife, loves you, Miss Granger. I've set the timer so we can all get in." He states. "Smile." He tells them as he takes his wand out and levitates the camera in front of them.

Just as the camera flashes, another flash comes from behind them, making the four of them spin around in surprise.

"Never too busy to interact with fans." A man dressed entirely in maroon says rather condescendingly as a quill writes feverishly upon a notepad. "Shall we venture away from the crazed fan?" He suggests, clicking his fingers to open the door as he swaggers out into the corridor.

"I apologise, that was unprofessional of me." Mark nods, looking upset as he takes his seat back behind the desk, placing the camera and the picture in his draw.

"That purple man's right," Ron states, causing everyone to look at him in confusion. "We're never too busy for our fans. Do you want us to sign the picture or something? Anything to keep that prat waiting." He nods to the door.

"Well, if you don't mind." The man smiles, pulling the drawer back open to remove the picture.

"Course not." Harry nods, walking over to the desk. "Hermione, you've got the nicest handwriting out of all of us, you write the dedication." He passes the quill to her.

She neatly writes the dedication and signs her name at the bottoms before passing it to Harry who signs and passes to Ron.

"To Mark, Millie and Mary, enjoy life to the fullest, love Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley. Thank you so much." Mark smiles as he stares at the picture. "This is definitely going on the fridge." He laughs, tucking it into the pocket of his shirt.

"We better not keep him waiting too long," Harry states, smiling at Mark.

"He is a bit of a prat," Mark admits. "Just 'cause he does all the celebrity articles, he thinks he's one of you."

The three of them share a look as they leave the room.

"Since when were we celebrities?" Harry questions with a laugh.

"Come on, mate. We're famous. I mean, everyone knows who we are and I've had a few people come shake my hand or hug me." Ron shrugs with a big smile.

"Actually, a celebrity is a person who is celebrated and someone is famous if they are well known for an achievement. So, by definition, one could say we are a celebrity for being famous." Hermione explains.

Ron puffs his chest out. "I quite like this being a celebrity." He admits.

"Don't let it get to your head, Ronald." She chides him as they walk through the door.

"So nice of you join us," The Maroon man greets them, uncrossing his legs as he raises to his feet. "Five minutes late I might add." He smirks as he shakes their hands and gestures to the three seats behind him.

"We're ten minutes early thank you very much." Ron points out as he sits down.

"Well, what does time mean to a person who has all the time in the world?" He sighs as though he had just stated something truly profound. "Shall we start?" He asks, lowering himself down into his own seat, extravagantly crossing his legs.

"This is your interview, mate." Ron shrugs from Hermione's right.

"Right, that is. Let me introduce myself. I'm Magnus Maddox." He gestures to himself elegantly.

"Pleasure." Ron sarcastically smirks.

Magnus chuckles. "You've let the fame get to your head, Mr Holier-than-thou." He smirks back.

"Be nice, Ron." Hermione reminds him with a joking slap to his arm. "You must know what he's like." She turns to smile at Magnus. "You've written enough articles about us."

Magnus sits pridefully taller. "I was unaware you actually read my work." He admits.

"Oh, I don't read any newspapers. I just know you're responsible for all the celebrity articles." She clarifies.

"That I am." He nods. "So," He claps his hands together and his quill, which had been poised ready above the notepad, twitches, catching their attention. "Here I am," He starts to speak in his over-the-top interviewer voice and his quill starts to make notes. "Finally, for my long awaited for interview with the Golden Trio." He opens his arms to gesture to them as though he were a newsreader on the BBC news.

Ron groans, slipping slowly down his chair. "I hate that name." He complains.

"Oh, really, Mr Weasley. I thought you, more than the other two, would enjoy such a glorifying and immortalising name." He winks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asks defensively.

"Please, it's no secret that you were once jealous of Mr Potter and his fame. His ability to easily stand out in a crowd when all you've ever wanted is to stand out in the crowd that is your family." Magnus states matter-of-factly.

"How poetic?" Harry laughs.

"He knows you're the easiest one to rile up. Try and hold it together." Hermione whispers.

Ron takes a deep breath, calming himself down as he sits up straighter.

"I suppose what I hate most about the name is that it not only takes away our individualism but suggests that it was only the three of us working together to defeat Voldemort and save the world. The reality is that there were hundreds of skilled individuals helping us every step of the way and without them, I dread to think of what the world would be like." Ron spouts with a strange fake enthusiasm as though he were reading from a book.

"And I'm the poetic one." Magnus jokes as they all turn to stare perplexingly at Ron. "Moving on, how are the three of you settling into, what can only be described as, 'a normal life' after spending so many years fighting the dark side?" He questions, looking them each in the eye.

"I must admit, it did feel strange to go back to Hogwarts for our eighth year, knowing neither Voldemort nor his Death Eaters were going to disrupt our education," Hermione mentions.

"I would have welcomed it by March, those NEWTs were brutal." Harry jokes and Ron laughs in agreement.

Both Magnus and his quill stop to stare at him for a split second before nodding and carrying on. "Now your NEWTs are out of the way, the three of you must be searching for a career. Are any of you looking into Auror training as a way to carry on the work you did during the war?" He questions.

"Minister Kingsley has offered me a place in Auror training which I gladly accepted. The war may be over but there are still many people out there who were on Voldemort's side and did some terrible things in his name." Harry states.

"Do you feel a personal responsibility to capture these wrongdoers?" Magnus asks with a soft tilt of the head.

Harry's eye twitches at the questions and he blinks and sighs for a long moment before answering. "I don't feel like I have to go out and capture them all singlehandedly, but I do feel like it's my place to become an Auror and serve the Ministry in catching these people." He admits.

"What about you, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger?" He turns to them.

"I'm working in my brother's shop at the moment. I don't really feel the need to do anything important or to make anything of myself. I'm quite happy where I am." Ron shrugs which seem to bore Magnus, who turns to Hermione.

"I was recently offered an apprenticeship by Headmistress McGonagall at Hogwarts to eventually replace herself as Transfiguration professor in September 2000." She admits and out the corner of her eye, she can see Ron turn to look at her in surprise.

"And did the-brightest-witch-of-her-age accept the offer?" Magnus raises an eyebrow.

"Since the both of us were offered apprenticeships, my husband and I are still discussing the details, such as how it will affect our predetermined future as parents." She points out with a smile.

Magnus' face lights up. "Speaking of husband, and of course, your wives," He glances at Harry and Ron. "How are you finding married life?"

"Absolutely delightful." Ron scoffs.

"Ooh, am I sensing some tension between yourself and Miss Pansy Parkinson?" He teases.

"It doesn't take a genius to know how much we hated each other at Hogwarts." Ron points out.

"And know?" He pushes.

"We tolerate each other in the hopes that she will soon become pregnant so we can get this marriage over and done with." He reveals, surprising Hermione just as much since Pansy is under the impression they're not divorcing.

"So, a quick divorce will be in your future?"

"Nah, I don't plan on marrying anyone and pure-bloods frown upon divorce so we're just planning on separating." He clarifies.

Magnus nods before moving on. "It also doesn't take a genius, like yourself Miss Granger, to know how much you hated Mr Draco Malfoy and I'm sure I speak for the majority of people when I say the two of you were the most surprising couple to come out of the Marriage Decree. So, tell us, what's it like inside the Malfoy house? Any arguments?

"Firstly, I would like to mention that I didn't hate Draco, I just didn't like him. I saw change in him during our eighth year and respected him for that." She points out. "But you're right, Magnus, our marriage was a surprise. Good job on that article, by the way, I found it very entertaining." She smiles at him, which he returns. "Of course, we have had a few arguments, just like any other marriage will have at some point." She sees Harry nodding his head in agreement. "Nevertheless, we work through it and come out stronger on the other side. Through our marriage, we've discovered a friendship that inevitably grew into a rather loving relationship." She explains, a blush heating her cheeks.

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are in love?" Magnus question unsurely.

"I never said that," She shakes her head with a frown. "I said we are in a loving relationship."

"I guess you're pleased with the Minister's marriage decree." He implies.

"Not at all. I acknowledge that if it weren't for the decree Draco and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get to know each other on this level, and I am grateful for that because I very much enjoy Draco company. However, I despise the fact that our choice in matter of who we marry, who we reproduce with and when we do so was taken away from us. I do not and will not ever agree with Minister Kingsley's decree. Although, I will agree that he knows exactly what he's doing." She finishes her rant before she even knows what she said.

"Mr Potter, there are rumours going around, since the announcement of your and your wife's pregnancy, that you, in fact, became pregnant before the ceremony as a way to ensure the two of you would be paired together in the ceremony," Magnus states, watching Harry carefully.

"Do you have a question?" Harry asks calmly.

Magnus smiles. "Is it true?"

"Of course, it's true and if you did the maths, you would have known that. Who announces their pregnancy at two weeks?" Harry rhetorically asks.

"May I ask how far along the pregnancy is then?" He raises his eyebrow.

"Nearly five months." He answers with a smile.

"I'm impressed you were able to keep it a secret for that long?" Magnus congratulates him. "I take it you hold similar views to Miss Granger on the marriage decree?"

"Pretty much, yeah. The decree is simply a way for the Ministry to keep us under its control. The Minister and I may have worked together during the war and I may consider him a friend but I don't agree with him on this case." Harry answers.

"Before we bring this interview to an end, I have one final question," Magnus pauses to look at each of them. "What do you have to say to the rumours that there has been some unease between the three of you?" He asks.

Harry laughs. "What? Some unease?

Hermione smiles at her friend valiantly trying to deny the question.

"Of course not, Magnus. The three of us have been through so much together, we're never going to let a little 'unease' come between us." She answers with a short laugh.

"It's like Hermione said, all relationships have arguments but we work through them and at the end of the day, we'll be best friends until we die." Ron smiles hopefully at her to which she smiles back.

"Golden trio till we die," Harry announces proudly, making Ron groan and Hermione roll her eyes.

Magnus clicks his fingers and his notepad shuts. "Well, I'll try my hardest to write you the way you want to be portrayed." He smirks at them as he stands up, pulling on his cloak.

"What do you mean?" Harry frowns.

Magnus rolls his eyes as he picks up his bag. "Please, Mr Potter, I'm not blind. There's obviously some tension between these two and you're trying to keep the 'golden trio' together as best you can. To be honest, I've read your biography and it gave off the impression that three of you were friends of convenience." He shrugs as he makes his way to the door. "See you next time." He waves before leaving.

"I need a drink," Ron mutters, rubbing his face tiredly.

"I second that." Harry sighs, shoulders fallen.

"Let's go then." She announces as she stands up. "I'll buy the first round." She adds as she walks towards the door.

Half an hour later, they're sat at the only available booth next to the bar of The Leaky Cauldron. As promised, Hermione had bought the first round of beers, which they were still nursing as they quietly lounged in their booth.

Harry sighs deeply as he picks up his glass, bringing it up to his lips. "Does everyone think we're friends of convenience?" He questions before he drinks.

Ron shrugs his shoulders as he continues to stare off into mid-air.

"I don't know about you two, but I considered you my friends after you saved me from that troll in first year," Hermione announces.

"Yeah, and we've been mates since you bought us all that food on our first train ride to Hogwarts." Ron points out.

"The easiest way to your heart is through your stomach." Hermione teases.

"I'm not even going to deny that. It's true." He shrugs.

"When did we know we'd be friends forever?" Harry wonders.

"I guess I knew in our third year when the two of you risked your life to save me from the grim." Ron glances at them both as he tells them.

"I thought I knew then but I didn't actually know for sure until our fifth year. Our friendship had been a mess for the majority of fourth year because of the Triwizard Tournament. Then we came back for fifth year and everything was scarier. Voldemort was back, the Ministry wasn't doing anything, Umbridge was there, she wasn't teaching us anything, we started the DA and then we had had the battle in the Department of Mysteries. Everything about our fifth year just made me value our friendship a lot more and that's when I realised I never wanted to be without the two of you." She smiles at them. "But, we've had to grow up a lot these past three years and things change." She sighs, glancing down at her half empty glass. "Excuse me?" She slides out her side of the booth and heads towards the toilet.

"Hermione, wait!" She hears Ron quietly call her as she's about to push the door open.

With a sigh, she turns around to face him with a forced smile. "Yes, Ron?"

"Can we talk?" He asks, standing a few feet away from her but still looming over her with his height. "Please." He adds.

Hermione's stare hardens as the looks him in the eyes. He nervously looks away from her. She assumes this is Harry's doing since she had told him that she was waiting for him to apologise to her. She decides it's time for them to put this behind them and try to move on so she nods in agreement.

Ron's face lights up as he gestures for her to carry on down the corridor towards the staircase which leads up to the inn. "In here." He says, opening a door into a private lounge.

Hermione glances around as she enters, taking in the lavish furnishings. She takes a seat on the teal velvet loveseat before feeling uncomfortable and standing back up. She can feel Ron's eyes on her as she strolls over to the desk, leaning back against it before she makes eye contact.

"I'm… erm… sorry. For what I said… that time we were in St Mungo's. I didn't mean it, I just wanted to hurt you because I felt like you had hurt me. I know now that... it wasn't your fault our sad excuse of a relationship was broken apart because of the decree. I shouldn't have directed my anger at you. Kingsley's the one I should have thrown names at." He shakes his head, glancing down at his feet for a second. "That's beside the point now, I still have feelings for you,"

"Ron," She sighs, interrupting him.

"No, please let me finish." He holds his hand up to stop her. "If I don't say this now, I never will."

Hermione nods for him to carry on.

"I still have feelings for you but I know that we're never going to happen. Draco's in love with you and it's obvious you love him too. You're far more compatible than we would ever have been and as long as you're happy, then I'm happy for you and more than happy just being your friend. As long as you'll let me." He looks back up at her, finally finished his apology.

Hermione notices how vulnerable he looks. So small despite his towering height.

"Ron," She starts, choosing her words carefully so there's no misunderstanding. "Thank you for apologising to me. I'm assuming Harry finally pushed you." She smiles softly.

"It was Draco actually." He admits.

Hermione frowns. "What? When did he speak to you?"

"That time I was sat outside the gate to the estate. He went out and came back with an owl. He sat down next to me and basically told me to stop being childish and apologise already so we can be friends again. You and me, not me and him." He adds as clarification.

"I had assumed." She comments.

"He also told me to try and be friends with Pansy or something for the sake of our child." He shrugs. "I have kind of tried but she can be infuriating sometimes." He rolls his eyes.

"I know she can but she's a great friend and quite funny." Hermione smiles.

"Yeah, well, Draco came to talk to me again at Dean and Seamus' party. He told me he loved you but he doesn't compare to me, Harry and Ginny at the moment. He said you were having a hard time with your uncle and cousin and we should have been there to help you. I know it's my fault that you've been distant from Ginny and Harry as well." Ron starts to ramble on.

"Ron," She says to stop him talking. "I accept your apology and I do forgive you, I'm just not sure things can go back to exactly how it used to be. Especially if you still have feelings for me." She tells him.

"No, I'm getting over them." He quickly tells her, stepping closer. "I barely even like you." He adds, making Hermione laugh.

"Okay, maybe the three of us can start hanging out again." She smiles and Ron returns it with a nod. "We should probably head back before Harry begins to wonder where we've gotten to."

Harry smiles at them knowingly when they both return to their seats in the booth together. "Where did you two get to?"

"We went upstairs to talk and sort some things out." Ron shrugs.

"Are you even allowed up there?" He asks.

"Probably not," He mutters indifferently. "Who's gonna kick out the golden trio?" He says with a short laugh which Hermione and Harry join in with.

"Speaking of, what was all that about our individualism and the hundreds of skilled individuals." Hermione chuckles as she remembers what Ron had said during their interview.

Ron shrugs as he downs the rest of his last drink. "I've been spending too much time with Percy. I'll get the next round in." He heads over to the bar.

"Did he apologise?" Harry leans across the table to ask.

"Yeah, I forgave him but I don't think we'll ever be best friends like we were in Hogwarts. Too much has changed." She admits sadly.

"That's understandable." Harry nods. "Does this mean we can hang out again?" He smiles hopefully. "I've missed having my two best friends to talk to."

"Yes, we can hang out again." She confirms. "Maybe we can all have dinner together, with our other half so we can get to know them better." She suggests.

"I'm sure you know Ginny pretty well." He jokes.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "Yes, I meant so you and Ron can get to know Draco and Pansy. I'd like my old friends to get along with my new friends." She explains.

"I suppose that can be arranged." Harry smiles as Ron returns with three pints.

"What's being arranged?" He questions them.

"A date night for the three of us and our partners." Harry answers and Ron's face falls.

"No offence, Hermione, but I don't really want to spend any more time with Draco and Pansy than I have to, so I'll politely decline." He shakes his head as he throws himself down next to Harry.

"No, you are not declining. You are coming around to mine on er… tomorrow?" He asks.

"I think Draco's busy with my uncle tomorrow. How about Friday?" She suggests, ignoring the way Ron's face hardens.

"Friday's fine by me." Harry nods.

They both turn to look at Ron who shakes his head, looking down at his glass before groaning defeatedly. "Fine." He sighs. "But don't blame me if Pansy refuses."

"Just make sure you tell her Draco and I will be there and she'll come," Hermione tells him.

Once they've finished their drinks, they decide to head back to the estate before day drinks turn into a night out. They're walking near Flourish and Blotts when Ron reminds them of the time his dad punch Lucius Malfoy and Hermione chides their laughter with a slap to their shoulders. Coincidentally, as they're about to pass the shop, Narcissa Malfoy exits, stopping them in their tracks and sneering down her nose at them.

"Hermione Granger." She glares, making Hermione feel small and shaken as she reaches into her pocket for her wand.

"Narcissa." She nods with a forced a smile, her free hand reaching down to grab Harry's hand. "I've got to get home." She pushes Ron with her shoulder, signalling for him to move.

"As do I,  _my_   _son_  is visiting for his lunch. You mustn't be feeding him." She smirks condescendingly.

"Draco has an aptitude for cooking and more often than not, he's the one feeding me." She sneers back. "Although, please do thank Mitty for feeding  _my husband_. Now I really must be going." She sneers back, pushing Ron again who finally seems to understand and walks past her. Hermione follows, dragging a confused Harry behind her.

As soon as they're out of her path, Hermione grips onto Ron's shoulder and disapparates them back to the estate.

"What is her problem?" Ron asks, turning to face her and Harry as they walk through the estate.

"She hates me." She shrugs, walking towards her house with both Harry and Ron following her. "What do you expect? I'm a 'filthy, little Mudblood'," She rolls her eyes.

"Hey!" Harry shouts as Ron shouts, "Stop that."

Hermione stops to turn to face them. "Narcissa holds that belief and because of that, she thinks Bellatrix should have killed me to save Draco the grief of marrying me, or something. She was very angry when she threatened me and I was more concerned in escaping her grasp and the Manor. Although, one thing she said did stick with me. She said she's going to personally make sure that Draco has nothing to do with our 'half-blooded spawn'." She explains.

"What did Draco say about that?" Ron asks.

"He cleared up that he doesn't plan on leaving me or our child and he'll protect us from his mother and anyone else who wants to hurt us." She answers, turning around to carry on home.

"I would still be worried though. Narcissa is a very powerful witch." Harry points out.

"Yes, I'm aware but since I'm not pregnant and we're not even trying yet, I don't feel like I have anything to spend my time worrying about." She says with Harry and Ron trailing behind her.

"Do want us to say something to her?" Ron suggests as they reach her front door.

Hermione looks at them both with a soft smile before throwing her arms around both of them and pulling them into a tight group hug. "This is why we're friends. We'll do anything for each other.

She admits as they pull away. "Ron, you're a blood traitor and Harry, you're the saviour. She hates you two just a little bit less than she hates me. I very much doubt there is anything you can say to help. Thank you for your offer though." She smiles, unlocking her front door. "I'll see the two of you on Friday?" She asks for confirmation.

"Of course." Harry nods as Ron answers, "Yes."

Hermione locks the front door behind her with a deep sigh as she covers he tired face with her hands and lowers herself down onto the first step of the stairs to kick her shoes off. With nothing else to do for the day, Hermione decides to relax in a bath until Draco returns home from lunch with his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	67. Chapter 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 67 for you!
> 
> I apologise for how late this chapter is and for being absent from Instagram. I've had to prioritise work and my University essays. Who knew working a full-time job and attending university part-time would be so stressful? Anyway, it's NaNoWriMo months which means I've been trying to write this story every day but I have had to write the plans for two essays.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

* * *

Hermione must have dozed off in the bath since she's awoken by a knocking at the bathroom door.

"Hermione?" Draco's voice comes from the other side. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, what time is it? I thought you were having lunch with your mother?" She questions as she stands up out of the bath, wrapping herself in a towel.

"It's only three o'clock. Mother was quite angry when she came home." He tells her and she can hear the smile on his face. "Mitty said you are welcome but it's her job to feed me whenever I'm at the Manor."

Hermione smiles as she thinks to herself that she should visit Mitty again soon. "I didn't mean to anger her. What did she say about me?" She asks as she pulls on her dressing gown.

"Just the usual name calling and wondering how we were paired together since we obviously have very little in common besides our intelligence." He admits as she opens the door to find him leaning back against the bannister. "I defended our honour. Although, I admit that might have been the wrong thing to do. She really hates you now she knows I love you. Clearly, I'm under the power of a love potion." He smiles softly.

"You'd know if I poisoned you with a love potion," Hermione assures him as she heads into their bedroom. "You knew when I drugged you with a sleeping draught." She reminds him as she takes a clean pair of pyjamas out of her drawers.

Draco perches on the edge of their bed, looking away from Hermione as she changes. "That's true. I told her as much. Not that you drugged me, but that I would know. I also told her about the apprenticeship."

"What did mother have to say about that?" She asks coming around to sit beside Draco on their bed.

"No self-respecting Malfoy would ever be a professor." He repeats.

"You don't need her approval," Hermione tells him, taking hold of his hand.

"I know," He squeezes her hand. "My parents' approval is all I've really wanted and I'm finding it hard to leave that behind." He admits, surprising Hermione slightly which he seems to realise as he stands up abruptly. "How was your interview?" He asks, making his way downstairs.

Hermione follows him into the kitchen, taking a seat at the breakfast bar to watch him cook their dinner. "The interviewer was very eccentric. He seemed to be under the impression that Harry, Ron and I weren't ever really friends but promised to protect our image in the article." She says.

"Who was the interviewer?" He asks as he cuts some vegetables up.

"Magnus…" Hermione tries to remember his surname.

"Maddox. Lucius got him the job after the whole Rita Skeeter incident in our fourth year." He admits then pauses to look at her. "I'm sorry about my involvement in that." He apologises.

"I'd forgotten all about it." She smiles at him and he goes back to chopping. "He asked about our careers, our partners and the decree." She mentions.

Draco pauses his chopping again, but this time he turns himself around to face her. "What did you tell him?" He asks.

"About what?"

"Us?" He clarifies.

"The truth." She admits with a shy smile.

"That being?" He prompts her.

"That I never hated you, just disliked you but I respected the change you were putting yourself through during our eighth year." She glances down at the countertop. "That we have some arguments like any other marriage but we work through them and that we've developed our new-found friendship into a relationship." She looks up to find him smiling sincerely at her. "I also may have mentioned we were in a loving relationship." She hesitantly tells him.

"Really? A loving one. That would suggest both parties feel love towards each other." He smiles slyly before turning around to carry on with dinner.

"It would, wouldn't it?" Hermione mutters, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Draco speaks up again. "What was said about the decree?"

Hermione chuckles nervously. "I don't think Kingsley will approve. I basically said that I despise it and will never agree with the Minister on the matter but I believe he knows exactly what he's doing. Harry admitted to cheating the system and told him Ginny was five months pregnant."

"Five months!" Draco looks at her.

"Yeah, she's due on the fifth of November." She tells him.

Draco stares at her for a long moment. "That's soon. It suddenly feels very real." He mumbles.

"I know. I can't believe they're going to be parents in four months." She agrees.

"We're going to be parents. Hermione, I don't know how to be a father." He looks at her with a panicked expression.

Her stomach knots with nerves as she walks over to him. "Can we wait until we're actually pregnant before we start panicking? You're making me nervous." She admits, taking his hands in hers.

"Then we'll only have nine months to prepare. What if that's not enough time? I don't know anything about raising a child. I've never been around children until I met your cousins." He tells her. "I've never met a baby." He adds.

"We'll be fine, Draco." She takes his face in her hands to force him to look at her. "We can get some books next time we're in Muggle London. We'll be the most prepared parents out of anyone here." She smiles at him, dropping her hands.

Draco nods his head, takes a deep breath then bursts out laughing.

"What's so funny?" She questions worriedly.

"It's taken nearly seven months for it to actually sink in that I'm going to be a father. I'm going to have a child to raise. I should have started preparing as soon as I found out in January." He explains.

"What are you doing tomorrow before we go to David's?" She asks.

"I need to go to the archives and make copies of every member of my family." He answers.

"Right, we're going to Muggle London in the morning. We're going to buy a mobile phone and as many books as we can on parenthood. Then we can go to the archives." She tells him.

Draco nods as he takes another deep breath and turns around to continue making dinner.

Later that night, when they're lying in bed, facing each other, Hermione finally remembers that Draco had planned on exploring Hyperion's bedroom today.

"Did you find anything interesting in Hyperion's bedroom?" She asks.

Draco's shoulders fall as he sighs. "It looked… normal. Like how my bedroom looked when I was ten years old, except it was tidier. The most interesting thing was the bookshelves. Hundreds of books with the spines all facing inwards. I had a look at a few of them but they were all academic and the majority were potions. At least it corroborates what Horace was saying about his love of reading and intelligence." He explains.

"When are you going back?" She asks.

"Perhaps Friday." He shrugs.

"Oh, we're having dinner with Harry, Ginny, Ron and Pansy on Friday night." She remembers.

"Are we? Why?" He sighs.

"Ron apologised to me. He told me what you said to him, so thank you." She reaches across the space between them to hold his hand. "We haven't really spent a lot of time together and I want my friends to get to know and like you and Pansy." She adds as an explanation.

"Okay, I'll be on my best behaviour." He smirks at her.

"Thank you," She squeezes his hand.

"But I will give as much as I get." He adds, making her laugh then yawn. "Goodnight, Hermione." He smiles.

"Goodnight." She repeats, and they fall asleep, still holding each other's hand.

Draco wakes up first on the Thursday morning, his hand clammy with sweat from holding Hermione's hand all night. He releases it from her clasp and slips out of bed, pulling on some clean clothes on his way out the bedroom.

He lets Athena out of her cage for a fly around. She's been getting much better at not having accidents around the house so he has considered buying her a perch to sleep on instead of keeping her confined in her cage. She chirps excited after him as he heads into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He makes two cups of teas then heads back upstairs with them to wake Hermione up. They had planned on a rather busy day today.

He places their cups of teas on his bedside table before sitting up against the headboard. He decides to leave her for a few more minutes since she looks so peaceful. His heart flutters at how beautiful she is. He wishes he could have stayed angry at her for a few more days. He has never felt this betrayed by someone he loves but he just couldn't stay angry at her. He saw how sorry she was, how guilty she felt, how she only wants to help. How can he stay angry at her when she's so kind-hearted, wanting to help the man who's done so many terrible things to her and the people she loves? Whilst he's no longer angry, he still hasn't forgiven her for what she did or for breaking his trust, which is slowly rebuilding.

Hermione stirs beside him, her eyes flickering open.

"Good morning." He greets her with a smile.

"Morning." She looks him up and down. "Do you often sit staring at me whilst I sleep?" She questions him as she stretches.

"Sometimes." He winks at her before reaching for her cup of tea. "I brought you a cup of tea." He shows.

Hermione sits up before accepting the cup. "Thank you." She takes a sip. "How long have you been up?" She asks.

Draco picks up his own cup as he answers. "Not long. About fifteen minutes."

"We've got a busy day today." She states, taking a sip. "I was thinking last night, whilst you're making copies of your files, I can check out the book vault. I know there's something in there that's going to help us in determining the truth behind the decree." She explains excitedly.

"They're definitely hiding something." He nods in agreement.

"What times is it now?" She asks, looking at the clock. "Nine. I should get ready. The shops will be open now so we can get our mobile phones and books." She mentions as she places her tea on her bedside table and climbs out of bed to get changed.

"I'll wait downstairs." He says, closing the bedroom door as he leaves.

Whilst he waits, Draco sets his cup to wash and pulls on his shoes and jacket. As soon as Hermione joins him, they leave, instinctively taking each other's hands as they walk quietly lost in their own thoughts. At the gate, Hermione disapparates them both to a quiet area of Muggle London near the shopping centre they had visited multiple times since it seems the perfect place to buy a mobile phone.

Draco's thankful there is a shop selling them on the ground floor so he doesn't have to embarrass himself by walking up the stationary stairs to avoid the moving ones. He doesn't understand much of anything the man trying to sell him an expensive mobile phone is saying and by the look on Hermione's face, she doesn't either. The sale's assistant mentions how compact the current popular model is and the multiple colours it comes in.

"Actually, we have just had a delivery of the red model this morning if you'd like to take a look." He gestures them to follow to one of three desks set up for signing paperwork.

"No, thank you, we just need a phone for calling each other and my parents. We don't need any fancy colour. A standard phone will do." Hermione stops him.

The man sighs. "Fine, but all your family, friends and peers will be using these within a year." He tells them, still trying to make a higher sale as they sit down at the table.

"None of our friends owns a phone and my parents' use them for keeping in contact, not a fashion statement." Hermione states.

"Alright, I can see I'm not getting anywhere." He sighs, pulling out two forms from his desk. "If you could fill these out, I'll go collect your phones." He hands them both a pen before heading through the staff door at the back of the shop.

When the man returns with two boxes, he kindly, if not a little gloatingly, helps them set up their new phones and shows them how to do the basics of making a phone call. After they've paid, they head out to the bookshop a few shops away, walking straight over to the parenthood section.

Draco starts pulling as many books as he can carry off the shelves until Hermione grabs his wrist, stopping him in the process.

"I don't think we need some of these books." She chuckles. "Unless you're planning on becoming a single mum." She adds, taking three books out of his pile. "And I will not be hypnobirthing, whatever that is and can we focus on how to raise a baby before we buy books on how to raise a teenager." She puts a few more books on the shelves.

"Do we need any baby name books?" Draco asks, skimming an entire row of them.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start researching potential names." She blushes as she opens a book to a random page which predicts the most popular names for the next year.

Draco glances over her shoulder at the page. "We are not naming our child any of those boring names." He scoffs. "Why would we want them to be one of many… Emily's or Jacob's at school?" He questions as he moves on to the next shelf.

She nods. "It was quite nice being the only Hermione."

"Do we need any books on 'the miracle of childbirth'?" He asks with a sly smirk.

"I'll pass on that one." She says as the fingers the spines.

"How about 'Being Pregnant and Giving Birth'?" He suggests, removing the book from the shelf.

"Sounds broad enough." She takes it, flicking to the contents page, which she skims reads before deciding it's informative enough and placing it atop Draco's already towering pile. "I think we have enough books for now." She smiles, taking half as they head to the till.

The middle-aged woman behind the counter eyes them amusedly when they place their pile of parenting books down. She chuckles as she starts scanning them.

"I'm guessing you're expecting then?" She rhetorically asks, nodding towards the books.

"Not yet," Draco mutters, taking his money out of his pocket.

The woman pauses long enough to frown curiously at them. "Aren't the two of you a little young to be planning on having children?"

"No," Hermione answers, placing the scanned books into her bag. "We're already married."

The woman shrugs. "At least you're reading up." She smiles passing Hermione the last book. "That'll be £67.92, please." She holds her hand out to Draco who hands over the money. Once he's got his change, they leave the shopping centre with the plan to disapparate straight to the Ministry once they've found a quiet enough place to do so, which is difficult around eleven o'clock in the morning.

When they reach the archives, the Ministry Official who had greeted them upon their first visit, whose name Draco either didn't know or has forgotten, is sat staring at a crossword in the Daily Prophet. That is until she realises the lift doors are closing and glances up to find them walking towards her.

"Mr Malfoy and Ms Granger, lovely to have you back so soon." She greets them, taking a note from her desk and picking her quill up to write a note to Mr Vyner. "Take a seat, Mr Vyner will write back soon." She smiles as her note disappears into the lift.

"Seventeen across, Jean." Hermione smiles back at the woman before pulling Draco over to the seats.

Mr Vyner's reply arrives over five minutes later and the official makes a show of opening it and reading the words slowly.

"I assume you remember the code." She says as she unlocks the door.

"Of course," Draco says as they enter the corridor.

They follow the familiar path to the door of the archives where Hermione types in the code to open the door. Draco turns the light switch on and takes a deep breath as they all the lights flicker on.

"Shall we start?" He rhetorically asks as they set off towards the Malfoy filing cabinet.

"Just remember, Mr Vyner somehow knows where we are when we're in here. Try and take as long as you can in copying the files so it gives me longer to search the book vault." She tells him.

"I still don't know how he knows which filing cabinets we're looking in." Draco frowns in thought.

"We don't need to know. Hopefully, we won't be making many more visits here and we won't need to worry about Mr Vyner anymore. Just as soon as you've got all the information you need on the Malfoy vault and we've found what we need from the book vault." Hermione reminds him.

"Well, here I am." Draco pats the top of the Malfoy filing cabinet. "I'll come find you when I'm done." He squeezes her hand.

Hermione gives him a quick peck on the cheek before following the winding path around the maze of filing cabinets until she reaches the book vault. She types C1443R into the lock before opening the door.

Once the light is on, she doesn't know where to start. She walks up and down the bookshelves, skimming some of the spines for interesting titles but not finding anything of interest that would further explain the marriage decree. That is until she reaches the fifth bookshelf and a title jumps out at her. 'The Marriage Decree of 1355'.

Sliding the massive tome from the shelf, Hermione sits down on the floor as she opens it to the first page.

_'_ _Due to the Black Death that spread through Europe from 1346 to 1353, the population of not only the Muggle population but also the Wizarding population was devastatingly depleted. Of the estimated 100 million deaths, around 640,000 were wizards and witches. Whilst the Muggle world were able to recover their population within 300 years, it is predicted that the wizarding world's population won't reach the 1345 census figures of 1,350,000 until the early 2100's._

_With this drastic reduction in the world population, Chieftainess Elfrida Clagg of the British Wizards' Council enforced the first Marriage Decree in 1355 for all British wizards and witches who had graduated Hogwarts to the age of thirty-five. The decree was met by many protests, although, when the British census of 1360 showed 700 reported births within the first five years, an increase of 70 births a year, many protests died down._

_However, in 1385, thirty years after the enforcement, the birth rate had slowly declined back to what it had been before the Black Death. Many called for the Marriage Decree to become a thirty-year enforcement but with Chieftain Orton Elvin being both Elfrida's successor and biggest critic of the Marriage Decree, he refused. Over the next five hundred years, the world population has increased to 1,180,000 and is steadily increasing with the hopes of reaching the 1,350,000 by the predicted years of early 2100.'_

Hermione stares in shocked amazement at the book, wondering how she had never heard about the first Marriage Decree. Why hadn't they learned about it in History of Magic? Surely this had a massive effect on the wizarding world but instead they had to learn about every troll uprising instead.

Flicking through some of the pages in the middle, she finds copies hundreds of filled in questionnaires, very similar to the one they had received in January. Turning one page over, she finds that the wizard on the left page was married to the witch on the right page and they ended up having six children. She turns to a few random pages to find that almost every couple had more than three children. Hermione knows she shouldn't be surprised. It makes sense. The contraceptive potion wasn't invented until 1832 and divorce were illegal in the wizarding world until 1726 when the Minister of Magic wanted to divorce her husband.

She takes a copy of the first page before standing up and replacing the book on the shelf, her mind feeling heavy with the knowledge this has happened before. This must have been where Kingsley had gotten the idea from the reintroduce the Marriage Decree. Surely, he researched into the previous decree and realised how temporary it's effects were on the overall population and even more so since he used a small sample size. Unless the decrease in population wasn't his main priority in enforcing the decree and all he needed for his first priority was a temporary fix.

It's not a secret that during the war many people, mostly young people, lost faith in the Ministry, believing that they didn't do enough. Not only is the Ministry losing power but Kingsley is too. He was great at leading the Order through the war but now, over a year later, he's still too focused on the war. Hermione sure that enforcing this Marriage Decree is Kingsley's way of holding his power over them. He's showing the Wizarding world that he's powerful, as either an ally or an enemy and it's up to the population to decide which one they want him as.

Hermione moves on around the corner where she spots a filing cabinet, which grabs hold of her curiosity. Why would they need a filing cabinet in a book vault? Letting it take over, she pulls open the top drawer, labelled A-G. Inside she finds around a hundred dividers with surnames labelling them. Picking up Abbott, H, she removes the piece of parchment inside.

**Dear Sir/Miss,**

**This questionnaire will be used to pair you with your partner so, in order for you to be accurately paired with someone compatible, we have charmed any ink applied to glow red if an incorrect answer is written and then disappear ready for the correct answer to be written. All twenty questions must be answered before being sent back to the Ministry of Magic.**

**1\. Name:** Hannah Abbott

 **2\. Date of Birth:** 27th April 1980

 **3\. Gender:** Female

Realising what she's reading and not wanting to invade on her friend's privacy, she replaces the file into the filing cabinet.

Searching through the files, she finally comes across her own questionnaire. Granger, H. Pulling out the piece of parchment from the file, she notices instantly the handwriting that wasn't hers in the margin.

Ronald Weasley

Andrew Lowther

Cornelius Wyatt

Jeremiah Thackery

Percy Weasley

Draco Malfoy haha

Draco Malfoy no, that's cruel

yes, it's funny DRACO MALFOY stop Alistair, they hate each other

that's why it'll be interesting DRACO MALFOY the Minister will never allow that

he won't know until the ceremony then it'll be too late come on it might work out well  **DRACO MALFOY** I doubt it, as previously stated, they hate each other

I bet they grow to love each other their questionnaires are almost perfect matches  **DRACO MALFOY**  okay, 200 galleons they get divorced after their first child

you're on :)

Hermione can't believe what she's reading. They were supposed to be magically paired together at the ceremony, not by two Ministry Officials making a bet over how long their hilarious marriage would last. Slamming the drawer shut, she pulls open the next drawer to find Draco's questionnaire. She needs to know how similar their answers really were. A quick skim shows they really do have a lot in common. In the margin of Draco's questionnaire was just her name, underlines multiple times and circled. She replaces both pieces of parchment after taking a copy of her own to show Draco later.

As she's closing the top drawer again, the first divider catches her eye. Order. Thinking it has something to do with the Order of the Phoenix, she takes the file out to find it much heavier than all the other files. Placing the file on top of the filing cabinet, she reads the first page.

1\. Sexuality

a. Homosexual – gender

b. Non-homosexual – gender

2\. Number of children

3\. Blood status

Confused, she turns over to the next page.

1\. Sexuality

When ordering the questionnaires, start with sexuality. There should be four piles: homosexual female, homosexual male. non-homosexual female and non-homosexual male. (The whole purpose of the Marriage Decree is to increase the population of wizardkind, therefore anyone who identifies as anything other than homosexual should be paired with a member of the opposite gender, except in special circumstances.)

2\. Number of children

The three piles should now be ordered into how many children each person wishes to have. (The Marriage Decree may be cruel but we, as the Ministry Official's in charge of pairing, are not. We will not pair someone who wishes to have five children with someone who wishes to have one. If need be, there can be a difference of one between the number of children each person in a pairing would like.)

3\. Blood status

The many piles should now be ordered into blood statuses. There should be three piles: Muggleborn, Half-blood and Pureblood. (It has not been proven, however, there have been many cases of squib children being born to pureblood couples. Therefore, no pureblood person should be paired with another pureblood person.)

Hermione's glad that there was at least some order or plan to how they were paired but she's still angered by the fact she and Draco were paired on a bet. The remaining of the pages were just a list of who was paired with who. She makes a copy of the first two pages before returning them to the filing cabinet.

Feeling as though she's found enough evidence on how they were paired, she leaves the book vault and returns to the Malfoy filing cabinet where Draco is near the end of the last drawer.

"Did you find anything interesting" He questions her when she's within earshot.

"I found something very interesting." She answers with a vague smirk.

Draco raises a questioning eyebrow.

"I'll show you when we get to David's" She tells him. "We don't know how Mr Vyner is keeping track of us." She adds.

"Well I'm nearly finished here. I'm up to Abraxas." He nods to the top of the Malfoy filing cabinet where there's a very large pile of files. "Meet the Malfoy family." He gestures to them.

"There's a lot of you." Hermione comments.

"Which is surprising since we rarely have more than one child." He mentions.

"Why do you want three then?" She asks, think back to his questionnaire.

Draco freezes for a moment before glancing up from Marcella Malfoy's file. "I was an only child. It was lonely living in the Manor with just only my mother, father and grandfather for company. Why do you think I'm so close with Mitty?" He admits.

"Do you wish you have a sibling?" She asks.

"I suppose having a younger brother to play with would have been nice." He shrugs as he continues to copy Marcella's file.

"Not a sister?" Hermione smiles.

"I had Pansy to fill that role and all she ever wanted to do was play dress up with my mother's clothes and make up." He rolls his eyes. "At least until she was around nine years old anyway, then all she wanted to do was race around the Manor's gardens on our brooms. I always beat her and she never gave up until she won. I used to let her win sometimes but she always knew and would make me race again." He chuckles. "What about you?" He asks, moving onto Hyperion's file.

"I was only a few years younger than my Aunt Louise so we would play together. I also went to primary school from the age of four so I was never short of children to socialise with. Not that I particularly wanted to socialise with many of the other children in my class." She admits.

"I'm assuming you want to send our children to Muggle school before Hogwarts?" He asks as he moves onto Lucius' file.

"Of course, it's very beneficial to their education. They won't learn literacy or numeracy at Hogwarts. Plus, if we accept McGonagall's apprenticeship offer, we'll be professors by the time our child is born, primary school is the perfect childcare." She tells him.

"I certainly see the benefits." He nods, taking out Narcissa's file. "I only have two more files left." He lets her know.

"Two?" She questions. "I thought that was Narcissa's." She adds.

"It is. Mine's the next one and yours is the last. Whether you take my name or not, you're a Malfoy." He says, face turning expressionless as he takes his own file out.

Hermione watches him as he avoids looking at her. "Do you want me to take your name?" She asks him.

He sighs, replacing his file and taking out hers. "That's not my decision to make. It's your name, if you wish to remain to Hermione Granger, then I'll support your decision. Although, I would like our children to be Malfoy's." He admits.

She hadn't known how traditional Draco was on her taking his name. At first, she had refused to take his name because she didn't want to be married to him and she was sort of protesting the Ministry and the decree. However, now that she's falling in love with Draco and she knows he feels the same, she might consider becoming Mrs Malfoy. She flinches at the thought of sharing the same title as Narcissa. Maybe not.

"I'm finished," Draco announces as he returns her file to the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet.

"Let's go." She says, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him around the maze that is the archives towards the door.

When they exit through the main door into the foyer where the Ministry Official is still sat trying to finish her crossword. She glances up at them when the door swing shut.

Hermione smiles at her as they walk past but the woman holds her hand up.

"Excuse me, I have to check you haven't stolen or made any copies of the files." She stands up, coming around her desk.

Hermione scoffs a laugh. "Good luck with that." She hands the official her bag to search.

The Ministry Official opens her bag, gazing in confused at the apparent emptiness. She glances up at Hermione who smiles. The woman places her hand inside, eyebrows raising when she's shoulder deep in an impossible large bag and still hasn't felt anything.

"Undetectable extension charm." Hermione states. "You need to accio what you want out." She adds.

The official takes her wand out to accio but Hermione stops her.

"My bag is charmed to only recognise my voice. An aftereffect of the war. I don't trust anyone but myself with my bag." She explains. "I can assure you though, I haven't made any copies or stolen any files." She smiles her way through the lie.

The official stares at her for a long moment before handing her bag back with a sigh. "Mr Malfoy, I need to check your pockets." She tells him.

"I'm afraid I am also an avid user of the undetectable extension charm." He admits.

"Fine, have you stolen or copies any files?" She asks him defeatedly.

"No," He answers. "But if I had, knowing it's illegal, why would I admit that to you?" He asks her.

The woman glares at him. "You can be on your way." She tells them, returning to her desk.

"Do you enjoy angering people?" Hermione asks him as they ride the lift up to the disapparation floor.

"I must admit, I do find it amusing, if not pleasurable." He smiles down at her, making her laugh. "Are we going to David's house now?" He asks.

"It is early but I suppose we could let ourselves in and wait for him." She glances down at her watch. "David won't be home for three and a half hours. It'll give me chance to show you what I found int eh book vault." Her smile falls as she remembers.

Draco nods, taking her hand in his as they step out of the lift and disapparate straight to David's side path. Hermione lets them into the house, heading into the kitchen to put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

"Here, read this." She passes Draco the page from 'The Marriage Decree of 1355' as he sits down at the kitchen table.

She joins him after making their cups of teas.

"This must be where the Minister got the idea for the decree. I don't see why he thought it would work this time when it didn't particularly work well in the long run last time." He mentions, taking a sip from his tea.

"It's not all about repopulating the British wizarding population. I think his main concern is having power and keeping it over us young people who lost faith in the ministry during the war." She explains.

"I knew that was part of it. He must have known someone would figure out that the decree wouldn't work very well which is why he banned the books." He points out.

"It makes sense." She nods.

"So, we know the why of the Marriage Decree." He looks back down at the page. "We just need to figure out the how."

"Actually, we do know." She states harshly.

"That doesn't sound good." He mutters.

"It's not. We weren't magically paired together as was stated by the ministry. Instead Ministry officials were told how to order the questionnaires and to just pair people together from the different piles. Here." She hands him the next piece of paper which explains how to order the questionnaires.

Draco reads the piece of parchment. "So, a group of Ministry Officials paired us together because were non-homosexual, we want three children and we're of different blood purity?" He frowns.

"That would be bad enough but no," She takes out a copy of her questionnaire. "Look." She passes it to him.

Draco looks at it for a few seconds before realising what he's reading and looking back up at her. "You want me to read your questionnaire?" He asks.

"You can if you want but I meant the margin." She points to where the Ministry Officials had bet for their relationship.

He read it. "You could have been paired with Percy Weasley." He smiles.

"I'll have you know Percy is a good friend of mine." She chides him. "Read on."

She watches as Draco smile falls as he realises that their whole relationship is because of a bet made between two Ministry Officials.

"It looks like Alistair's getting two hundred galleons in a few years." He smirks.

"You think it's funny," Hermione questions him.

"Of course not, I thought we had been magically paired together by that goblet because we were a match, not because two people were paid to randomly match people from different piles of parchment." He says angrily, slamming the piece of parchment down on the table top.

"Alistair's right though, we are an almost perfect match." She smiles, taking his hand in hers and caressing the back of his hand.

Draco nods in agreement. "I suppose we are." He smiles. "Who would have ever thought Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger would be this perfect together?" He chuckles.

"Nobody. I'm confidently literally nobody thought that before the announcement of the decree." She laughs along with him.

"What are we going to do with this information?" He asks her.

"I don't know. I suppose we could use it to our advantage should we ever need to bribe the Minister again." She suggests, half-joking.

"I don't think that will go down well. We're more trouble than we're worth." Draco says.

"Did he say that?" She asks.

"Yeah, when I spoke to him after Macnair's trial." He says.

Hermione shakes her head. "It's all to do with power. He needs us to do these interviews and trials so he's given us what we want but he hates that we've got this power over him." She states, standing up. "Come on, I'm tired of talking about Kingsley. Let me introduce you to the television." She smiles.

"I've met a television before." He rolls his eyes as he follows her into the living room.

"Good, we're going to watch some rubbish programmes until David comes in from work at four o'clock with Sophie." She pulls him down onto the couch, picking up the remote and placing some antique show on.

David slams his car door shut as he runs towards the school at quarter past four. He was supposed to pick Sophie up from her afterschool drama club at four o'clock. He burst through the front door, gaze flittering around the waiting area, looking for his daughter.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist asks from behind her office glass window.

"Sophie Adair. My daughter, where is she" He asks, still looking around.

"Oh, Miss Gold took her back to class since you were so late." The woman states. "Her class is 2Go, the third classroom on the right through the double doors." She points at the double doors.

"Thanks." He calls as he rushes towards the double doors, pushing his way through and running to the third classroom on the right.

He knocks on the door, out of habit from working in a school, before pushing his way in.

"Sophie," He sighs when he spots her sitting on the desk beside who he assumes is Miss Gold. "Sorry I'm late, I got held up at work." He apologises to both his daughter and the teacher.

"No problem, Mr Adair. I know how it is." Miss Gold smiles at him familiarly.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on her." He smiles back, unsure of where he knew her from. "Sophie, are you ready to go."

"Yes, I've been ready for twenty minutes." She tells him, sliding off the table with her bag.

"You don't recognise me, Mr Adair, do you?" She smirks playfully.

David's heart jumps. He's never been very good at remembering faces or names. It takes him pretty much a whole year to remember the new year sevens.

"I apologise. I'm terrible with names and faces." He admits.

"I know, you called me Lisa for three years." She chuckles.

He frowns, trying to remember Lisa Gold. "Oh, Lucy Gold. Class of '91." He smiles in recognition.

"You remembered." She cheers.

David laughs. "You've done well for yourself. A teacher."

"I know, who would have thought it." She chuckles. "And look at you, a daughter." She smiles at Sophie, who's stood at the door waiting for David to leave.

He smiles. "Yeah, she's very special to me."

"She's a very clever and polite girl, you and your wife must be proud." She smiles looking hopeful.

"It's just me." He replies awkwardly before remembering it's not just him anymore. Gwen has returned.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to assume." She apologises.

"Not at all. It's not very common to be a single dad." He smiles. "I must get going though. It's lovely to see you doing so well for yourself." He nods at her.

"Thank you, hopefully, I'll see you again." She smiles as he leaves and David nods in reply.

"Please don't ask Miss Gold out," Sophie begs him once they're in the car.

"What?" He turns to look at her confused. "Why would I?"

"She obviously likes you." She tells him.

"Well it would be wrong, I was her History teacher eight years ago and I'm thirty-one years older than her." David shudders at the thought of being seen as a cradle snatcher as he sets off for home.

Sophie stares at him.

"What?" He questions her.

"You're twenty-four years older than Gwen and you asked her out." She points out.

David glances at her dumbfounded. "You're too clever for your own good." He mutters as he drives.

"I'm nearly seven, Dad. I can do maths. I'm the top of my class." She rolls her eyes.

"You know, ever since you found out you're a… a witch, you've gotten an attitude." He mentions. "I hope you're still being good at school."

"Yes, didn't you hear Miss Gold. She said I was 'a very clever and polite girl'." She tries to do an impression of her teacher making him laugh as they pull into his driveway.

"Maybe she was talking about Sophie Parson or Sophie Lark." He suggests.

"Dad!" She complains. He knows she doesn't like the other Sophie's in her year group.

"Now, straight upstairs and do your homework before dinner, then you can do whatever you want until bedtime," David tells her as he slots his key into the door to unlock it, only to find it already open. "Wait here Sophie." He tells her as he opens the door, his keys between his fingers ready to attack if need be. "Hello!" He calls into the house.

"Hi, David. I thought you were coming home at four." Hermione's voice comes from the living room and he sighs in relief.

"Hermione!" Sophie cheers, racing down the hall into the living room. "And Draco." She cheers when she finds him sat beside her cousin on the couch.

"Hermione," He greets her with a hug. "I'd prefer it if you didn't break into my house without letting me know." He chuckles. "Text me next time."

"Oh, we got a phone today. What's your number?" She asks, taking her phone out of her pocket.

"Here," He passes her his own phone from his jacket pocket. "It's in my contacts under 'me'. You can get your parents number from there too." He tells her as he heads into the kitchen. "Cuppa?" He asks.

"Yeah, thanks." She says distractedly as she types multiple numbers into her new phone. "Draco!" She calls. "Bring me your phone and I'll add these numbers." She tells him.

Draco hands her his phone as he takes a seat beside her. "I'll have a tea, please." He asks.

"Of course." He says as he takes another cup out of the cupboard. "How has your day been?" He asks them.

"We had quite a busy morning but we've just been watching television for most of the afternoon," Hermione answers as he makes their cups of teas.

"Dad, can I do my homework after Hermione and Draco leave?" Sophie asks with a pout.

"No, they're staying for dinner and we've got some adult work to do before we eat so you can do your homework at the same time/ You can play with Hermione and Draco after dinner." He tells her.

"Fine." She huffs overdramatically as she stomps up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door.

David places their cups on the kitchen table. "Did you get everything I asked for?" He asks Draco.

"Yeah, the records of every member of the Malfoy family since 1443 when records began. Although, if you need to go back any further, I should be able to find a book at the Manor on the Malfoy family." He adds.

"No, the past 550 years should be more than enough. Do you have them on you?" He asks, looking him up and down.

"Of course," he reaches into his pocket and pulling out an impossibly large pile of paper.

"I don't want to know." He mutters shaking his head as he takes the pile from him and picks up the first page. "Aslac Malfoy?" He chuckles questioningly.

"It was a popular name in the fifteenth century." Draco defends his ancestor.

David laughs. "He married a Lettice." Hermione snickers. "Their daughters were called Clarissa and Beatrice." He continues to laugh.

"They're normal names." Draco states. "Quite boring actually." He adds.

"Their son was called Torkel," David says making himself and Hermione laugh.

"Torkel Malfoy." Hermione smiles at Draco who frowns in return. "Have Malfoy's always been unique at naming?" She asks.

"Yes, why should we have boring names when we're everything but boring?" Draco rhetorically announces, sitting up taller.

"Okay, let's take these up to my office. We'll use the opposite wall for the Malfoy Family Tree." He states excitedly as he leads the way upstairs with his cup of tea in one hand and the large pile of paper in his other.

Hermione follows her uncle and husband upstairs into the spare bedroom where they push everything against the Adair Family Tree wall, making space for them to spread out all the piece of parchment that make up the Malfoy family.

"Are these all in chronological order?" David asks Draco who hums in confirmation. "Good, that'll save us some time. First we're going to make a list on a spare piece of paper of who married who and how many children they had and who they married and how many children they had and so on and so forth." He says as he takes out a notepad and pen from his desk drawer.

"So, Aslac Malfoy married Lettice Fawley in 1436. Their first child was Clarissa Malfoy born 1439 and… oh, she died in 1447. Sorry." David apologises.

Draco shrugs as he continues to write. "I didn't know her."

"Right, well, Beatrice Malfoy was born in 1450 and she married Ludovic Avery in 1468. They… He killed her in 1484 after failing to provide an heir. Moving on," David turns the page over. "Torkel Malfoy was born in 1452 and married Leveda Avery, Ludovic's sister, in 1475. They had one son…" He looks up at Draco. "Aldebaran Malfoy. Am I pronouncing that right?" He asks.

"Yes, it's a star in Taurus," Draco explains. "The Malfoy's like star names." He adds. "Who did Aldebaran marry?" He asks, pen poised over the notepad.

"Erm, a Truda Longbottom." He says.

"You're related to Neville." Hermione states with a teasing smile.

"I'm distantly related to everyone. That's the beauty of being pureblood." He smiles with an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, I'm glad to be the one to dirty the Malfoy bloodline." She reaches up the peck him on the lips. "I'm going to help Sophie with her homework.." She tells them as she leaves.

"Can I come in, Sophie?" Hermione asks after knocking on her door.

"Yeah." Her voice calls.

"What homework are you doing?" She asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Sophie turns around on her desk chair to face her. "Science." She sighs. "I have to predict whether the list of objects will sink or float. We're going to do the experiment next week."

"Are you having difficulty?" She asks, standing up to glance over at the worksheet.

"No, it's just boring." She sighs again.

"Have you got any other homework?" Hermione asks her.

"No." She shakes her head.

"Then get that done and we'll do something fun." She suggests.

"Something magic?" Sophie asks, eyes lighting up in interest.

Hermione pretends to think about it for a few seconds. "Okay," She sighs. "But homework first and we make dinner afterwards." She tells her.

"I'm doing it." She spins back around to finish her homework.

Five minutes later, she's done. She shoves her worksheet back in her backpack and throws her pencil in her desk drawer before jumping on her bed next to Hermione.

"Can you show me now?" Sophie asks excitedly.

"What do you want to see?" She asks.

"I don't know, just do something." She bounces eagerly on her knees.

"Pass me your clock." Hermione points at the object on her bedside table and Sophie obliges.

"What are you going to do?" She asks as Hermione takes her wand out of her pocket.

"Just watch." Hermione chuckles at her impatient cousin.

Without uttering a word, she taps the clock turning it into a pint glass. Sophie snatches it out of her hand, turning it around before holding it up to her ear.

"Wow." She mutters in awe.

Hermione points her wand to the lip of the glass and Sophie grips the glass firmly as she waits for more magic.

"Aguamenti." She says clearly for Sophie to hear.

Her cousin's hands shake as the glass quickly fills with water, stopping just short of the lip.

"What is it?" She asks, holding the glass up to her eye.

"Just plain water." She answers.

"Will it not break my clock when you turn it back?" She asks, making Hermione smile.

"No, it'll be fine."

"Can I drink it?" She asks, looking up over the glass at her.

"If you want to." She smiles.

Sophie hesitantly takes a sip of the water. "It tastes just like water." She gasps excitedly.

"It is water." Hermione reminds her.

"No, it's magical water," Sophie states, taking another sip.

"Aguamenti is a conjuring spell. It's the second hardest form of transfiguration after human transfiguration. It's basically turning the air into whatever you want. You won't learn that spell until you're sixth year." She explains.

"Can you conjure something else?" Sophie asks, placing the glass of water on her bedside table where her clock had once been.

"Last time before I turn your clock back." She warns her cousin as she raises her wand. "Avis." She conjures a small yellow canary.

Sophie gasps as the bird flutters around her room before landing a top of her desk lamp.

"Is it real?" She asks, staring at the bird.

"It's real in the sense that it needs food and water but since I conjured out of nothing, it's technically not real." She tries to explain but she can tell Sophie doesn't understand. She doesn't blame her, it's a complex idea to get one's head around.

"Now, it's time to make dinner, open the window to let her free." Hermione stands up.

"What, why? You said she wasn't actually real." Sophie frowns.

"It's confusing but the bird is alive and deserves to fly free." She tells Sophie.

Her cousin looks back at the bird for a long moment before hesitantly walking towards her.

"She looks very real." She mentions.

"Thank you." Hermione smiles. "You have to let her go now."

Sophie sighs, "Fine." She walks over to the window and throws it open. As soon as the cool summer breeze enters the room, the canary flies straight out, disappearing over the tall hedge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's NaNoWriMo, you will be getting more chapter this month.
> 
> Chapter 67 - 9th November 2017
> 
> Chapter 68 - 16th November 2017
> 
> Chapter 69 - 23rd November 2017
> 
> Chapter 70 - 30th November 2017
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 68 for you!
> 
> Us NaNoWriMoers are over halfway through and should be at 26,666 words written this month. I'm at 25,100 so I'm not that far behind. I tend to do a lot of catching up on the weekends so this weekend looks promising.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

 

Hermione and Sophie head downstairs and into the kitchen where they search the fridge and cupboards for something to eat for dinner.

"Does your Dad ever go food shopping?" She asks her cousin as they push old cans of soup out of the way.

"We go on a Monday night after school," Sophie says. "Dad gets milk and bread and stuff from the corner shop on the way back from work whenever we need it." She adds.

"Well, it looks like we're having macaroni and cheese for dinner." Her announces as she opens the cupboard with the pasta inside. "Or spaghetti and cheese." She corrects herself as she takes the spaghetti out.

Sophie gets a large pan out, placing it on the stove. "Can you conjure the water?" She asks, eye wide in hope.

Rolling her eyes in defeat, Hermione points her wand over the pan and wordlessly fills the pan with water, watching Sophie's smile widen.

"Step back." She gently pushes Sophie away from the stove. Once she's at a safe distance, Hermione boils the water with her wand. "Time to add the spaghetti."

"That's so cool." Sophie stands on her tiptoes to try and see the water better.

"Yes, it's cool, but you have to remember not to take your magic for granted. I still prefer to do something the 'Muggle' way, like brushing my teeth, washing up, boiling a kettle." She tells her cousin. "I'm a Muggleborn and I never want to forget where I came from. I know you're not a Muggleborn but due to no fault of your own, you won't be raised in a magical household. That not a bad thing though, it just means you'll be from to culturally different backgrounds." Hermione explains, sitting down at the kitchen table where Sophie sits opposite her.

Sophie nods, her forehead creased in thought. "Like Joan in my class. She's Chinese and speaks two languages and goes on holiday to China for the summer holidays?" She asks.

"I suppose it is a little like Joan. You'll live in the wizarding world and visit the Muggle world for holidays like Christmas and Summer. If you want, you can learn some wizarding languages like Mermish, the native language of the Merpeople." Hermione tells her.

"Mermaid's are real." She gasps excitement in her eyes.

"Merpeople, a community of them live in the Black Lake at Hogwarts and the Slytherin's can apparently sometimes see them swimming past the window in their common room." She explains. "Their common room and dormitories are in the dungeon under the school." She clarifies.

"I wish I could go to school this year." Sophie sighs, resting her chin in her hands longingly.

Hermione laughs. "I'll be going back in September." She admits. "The Headteacher, Professor McGonagall, has offered me an apprenticeship in Transfiguration so I can become the Professor the next September."

Sophie jumps up in her chair. "Does that mean you'll be my Transfiguration professor when I got in five years?" She asks

"Yes, I suppose it does. I hadn't thought about that." She frowns as she realises she'll also, one day, have to teach her own children and the children of all her friends.

"Do you not want to teach me?" Sophie asks, sounding hurt.

"Of course, I do." Hermione smiles. "It would be a pleasure to teach you. I just realised I'll have to teach my own children too."

"You're having children?" She asks in disgust.

"One day I will." She answers vaguely without going into any details of one day being within the next two years.

A sizzling noise behind from the stove alerts them to the pan of spaghetti overflowing with water. Hermione rushes over to the stove, turning it down before she remembers she used magic and not the gas. She quickly takes her wand out to lower the heat and clean up the mess of the water.

"I think this is done." She announces as she uses a colander the muggle way to drain the pasta. "Can you go tell your Dad and Draco?" She asks and Sophie nods, running off upstairs whilst Hermione finishes dinner.

When she returns a few minutes later with David and Draco in tow, four bowls of Spaghetti and cheese are set on the table with glasses of water.

"This looks delicious, thank you, Hermione." David ruffles her hair as he passes her to sit beside his daughter.

Draco sits beside her with a smile, giving her hand a quick squeeze before picking up his fork.

"Is this… water? Sophie asks, narrowing her eyes at the liquid inside her glass.

"Yes, tap water." She stares at her cousin pointedly, trying to convey the message not to say anything about the magical water on her bedside table.

"What else would it be?" David stares at her strangely.

"Nothing." Sophie shrugs before digging in.

After a few minutes of silent eating, Hermione asks how far they've gotten in making their list.

"We're up to Ernest Malfoy born 1749." Draco answers. "It's taking a lot longer than I initially thought. I still don't know why we can just start from the nineteenth century. I don't see how Ernest or Nicholas or Reginald are going to help us find Hyperion." He mentions.

"I've told you, it gives us the bigger picture," David tells him.

"It's pointless." He mutters.

"It needs to be done before we start looking further into Hyperion," David says. "If you want to get it done quicker, you can finish that list whilst tomorrow so we can start on the wall Saturday. Hopefully, we'll be finished with that by Sunday night."

Draco nods in understanding. "Are we doing anything tomorrow?" He turns to ask Hermione.

"We've got dinner with my friends." She reminds him.

He sighs deeply. "Yes, I remember. That's not until the night, I'll be able to finish the list during the day."

"You said you were going to the Manor tomorrow." She reminds him again.

"We can take the parchment with us and finish the list there." He compromises.

Hermione nods in agreement before going back to dinner. Afterwards, David volunteers to wash up later. After they've each played a game of connect four with Sophie, Hermione and Draco bid goodbye before leaving and disapparating back to the estate around seven o'clock.

Hermione unlocks the front door and is surprised by Athena flying right into her chest.

"Hi Athena," She greets the owl but she keeps chirping and flying erratically from the hall to the living room and back again.

Confused by her behaviour, both Hermione and Draco grip their wands inside their pockets as they slowly step into the living room. A quick glance around the room reveals no immediate threats so Hermione glances around for Athena to find her on the coffee table, sat on top of an envelope.

"It has a Ministry seal." She nods towards it, letting go of her want to pick it up. "Draco Malfoy." She reads passing it to him.

"Why didn't the delivery owl find me?" He ponders aloud.

"Ministry owls don't deliver to Muggle houses who are unaware of the wizarding world. As far as the Ministry is aware, David and Sophie don't know anything." She tells him as he opens it.

"Great," He sighs stressfully. "I've got Gibbon's trial tomorrow at nine o'clock." He throws the letter back down on the coffee table.

"At least it'll be over and done with. One more down, how much more to go?" She asks him, taking his face in her hands so he'll look at her.

"Twenty." He answers, looking her in the eye.

"Kingsley seems to want to get them sentenced as quickly as possible. You might be done before September." She points out.

Draco smiles. "Are you always this optimistic?" He asks her.

Hermione drops her hand with a roll of her eyes. "Well one of us needs to be." She teases as she flicks her wand towards the record player and throws herself on the couch, resting her feet on their coffee table.

"Getting comfortable?" He asks as he joins her.

"We're going to lounge here and relax. Have we ever just lounged on here, the two of us together, not doing anything?" She asks him, as he entwines their hands together.

"I can't say we have." Draco chuckles, closing his eyes as he relaxes. "It's nice." He comments with a yawn. "Can't we relax in bed in case I fall asleep? I don't want to wake up here in the morning." He asks.

"I suppose we could. It doesn't really matter where we relax as long as were relaxing and together." She sighs, turning the record player off as she stands up, pulling him with her. "You know, I always knew I'd be the kind of person who goes to bed at eight o'clock to read or talk or just sleep. Does that make me boring?" She asks as they make their way upstairs.

"It makes us both boring." Draco points out as Hermione heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

When she returns, he's already half sat up in bed with his eyes closed and a soft smile on his face. Hermione stops for a second to appreciate how truly relaxed and calm he looks. She changes into her pyjamas before joining him.

"Took you long enough." He mutters, shuffling down the bed to lie down, facing her.

"Are you going to sleep?" She asks him as she lies beside him.

"No, just relaxing until you joined me." He admits, opening his eyes and Hermione is taken aback by how clear his eyes are. "What?" He frowns at her.

"I've just realised I haven't spent long enough looking at your eyes. They really are a beautiful colour. I can't believe I've wasted this opportunity." She admits half-jokingly as she blushes.

"I'm closing my eyes." He says as he does, a blush of his own spreading across his cheeks, making Hermione laugh.

"That blush is beautiful too." She teases him.

"I've changed my mind, I'm going to sleep." He turns over, away from her, making her laugh more.

"Goodnight, Draco." She says flirtatiously as she shuffles over to hug him from behind.

"Goodnight." He huffs in annoyance but he still entwines his hands with hers, resting them against his chest where she can feel his heartbeat steadying.

Draco wakes up early the next morning, the result of falling asleep at eight o'clock the previous night. The clock tells him it's only five o'clock but having been asleep for over eight hours, he decides not to be greedy and to head downstairs wearing his dressing gown. He makes himself a cup of tea before pulling out the notepad David had given him yesterday to write down his long list of family members and sets to work. He doesn't know how much spare time he's going to have today to finish the list with the trial, visiting the Manor and having dinner with Hermione's friends.

He surprisingly finds that in the past two hundred years, the Malfoy's rarely had more than one child, most likely due to the fact that the Malfoy's rarely produced a female. For his ancestor's producing a male heir was the sole purpose of reproducing, which makes Hyperion's exitance all the more shocking since Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy had no reason to have another child after their first.

Hermione joins him in the living room two hours later fully dressed for the day ahead.

"How long have you been up?" She asks, leaning over to glance at the notebook, her chin resting on his shoulder. "Hyperion, 1947." She reads, leaning away to head into the kitchen.

He finds himself missing the pressure of her chin and just her general presence so he places the notepad on the coffee table and follows her, sitting at the breakfast bar to watch her make breakfast and cups of tea. When she's finished making bacon buns, she places a plate in front of him as she slides onto the stool beside him, setting her own plate down.

"How long do these trials usually last?" She asks before taking a bite.

"About two hours depending on how many witnesses there are and how long the Wizengamot take to deliberate." He answers. "Gibbon wasn't that high in the ranks. He was a snatcher and a pretty terrible one at that. He couldn't purposely kill anyone but he took joy in the cruciatus curse and accidentally killed Dirk Cresswell when the poor man suffered a heart attack due to sleep deprivation." Draco explains. "He'll probably get fifteen years in Azkaban."

"At least there's some closure for his wife and three sons." Hermione sighs disappointedly.

"You knew him?" He asks curiously.

"No, but Arthur once had strong words with Albert Runcorn about him. He was apparently a good man." She comments.

"Runcorn's was sentenced to Azkaban for his part during the war last June," Draco states, remembering reading it in the Daily Prophet one morning last year.

Hermione nods, moving the conversation on. "Are we going straight to the Manor afterwards?"

"Yes, what time are we due for dinner," He asks her, finishing his breakfast.

"Around three o'clock. We should come home beforehand to change though." She suggests.

"Are you finally joining me on the crusade to intimidate with our joint attractiveness?" He jokes as he tidies up their dirty plates, charming them to clean themselves.

Hermione scoffs a laugh. "Sure, I just want us to look nice for our friends." She tells him. "It's just gone eight o'clock, you might want to get dressed." She suggests, glancing at her watch.

Draco dresses in a pair of very dark green robes that his mother had bought him for Christmas a few years ago. He hadn't really had a chance to wear them and a trial seemed as good a place as any. At least it wasn't his own trial, his mother would be proud. He chuckles to himself as he pulls them on along with a black pair of boots and his black summer cloak.

By the time he returns downstairs, it's almost half past eight and they need to get going. Hermione grabs a book to read whilst the trial is in progress. He had told her he didn't want her in the Wizengamot Courtroom whilst he was giving evidence. He didn't want her to see him that way and he didn't want Gibbon, or whoever was on trial, to know she came to support him. That would just make her even more of a target for them when they were released. Thankfully, there had been no argument on the matter, Hermione agreed to sit outside the courtroom for him and read.

They arrive at the Ministry just after ten to nine and have to wait longer than usual for the lift since the first one had been full. With a quick peck on his lips, Hermione pushes him into the courtroom with only a few minutes to spare. She hears Kingsley sarcastically announce it was nice for Draco to join them.

Hermione sits down on the same bench she had sat on whilst waiting for Draco at his previous trial. She attempts to read but can't bring herself to focus. Her thoughts are with Kingsley and how he could have become so overcome with power during the past year. She remembers his ramblings during Order meetings about how power needed to be taken away from the Ministry and given to the people. How had he allowed himself to become everything he didn't want to be? They had all see what power had done to men far better wizards than Kingsley. The obvious being the original leader of the Order, Professor Dumbledore himself. Hermione respected the man greatly, but he led people on, giving them only enough information to get them on board then giving them the rest when it was too late for them to back out. He treated people like disposables and many good people died for him. Of course, they didn't die for Dumbledore, no, they died 'for the Greater Good'. Dumbledore had used that line so often it had become an infamous running joke within the Order and the DA.

Not wanting to sit there, succumbing to her thoughts, she sets off for a walk around the Ministry, thinking about anything but power-hungry wizards who used people for their own gain.

Draco leaves the courtroom an hour and a half later feeling very pleased with himself. With his testimony, albeit a little exaggerated, Gibbon had been sentenced to twenty-five years. Dirk Cresswell's wife had surprisingly hugged him in thanks whilst tears poured down her face. Their youngest son had hugged him too whilst his two eldest settled from a firm handshake.

"That was quicker than anticipated. How was the trial?" Hermione asks him, jumping off the bench.

"Twenty-five years." He answers with a smile.

"Really, that's great." She pulls him by his robes into a tight hug. "You're doing amazingly. I'm so proud of you." She whispers into his ear, his heart rapidly increasing as she releases him from her grip. "To the Manor, shall we?" She holds her hand out to him, which he accepts without a second thought since his mind is currently wondering why Hermione Granger has such an effect on him.

Whilst Draco knocks on the grand front doors of the Manor, waiting for his mother to answer, Hermione sneaks in through the back door, into the kitchen where she's greeted by an unsurprised Mitty and Gharther. The former squeaks excitedly whilst the latter turns his back on her, and she would assume he was rolling his eyes at her if she knew house-elves lacked sass.

"Mistress," Mitty begins.

Hermione holds a finger to her lips and politely as possible, shushes her. "I'm sorry, Mitty. I need to get into Draco's bedroom as quickly as possible so Narcissa doesn't see me." She explains, heading over to the servants' staircase.

Before Mitty can answer, Hermione's already running up the staircase and exiting on the first floor. She can still here Draco and Narcissa speaking at the front door on the floor below so she makes a run for it along to corridor to Draco's bedroom, where she quietly shuts the door behind her.

It isn't until she turns around that she realises she's never been in Draco's bedroom before. It's a lot to take in. The imposing wardrobe and chest of drawers, the opulent wallpaper and carpet, the bursting bookshelves and, of course, the regal four poster bed with lavish drapes. The whole room screamed luxuriously extravagance. There's a soft tap at the bedroom door behind before Draco enters.

"Mother's in the library." He mentions, closing the door behind him.

"So, this is your bedroom?" Hermione turns to smirk at him.

Draco eyes widen in sudden realisation before flittering around the room to check everything was clean and tidy. When he approves of how his room is being presented for the first time to his wife, he looks back at her with an equally as suggestive smirk.

"Your bed looks very comfortable." She comments as she walks over and lowers herself down. "Wow, it really is." She lies down appreciating the comfortableness of Draco's bed. "Can we take it home?" She asks, half-joking.

"If you want, it's not getting any use here." He joins her, lying down beside her, the length of their bodies pressed together despite the size of the king size. "Although I must warn you, you won't be the first person I've shared this bed with." He announces suggestively.

Hermione turns to look him in the face, unconvinced. "Blaise?"

He winks at her with a soft smile as he stands up, pulling Hermione with him. "We should go now before Mother heads to her room for lunch." He suggests, guiding her over to his bedroom door, where he slowly opens it, peeking around the threshold before quickly leading her down the corridor towards the staircase.

"How exactly are we going to get inside without making a noise?" She asks him quietly.

"I didn't repair the wall on Wednesday, just rehung the family portrait." He replies, smoothly levitating the large framed painting of Abraxas, Marcella and a young Lucius out of the way, revealing a large hole. "You first." He nods for her to enter.

Hermione steps inside, turning to watch Draco follow her before replacing the portrait on its hooks. She can faintly see the staircase through the back of the canvas, most likely due to the massive arch window overlooking the stairs.

"I don't even know where to start with these books," Draco mutters.

Hermione turns to actually take in the room. It looks very similar to Draco's bedroom next door, from the furnishings to the overstocked bookshelves. She wouldn't have thought there was a library downstairs with the number of books the Malfoy's seem to keep in their bedrooms, offices and attics.

"The most logical system would be to start at one end and work our way into the middle, turning each book around when we're done so we know where we're up to." She suggests. "I doubt we'll be able to thoroughly check each of these books today." She adds, glancing at the intimidating bookshelves.

"I'll start at the beginning," Draco announces as he heads in that direction, leaving Hermione with the end.

It doesn't take very long for them to find something of interest. In fact, the first book Hermione pulls off the shelf turns out to be Marcella's journal from 1956. A quick look inside shows that Draco's grandmother didn't write anything in it after her son's ninth birthday, the day they found out he was a squib and sent him to the Muggle world. Before she informs Draco of her discovery, Hermione tests her theory that all the missing journals are here. Her hypothesis proves to be correct when, at the end of the bookshelves, she ends up with three different coloured leather journals facing her. Abraxas and Marcella's are from 1946 until 1956 and Hyperion's from 1951 until 1956.

"Draco, I've found the missing journals." She calls over to him.

He immediately replaces the book he was flicking through on the shelf to join her.

"Hyperion's are maroon, Abraxas' are emerald and Marcella's are Teal." She points them out.

Draco slides the first maroon journal off the shelf. However, just as he opens the cover, a loud knock at the front door of the Manor echoes around the foyer and up the stairs towards them.

"Mother rarely receives any visitors these days." He mentions curiously as he walks over to the portrait, carefully levitating it out of the way as he steps out of the room to peer around the side of the staircase at the front door.

"This is a massive invasion of her privacy," Hermione whispers from beside him.

"I'm not going to listen to their conversation, I just want to know who she's conversing with these days." He assures her as Narcissa's heels can be heard on the marble floor, walking towards the front door.

Hermione hears Narcissa throw the front door open, but then neither her or her visitor speaks for what feels like a minute. Finally, Narcissa clears her throat.

"Mr Potter," She greets him formally.

"What?" Draco frowns, throwing a questioning look over his shoulder at her.

"I don't know." She mutters, peering around him.

"Mrs Malfoy, it's time we had a discussion. After all, it's been over thirteen months since our last conversation." Harry announces as he pushes past Narcissa into the foyer. "If I remember correctly, this should be the dining room." He states as he walks towards the dining room doors, throwing them open.

In obvious surprise, Narcissa closes the door after him and hurriedly follows him.

Without even thinking, both Hermione and Draco run down the stairs, as quietly as possible, in order to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Still an invasion of mother's privacy?" He smirks at her as they press their ears against the dining room doors, which Narcissa has locked behind her.

Hermione shushes him as Harry begins to talk again.

"This place looks nice when I'm not in the middle of a war." He comments.

"Mr Potter, why are you here," Narcissa asks, getting straight tot eh point.

"After your little conversation with Hermione yesterday, I felt like you needed reminding on how thankful you should be to have a daughter-in-law at all," Harry mentions and bother Draco and Hermione share confused looks.

"I don't kno-" Narcissa starts.

"Don't insult yourself, Mrs Malfoy" He interrupts her. "Shall I tell you a story about a mother who wanted nothing more to know whether her son was still alive during a war that she risked her own life at the hands of the Dark Lord to ask the Saviour himself? To tell you the truth, Mrs Malfoy, Draco had been alive when I left him but that had been over an hour before Voldemort had attempted to kill me. I didn't know if he was still alive but I took advantage of your vulnerability in the hope it would save my life and in turn help me save the world. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that you're just as much to thank for the fall of your Dark Lord as I was. If you hadn't lied to him about my being dead, he would most likely still be alive and kicking himself. Thank you, Mrs Malfoy." Harry finishes and Hermione knows he's ridiculing her sarcastically and he's most likely enjoying it.

"Stop, Mr Potter." Narcissa snaps at him. "Tell me what any of this has to do with her." She spits angrily.

Draco makes apologetic eye contact with her but she sends him a smile to let him know she's fine.

"You risked your life to ensure Draco was still alive only thirteen months ago, and now you're risking losing your son to his wife because you won't accept that he's happy being married to Hermione," Harry explains.

Narcissa scoffs. "No Malfoy would ev-"

"Mrs Malfoy, shut up. However, much we both hate to admit it, Draco has changed since the war. He seems to actually care and have feelings for Hermione, which I'm positive are returned. Also, whether you like it or not, they're going to have a child together within the next two years, a child that I know Draco will do anything to protect, even if that means distancing himself from the woman who verbally threatened his wife and child. Yes, I've heard all about their half-blooded spawn." Harry laughs intimidatingly. "If you don't change, you're going to lose him and your risk in the war would have been for nothing." The scraping of a chair indicates someone has stood up. "And if you ever threaten Hermione or her children ever again, you'll have not only her and Draco to watch out for but their entire family of friends. So be warned." His footsteps can be heard walking towards the dining room door.

Draco quickly grabs hold of Hermione's hand, dragging her down the corridor and into the kitchens just as the door opens.

What just happened there?" Draco asks as he continues to pull her over to the servant's staircase.

"Harry's just being Harry by doing everything he can to protect the ones he loves," Hermione explains teary-eyed as she realises how much she had truly missed seeing her best friends this past couple of weeks.

"Did you know what my mother did during the war?" He asks her as they reach the first floor in time to hear the front door close.

Hermione doesn't answer until they're hidden safely behind the portrait in Hyperion's childhood bedroom.

"No, Harry's never talked about what happened when he went to face Voldemort," Hermione admits.

"I had no idea." He mutters, sitting down on the toy box at the end of Hyperion's bed.

"Are you alright? That was a lot to take in." Hermione asks him.

"I'm fine." He stands up. "The fact mother risked her life for me doesn't change anything. If the Dark Lord had found out, he wouldn't have just killed her, he would have come after Lucius and me. She was being reckless." Draco shakes his head disapprovingly as he picks up Hyperion's first journal.

Hermione senses that he doesn't want the matter pushing any further so she joins him at the bookshelves, taking Abraxas' 1946 journal off the next shelf. There's no mention of baby Hyperion until November when Abraxas mentions that Marcella will be blessing him with a son in three months.

"Abraxas doesn't even mention Hyperion until Marcella's six months pregnant." She informs Draco.

He shrugs. "It's the way of the pureblood man. Pregnancy and infanthood have mostly been thought of as the woman's job. The man doesn't become involved until around aged five when most children are able to converse." He explains, flicking through Hyperion's journal. "Hyperion got Abraxas attention from the age of four and a half." His eyebrow raises impressively.

"What has he written about?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Mostly about spending time with his mother, until July when he starts spending more time with his father. He still enjoys reading with his mother on a night though. That's his favourite time of the day." Draco sums up the year 1951 from Hyperion's point of view.

"That's adorable. It's no wonder pureblooded boy are mammy's boys. They're the only ones given them the attention they seek at such a young age." She points out.

"I am not a mother's boy." Draco defends himself adamantly.

"I never knew you as a child but I assume you were pretty similar to Hyperion. Enjoyed reading with your mother in her library?" She raised her eyebrow.

"I enjoyed reading in her library, if mother happened to be in there at the same time then that was purely coincidental." He states, making her laugh.

"What exactly are you looking for in these journals?" She asks him, picking up the first of Marcella's journals.

"I just want to know a bit more about Hyperion," Draco admits, flicking through his uncle's 1952 journal.

"He's just mentioned Mr Parkinson." He announces after a few minutes of silent reading. "His mother came around for afternoon tea with Marcella and the two boys played in Hyperion's bedroom. He likes Perseus, even though he's three years old and calls him Hypey." He paraphrases.

"That's so sweet. He's probably never had any other children to play with before." Hermione mentions. "Marcella was overjoyed when she found out she was pregnant. They'd been trying for seven years and she'd lost faith. She didn't tell Abraxas until that November in case she lost the baby. She'd already lost three, Abraxas only knew of the one." She says.

"That's sadly not uncommon within pureblood families. The Parkinson's lost quite a few children during pregnancy before Pansy came along. It's why her parents are so understandably overprotective of their little princess." He explains.

"That's terrible. I can't imagine going through that." Hermione says, feeling a cold shiver pass through her at the thought.

Draco pulls her into a tight hug. "Hopefully, we will never have to, but no matter what, I'm going to be there with you." He promises her.

Their hugs last a few more minutes as they just silently enjoy each other's company.

"I think we should go soon," Draco announces as they break away. "We've been here too long. I'll pack some books to take with us so we can continue at home." He states, pulling piles of journals off the shelves.

"Why not just bring them all then we don't have to come back here for a few days?" Hermione suggests, opening her bag for him to place them all inside.

Draco heads into the library to bid his mother goodbye, distracting her from glancing out any window in case she sees Hermione rushing across the Manor's gardens towards the gates.

"Oh, Draco, I forgot you were here?" She admits when he enters.

"Thank you, mother." He smiles sarcastically. "I'm going," He announces.

"Draco," She calls his name as he turns to walk away after spotting Hermione slip out of the gate out of the only window in the library. "See you next week, son." She smiles, looking as though she wants to say something more.

He doesn't push her though, instead, he takes his leave, rushing to join Hermione on the other side of the Manor's gate.

Back home, they spread themselves around the front room with the three different piles of journals. Draco takes over the armchair with Hyperion's journals whilst Hermione settles herself down on the couch with Abraxas'. Marcella's lay waiting to be read on the coffee table. Time seems to fly whilst they read, offering each other a comment on an interesting passage they've read or, in Hermione's case, to question whether something was common in pureblooded families.

Hermione briefly glances at the clock to find it quarter to three. Abruptly jumping to her feet, knocking Abraxas' journal from 1954 onto the floor, she informs Draco that they have fifteen minutes to get dressed and over to the Potter's house for dinner.

"Who has dinner at three o'clock in the afternoon?" He grumbles as he begrudgingly follows her up the stairs.

"We probably won't eat until four." She points out.

"Still too early." He complains as he pulls on a clean shirt along with a pair of black jeans. "I'll feed Athena whilst you change." He informs her whilst she's tapping her out of control hair with her wand.

They end up knocking at the Potter's front door five minutes late, with a bottle of wine as an apologetic offering. Ginny answers the door with a forced smile.

"I'm so glad you're here, Hermione. It's so awkward." She mutters, ignoring Draco as she pulls her by the hand into the living room.

Pansy glares at them from her armchair as they enter. "Better late than never." She mutters as Draco sits on the footstool beside her armchair.

"Can we swap chairs?" He asks, feeling as though his knees are touching his chin.

"No," She snaps at him. "First come first serve."

Yesterday, Hermione would have taken their smirks and snappiness at each other at face value, however, after hearing Draco explain how they basically grew up together, she can see the playful teasing of siblings.

Harry stands up from the other armchair. "I'm going to check on dinner." He states but doesn't move. "Hermione, Draco, do you want a drink?" He offers.

"Yes." Draco abruptly answers before adding. "Thank you."

"Yes, Harry. We'll have whatever you have open." She smiles at her friend.

As soon as Harry leaves the living room with Ginny trailing behind him, Hermione sends Draco a pointed look to remind him to behave, to which he nods back with a slight sarcastic eye roll.

"Where's Weasley?" Draco questions Pansy.

"He went to the bathroom when you knocked. Probably avoiding you." She shrugs, sipping her wine glass.

"We're okay now," Hermione explains. "He apologised."

"If you think we'll all be hanging out as a weird couples' threesome now you're all friends again, you can count me out." She tells her. "This afternoon is hard enough. Knowing everyone here besides the two of you hate me."

"They just need to get to know you," Hermione assures her.

"I don't want to be friends with them. I'm only here because Ronald said you and Draco would be here." She admits.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to be friends with me," Hermione tells her.

"You helped me when I was drunk. That binds us together in friendship for life." She jokes.

"Oh, hi Hermione… and Draco, I didn't hear you come in. How have you been?" He asks over politely as he settles himself down in Harry's armchair.

"Great." Draco answers. "And you? How are the Weasley?" He adds with a scarily polite smile.

"I'm fine," Ron answers, looking unsure of Draco's sincerity. "Not sure on the rest of the family." He shrugs.

"Well, there are a lot of you," Draco smirks.

Ron opens his mouth as to retaliate when Harry and Ginny return from the kitchen. Ginny hands Hermione her drinks as she sits beside her, Harry passing a glass to Draco before squeezing beside Ginny on the couch.

"What are we talking about?" He asks, glancing around the room.

"The vastness of the Weasley clan," Pansy mentions, taking a sip from her glass to hide her smirk.

"Your parents are going to have a lot of grandchildren, aren't they?" Draco adds to the topic thoughtfully. "How many more are you planning on having after that little one?" He nods to Ginny.

"Two." She smiles, resting her hand on her stomach.

"I can't believe you're five months. Mum's going to go crazy when she finds out." Ron laughs.

"No, she won't, Mum will be overjoyed her first grandchild is coming sooner than she expected," Ginny announces.

"Are you sure about that?" Ron teases.

"Don't worry, you're still the biggest disappointment in the family?" Ginny bites back.

"Hey, it's not his fault he got paired with me." Pansy defends herself.

"It's not because he married you. Mum actually likes you. You're her fourth favourite in-law." Ginny points out.

"Wow, fourth favourite. Out of five in-laws. Who's fifth?" She asks.

"Audrey. She doesn't come around for tea or make any effort." Ginny frown.

"So, why is my dear Ronald a disappointment then. I feel like I'm missing out on some family gossip." She leans forward, resting her face in her hands, on her knees.

"He's a disappointment because of how he acts and how he treats you," Ginny explains.

"Oh, I think I like Mama Weasley even more now." She laughs. "Ronald, we should go around for dinner, there are a few things I could tell her about our domestic bliss." She teases. "You're obviously number one, Mr Savour." She looks at Harry.

"Obviously, they already thought of me as their son and I'm giving them their first grandchild. I'm miles ahead of everyone else." He jokes with an air of truthfulness.

"Good for you, Potter." Pansy bluntly rolls her eyes.

"Harry, what's on the menu for dinner?" Draco asks, moving the conversation on.

"Just a simple shepherd pie with vegetables." He shrugs. "Nothing fancy."

"Well, thank you anyway, Harry. We can probably count on one hand how many proper dinners we've had these past three weeks." She chuckles.

"Can I refill your glass Pansy?" Harry asks when she places the empty glass on the coffee table.

"I won't say no to wine." She answers.

Harry nods, going into the kitchen to retrieve the wine bottle. "So, have either of you three made any decisions on the apprenticeship you've been offered." He asks as he refills her glass.

"We haven't really had time to discuss it yet." Hermione glances over at Draco. "But it is something I've wanted to do since I was a child so I'll most likely accept." She nods.

"It's not as though I'm going to be flooded with job offers anytime soon." Draco points out with a shrug. "If McGonagall wants me as the Potions professor, she can have me."

"Well, I haven't got anything better to do with my life, might as well do something useful with it." Pansy shrugs.

"Pansy, are you accepting?" Hermione asks hopefully.

"Yeah, I already have. I sent McGonagall an owl this morning." She announces.

"I think you're are going to be an amazing teacher," Hermione tells her friend excitedly.

"At least I'll know our children are going to be taught properly." Draco points out.

"Oh Godric, of course. You'll be teaching all the estate kids." Ginny mentions.

"The estate kids?" Hermione raises an eyebrow. "Is that what they're calling our future kids?

"It's just something I've heard going around and in the Daily Prophet. It's only the children actually conceived whilst their parents are living in the estate." Ginny explains.

"Charming." Pansy comments.

"Let's raise a glass," Harry announces, holding his wine glass up. "To our children being taught by competent professors." He toasts with a smile.

"Not necessarily, Atkins may know his subject but he's so judgmental towards anyone who knows nothing about Muggles. It's annoying. The kids will rip him apart." Pansy states.

"How do you know?" Draco asks as Ron asks, "Who's Atkins?"

"He held back to walk to Hogsmeade with me on Wednesday. He showed me his phone." She rolls her eyes. "Which he can use to call other people and talk to them or he can send them letters and, get this, they receive them instantly. No waiting for owls." She says with fake enthusiasm. "But of course, I know nothing about muggle technology."

"I'm sure he's just enthusiastic about his subject." Hermione tries to defend the man she doesn't even know.

"Yeah, I'm excited by history but you don't hear me rambling on about when Mermaid's rejected the beast status." Pansy points out.

"We probably just need to get to know him," Hermione suggests.

"What is it with you trying to get me to get to know other people that I have no interest in actually getting to know?" Pansy says.

"I just think it would be nice to get to know him. There's a large age gap between us and the current professors. I'm sure Professor Vector is the youngest and she's about fifty-seven." Hermione says.

"Neville seems good at making friends. Let him get to know Atkins." Pansy suggests.

"He probably will." Harry nods as he stands up. "Just checking on dinner." He announces, heading into the kitchen.

"I need a refill," Ron mutters as he follows with his empty beer glass.

"I better go to the toilet before dinner." Ginny smiles as she leaves the front room.

"Is it just me, or are people a little too eager to get away from us?" Pansy chuckles.

Hermione shakes her head. "Thank you for coming, Pansy. I wasn't sure you would." She admits.

"I wasn't going to but if it means I don't have to cook, then I might as well endure a few hours awkwardness." She shrugs.

"I hope that's not why you came around for curry." Hermione jokes.

"No, I actually like you. If you'd been a pureblood, I'm sure you would have been a Slytherin and we would have been best friend." Pansy admits.

"Thank you, I think. We can still be best friends if you want." Hermione mentions.

"Really?" Pansy looks doubtful.

"Of course, we'll be working together in September. It'll be fun to work with a best friend." Hermione smiles.

"Can we gossip about the children and professors?" She asks.

"Pansy-" Hermione starts.

"I'm joking, Hermione. I know you take the moral high ground, or whatever." She laughs.

"Dinner's ready," Ron announces, peeking his head through the kitchen door.

When they're all sat around the kitchen table, Harry brings out the shepherd's pie, which he serves out between the six plates.

"Help yourself to vegetable." He states, gesturing to the bowls of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and peas in the middle of the table.

"Thank you, Harry. It looks delicious." Hermione compliments him as she scoops some of all the vegetables onto her plate.

"Could you pass the peas, Draco?" Pansy asks, holding her hand out.

"If I must." He replies before sending the bowl of peas levitating over the table towards Pansy.

"Could we please refrain from using magic at the dinner table?" Harry asks.

Draco looks at Harry as though he had just asked him to saw his arm off. Hermione squeezes his thigh under the table, a reminder that he's supposed to be behaving himself.

"Of course, I apologise." Draco forcefully smiles before taking a bite out of his shepherd's pie. He chews for a few seconds before pausing.

"Is something wrong?" Harry questions him.

Draco swallows the mince and potatoes in his mouth. "Not at all." He smiles again.

"Obviously it's something," Harry asks. "I haven't had to cook a proper dinner in year. I'm a bit out of practice. Any criticism is welcome." He explains.

Draco looks at Hermione who's returning gaze tells him to be nice.

"Well, when someone says they're having shepherd's pie for dinner, one would usually expect to be served shepherd's pie, not cottage pie." He explains.

Harry frowns in thought. "What's the difference?"

"Shepherd's pie is lamb because shepherd's herd sheep and cottage pie is beef." He clarifies.

"Oh, right, well I guess we're having cottage pie for dinner instead," Harry announces.

"Draco just being pedantic." Pansy mentions. "All that matters is if it tastes alright, and it does." She adds.

"Thanks," Harry mutters, having not expected a compliment from Pansy.

"You're welcome." She nods before taking another bite.

After dinner, when Ginny's set the dishes to wash, they all gather in the front room with a final glass of wine or juice for Ginny.

"That was nice, thanks mate." Ron smiles, patting his stomach as he lounges on the couch beside Harry and Hermione.

"You can be the cook in our family," Ginny says with a laugh that turns into a yawn.

"We should call it a night soon. I think we're all getting tired." Harry mentions.

"No, we're all not five months pregnant and need to go to bed at…" Pansy glances at her watch. "Half seven." She adds.

"You'll understand soon enough," Ginny tells her.

"Ergh, don't remind me. I am not looking forward to it." She shudders overdramatically, downing the rest of her drink. "Are we going? She glances at Ron then at Hermione and Draco.

"Yeah, we'll walk out with you. Although, you're in the opposite direction to us, aren't you/?" Hermione points out as she places her empty glass on the coffee table.

"We're going out the back door. It's the way we came." She says.

"Alright, we'll join you." Hermione stands up, taking Draco's hand to pull him up from the footstool.

"I'll follow later, I'm gonna stay for another beer with Harry and help tidy up," Ron tells them.

Ginny scoffs from her position on the armchair. "I don't think you've ever helped tidy up in your life." She laughs.

"I can second that statement." Pansy laughs.

Harry walks them to the back door, biding them all goodbye and hugging Hermione before closing the door behind them.

"Well, that was better than I anticipated?" Pansy admits as they leave the Potter's garden.

"Is it just you two, or do all Slytherin's like trying to rile people up?" Hermione asks as they set off across the grass.

"We just aren't afraid of hurting someone's feelings." Pansy states and Draco nods in agreement.

"Slytherin's tend to speak their mind but the friendships we have are strong enough to withstand a few harsh spoken words." Draco further explains.

"Are you both free on Monday morning?" Pansy asks, suddenly changing the conversation.

Hermione and Draco glance at each other, silently asking each other if they have any plans then shaking their heads in answer.

"No, we're free. What are you planning?" Hermione asks.

"Blaise is off to Australia to meet Luna at midday on Monday. I thought we could all meet for breakfast to say goodbye. He'll be gone for three weeks." She reminds them. "Probably the longest we've ever gone without seeing him since we were eleven." She adds, looking at Draco.

"You're right. He like the waffles Florean Fortescue's does for breakfast." Draco suggests.

Pansy nods. "I'll let him know tomorrow. See you later." She waves at them as she heads off towards her house.

Hermione and Draco carry on towards their own house in comfortable silence until Draco sighs.

"What?" She asks.

"We're going to have to walk past Geoffrey." He reminds her.

"It won't take long. Just listen to his joke, laugh then leave." She tells him, taking his hand in hers.

"Here we go." He mutters as they reach their garden gate. He pushes it open

"Hi, Geoffrey, how are you?" Hermione greets him.

"Twice in a week! I'm honoured." He snidely replies. "What do you call a cow with no legs?"

"No idea," Draco answers in boredom.

"Ground beef," Geoffrey answers with a bursting laugh.

Hermione chuckles politely. "Oh, very funny."

"Yes, good joke. We'll see you later." Draco tells the garden gnome as he pulls Hermione towards their back door.

"I'm going to change into my pyjamas," Hermione announces as she heads upstairs.

Draco settles himself down on the couch, picking up the notepad with which he and David have written all his ancestors down. He flicks through the many pages, reading the many names. He wonders what they would say if they knew the heir to the Malfoy family was married to a Muggleborn. No doubt every one of them would have disowned him. Struck him off the family tree, never to be mentioned again.

"What are you smiling about?" Hermione asks as she joins him on the couch.

"Just thinking about what my ancestors would have thought about our marriage." He chuckles.

Hermione smiles. "What are you and David doing with all these names once you've written them on his wall?" She asks him.

"We'll look into their professions and whether any of them had any links to the Muggle world before Hyperion. David doesn't understand how a parent can just abandon their child, even if they are a squib. He thinks Abraxas has links in the muggle world that he asked to keep an eye on Hyperion. He doesn't understand that Hyperion got let off easy. Most pureblood families kill any squib children or abandon them somewhere if they don't have the ability to kill them directly. It was most likely Marcella that made Abraxas take him to the muggle world." Draco explains.

"In a way, David is similar to Abraxas. He's just found out his child is not what he assumed. He loves his daughter and has accepted her for who she is. He probably doesn't understand how a father can just abandon his child because they're different." Hermione tells him.

"It makes sense but I'm confident the only connection to the muggle world Abraxas has is when he dropped Hyperion off at the orphanage." Draco states.

"Maybe David's not wrong. Maybe there is an ancestor out there who had connections in the muggle world and Hyperion found them. It would explain why there are no records after the orphanage closed down in 1964." She suggests.

"It would have had to have been a recent ancestor," Draco says, picking up the files and flicking back to the nineteenth century. "I doubt anyone before the nineteenth century would remember the Malfoy's enough to help Hyperion in 1964." He states, handing Hermione half the pile to read through.

An hour later, having thoroughly read through every piece of parchment in only two files, Hermione calls it a night, throwing the file down on the coffee table. "I'm tired." She announces with a yawn. "Are you coming to bed?" She asks him as she stands up, stretching her limbs out satisfyingly.

"I'm going to finish this file then I'll join you." He smiles up at her as she walks behind the couch.

"Well, don't be too long." She leans over to kiss his cheek before heading upstairs to bed.

By the time Draco joins her, she's fast asleep curled up on her side of the bed. He changes into his pyjamas, charms his teeth clean then climbs in beside her, careful not to stir her. He watches her chest rise and fall with her breath and his heart swells in love and appreciation. She doesn't have to help him with everything he's going through with Hyperion but she does. Not to get something in return or to gain his trust back, but because she wants to. She wants them to move past their difficulties and more than ever, right now, watching his wife sleep beside him, curled up away from him because she's not sure if he's ready to cuddle her again, he wants to move on too.

Without moving the bed too much, Draco shuffles closer towards Hermione, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her gently closer to her back his pressed against his chest. Almost instantly, Hermione's legs stretch out as she grabs hold of his hand resting on her stomach. He kisses the back of her head before falling asleep himself

* * *

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NaNoWriMo Chapters
> 
> Chapter 69 - 23rd November 2017
> 
> Chapter 70 - 30th November 2017
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	69. Chapter 69

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 69 for you!
> 
> I completely forgot I was supposed to upload on the 23rd since it's not a usual upload day.
> 
> Anyway, it's day 26 of NaNoWriMo and I'm at 38,884 words, only four and a half thousand words behind.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

Hermione's had a few strange dreams in her time but dreaming a giant Winnie the Pooh crept into her bed to spoon her and kiss the back of her head whilst singing nursery rhymes in his honey voice is one of the top five. She wakes up suddenly, in a cold sweat, after listening to the fictional bear sing hush little baby whilst caressing her cheek. However, in her attempt to escape the bear's grasp, she ends up elbowing Draco in the face, waking him up.

"What? What?" Draco sits up glancing around their bedroom. "What?" He turns to face her, his hair stuck up all over

"I had a very weird dream that was a little nightmarish. Sorry for elbowing you in the face." She explains.

Draco's hand goes up to his left eye. "I think it's going to bruise." He mutters as he climbs out of bed, heading over to the dressing table for a look in the mirror. "Do you have any bruise removal paste?" He asks hopefully, looking at her in the mirror.

"No, sorry again." She apologises, climbing out of bed to inspect his red eye.

"It's fine." He turns his face away.

"Let me see." She takes hold of his cheek to turn his face back towards her. "Oh, we could ask George if he has any lying around at home." She suggests.

"No, it's fine," He smiles, removing her hand from his face. "Barely even hurts." He adds, opening the wardrobe and pulling out a pair of jeans and shirt.

"I know you're lying." She tells him as she picks a dress out to wear.

"Fine, it hurts but I've had worse." He assures her.

"I'm sure you have." She sighs. "I'm getting changed." She tells him so he doesn't look over to her side of their bedroom.

"One of which was by you so don't worry, this won't be the worst bruise you've given me." He jokes, making her smile.

"You deserved that one." She reminds him, pulling on her dress.

"I suppose I did." He chuckles. "Are you dressed?" He asks.

"Yeah," She says, sitting down on the bed to fasten her sandals. "Do you want breakfast before we leave for David's?" She asks, heading downstairs.

"We should. I don't want to impose on him too much." Draco admits.

"I'm sure he doesn't mind," Hermione assures him. "But I'll make us some scrambled eggs." She tells him.

Draco picks up all the files they had left out the night before when they'd gone to bed. It takes him a while to reorganise them but when he's done, breakfast is ready.

"Do you mind if I leave you and David to write the names on the wall? I don't think you'll need me, you know, too many cooks." She asks.

Draco glances up from his scrambled eggs on toast with a frown. "Why, where are you going?"

"It's been a while since I've visited my parents and grandparent. I thought I'd take Sophie with me to get her out of the way. You two can get on with the wall." Hermione tells him.

"Oh, that'll be fine." He nods, going back to his breakfast.

They arrive at David's house just after ten o'clock to find them playing badminton in their garden.

"Hermione, can you play with me?" Sophie asks as soon as they step outside to join them.

"I would but I'm wearing a dress. Although, I'm sure Draco would love to play." She flashes him a smile.

"Oh, I've never played," Draco mentions, trying to back out.

"We're not playing properly. We're just rallying." Sophie explains, passing him the racket. "Just hit the shuttlecock back to me." She says as she serves.

Draco tries to hit it back but he completely misses. "Okay, let me have another go." He says, handing the shuttlecock back to Sophie who serves. Once again, he misses.

"We might be here a while," Hermione mutters to David.

"I heard that," Draco calls as he makes another attempt, this time he hit it but straight to the ground instead of back to Sophie.

David laughs. "Cuppa?" He offers, heading into the kitchen.

"I've think I've drunk more cups of teas in these three weeks then I have in the entire seven years I was at Hogwarts." She states, leaning beside the kettle whilst David takes out three cups.

"What did you drink?" He asks her.

"We usually have pumpkin juice for meals. In the winter we sometimes have hot chocolate. Then, when we go down to Hogsmeade, we buy butterbeer, which is delicious." Hermione tells him.

"Butterbeer?" David frowns.

"There's no alcohol in it." She explains when she realises his confusion.

David shakes his head like it's too much magic for him at one time so she changes the subject.

"How's work?" She asks as he makes their teas.

"It's near the end of the year so we're all getting excited about the summer. The year eleven's have finished all their coursework so now they're revising for exams, which is stressful for everyone. I have to be finished marking by the first of July. Then I have to second mark Angela's history coursework, which is always fun." He says sarcastically. "Her handwriting is atrocious." He adds.

"How are the courseworks looking so far?" She asks.

"You won't believe this. Sammy Jones, the lad with no respect for authority, he got an A*." David says in disbelief. "I've marked it twice and ended up giving him another mark the second time. I saw him the other day in the park, that day I found out about… magic. He was drinking and smoking with his mate and I just lost it. I told him he could have made something of himself if he respected people and actually tried but he would probably be in prison before his eighteenth birthday." David admits, passing her a cup of tea.

"Oh, David, ho-" Hermione starts.

"I know. I gave up on him and practically wrote him off as a failure. You should have seen his face too. He looked hurt. I'm going to have to apologise to him on Monday." David sighs. "Anyway, we haven't talked about your career prospects since the whole reveal of… magic." He smiles nervously, as though talking about the 'm' word too much will cause something to explode.

"I told you I wanted to be physics teacher and it wasn't technically a lie, just a twisted truth. The magical version of physics is called Transfiguration, or it's at least the closest thing. The headmistress at Hogwarts, the school I went to, has offered me an apprenticeship in the subject starting in September. If all goes well, I'll be the transfiguration professor next September." She smiles excitedly.

"Congratulations, I'm so proud of you." David smiles. "Wait, does this mean you'll teach Sophie?" He asks.

"Yes, and my own children and all the children of my friends. It's going to be difficult establishing a professional relationship with them when I've known them since birth." She admits.

"You'll do fine," David says confidently. "What's your version of chemistry then?" He asks. "Potions." He laughs.

"Yes, actually. Draco was offered that apprenticeship. We're both going to accept them." She nods.

"I hit it," Draco announces breathlessly as he enters the kitchen. "I hit it back and we rallied to four." He adds, sitting down at the breakfast table.

"It was rubbish. He's worse than you, Dad." Sophie grumbles as she shut's the back door.

"Here Draco, have a cuppa" David hands him a cup. "What happened to your eye?" He frowns, reaching out to touch it.

"It's fine. Someone had a nightmare and thought it would be funny to elbow the nearest thing in the eye." He stares pointedly at Hermione.

"You did that?" David glances at Hermione slightly impressed.

"I was being attacked by Winnie the Pooh." She says to defend herself, making both David and Sophie laugh whilst Draco looks on confused.

"Right, David, I finished those names." Draco mentions.

"Yes, let's take this upstairs. Sophie, why don't you play in your room?" David suggests.

"Do I have to?" Sophie whines.

"I'm actually going to visit my mum and then grandma and grandad. Do you want to come with me, Sophie?" She asks her cousin.

"Yes, let me get my coat." She races up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Here, Hermione, take my car." David passes her the car keys.

"Thanks, I'll have her back for dinner." She says.

"I'm ready," Sophie calls from the front door.

"I'm coming," Hermione calls back. "I'll see you later." She turns to Draco. "Text me if you need me." She smiles, leaning up for a quick peck before leaving.

Draco and David head upstairs to the office where multiple coloured pens have been laid out on the desk.

"I repainted the wall white on Thursday night so we've got a blank canvas," David tells him, placing his cup of tea on the windowsill. Draco copies him before taking out the notepad and the files from his pocket. "The first thing we need to do is plan how we're going to spread it out. We know Aslac Malfoy and Lettice will be at the top and centre with his two daughters and son spread out beneath. What we need to figure out is how many descendent each one of them has so we know how much space on the wall to give them."

"This sounds complicated." Draco comments.

"It is," David mutters as he rips the pages from the notepad and spreads them across the floor. "We're going to have to look in the files again to find out which three of Aslac's children they came from." He mentions.

"Wouldn't it be easier to start with Torkel since Hyperion obviously came from that line. He's a Malfoy." Draco points out.

David pauses in his shuffling of papers for a moment to think. "I suppose it would be easier to focus on the Malfoy line for now." He nods, turning to face him. "But, if my theory that after 1964, Hyperion found someone in my world that knew your grandfather or the Malfoy's then we might have to look further into other family lines." He explains.

Draco doesn't want to get into an argument with Hermione's uncle on pureblood family beliefs so lets him think what he wants. He'll disprove his own theory soon or later.

"Our new plan of action," David announces. "We'll make two piles, one for the Malfoy line and another for Malfoy who married out of the family or didn't have any children." He tells him.

"Sounds good. Do you want me to read out the name or sort out the files?" Draco questions.

"You can read the names of the list. Start with Torkel Malfoy." David instructs him. "Who did he marry again?"

"Leveda Avery."

"Oh yeah, the younger sister of his sister's murderer," David says.

"She wasn't murdered when they married." He defends his very distant grandfather.

"They had one son, didn't they? The Taurus one." David questions looking at the pile of files.

"Aldebaran."

"That's the one." David nods, finally finding the file and placing it with his grandparents and parents.

"He married Truda Longbottom and had two sons. Eridanus and Corvus." Draco waits for David to find the files before carrying on. Eridanus married Linnea Larsen, a Danish pureblood witch, and had three daughters. Moving onto Corvus?" He asks.

"Yeah, I've removed the Eridanus side," David says.

"Corvus married Delphine Laurent, a French pureblood witch, and they had a daughter and a son named Bastien Malfoy. He also married a French witch named, Arielle Rousseau. They had two sons called Corvus II and Bastien II." Draco sits down at the desk, spreading the notepad paper out in front of him.

"This is getting confusing." David sighs as he rummages through the files for the children of Bastien and Arielle.

"It's not that common for a Malfoy to name a child after a previous relative and they both married English women so that the end of the Malfoy's French phase." He explains.

"Okay, start with Corvus II," David says.

"Married Constance Bellamy, and, oh, doesn't matter. She was half-blood. Corvus would have been struck off the family tree." Draco mentions.

"What do you mean?" David questions, looking up at him in confusion.

"The Malfoy's are a pureblood family and for a majority of pureblood families, it is of the utmost importance to maintain that blood status. If an estranged child married anyone other than a pureblood, they're a blood traitor and would have been struck off the tree. I have an Aunt I've never officially met because she married a Muggleborn. I'm technically a blood traitor because I married Hermione. It's only because mother knows it wasn't a choice that I haven't been struck off." He tries to explain.

"So, the Malfoys won't be pureblood anymore?" David asks.

"No, I'm the last pureblood Malfoy. Unless we find another line of Malfoys somewhere." He nods back to the files, signalling that they should carry on.

"Right, Bastien II then. Who'd her marry?" David asks, moving on.

Hermione pulls up behind her parents' car, outside their house. Sophie jumps out straight away, running towards her Auntie Sarah and Uncle Chris' house. Locking the car, she quickly follows.

"Hi, Mum and Dad." She calls into the house, slipping her shoes off and walking into the living room to find bother her parents' lounging in their seats. "Are you alright?" She asks them worriedly.

"We're shattered, Hermione." Her mum says, yawning as though to prove her statement.

"Why were you such a good child?" Her Dad asks her. "You gave us an unrealistic expectation of children." He adds.

"Lauren and Craig?" She smiles sitting down beside her mum.

"Yes, Lauren's been so naughty since she got here." She says.

"And she never shuts up." Her dad adds.

"And Craig is pretty much the same but he sobs all night and it breaks my heart. He doesn't deserve this. Neither of them does." She shakes her head. "When Louise returns from wherever she is, I'm going to wring her neck." Her mum hisses, angrier than she's ever heard her speak before.

"I'm going to visit the grandparents, I'll take them all with me and we'll go to the park on the way home. Why don't you both go to bed and try to catch up on some sleep?" She suggests.

"Such a good girl." Her mum pats her cheek as she stands up.

"Hey, Sarah, we did that. We raised her good. It's our fault." He rambles as he turns off the television and follows his wife upstairs.

"I'll take them to David's for dinner and bring them back around six," Hermione says as she climbs the stairs after them.

"Perfect. We can get a whole night's sleep." Her dad smiles excitedly as they head into their bedroom.

"Goodnight," Hermione calls as they shut their bedroom door.

"It's not bedtime yet," Lauren shouts from Hermione's childhood bedroom.

She enters to find all three children sat on the floor playing dominos.

"No, but Auntie Sarah and Uncle Chris are very tired and are going to bed for a few hours so I'm taking you to Grandma and Grandad's house for a few hours," Hermione announces.

Lauren and Sophie cheer excitedly whilst Craig smiles.

"If you're good," Hermione waits for them to calm down before carrying on. "I'll take you to the park before we got to Uncle David's for dinner." She finishes and they cheer again. "Okay, shoes and coat then to the front door." She orders.

When all three children are appropriately dressed, Hermione takes hold of Craig and tells Sophie and Lauren to sensibly hold hands.

"When I open the front door, don't run off. You have to wait in the front garden whilst I get the car seats from Auntie Sarah's car." She tells the girls and they nod.

Hermione opens the front door, stepping out first. Thankfully, the girls are listening to her and wait at the front garden gate for her to lock the front door then grab Craig and Lauren's car seats from her parents' car.

"Okay, you can come. Sophie, do you want to sit in the front or in the back?" She asks as she places the car seats on the back seat and lifts Craig in, fastening him in safely

"The back." She says, scrambling over from the front seat.

"Okay, seatbelt." She reminds her.

Lauren had already climbed into her seat herself but Hermione checked she had fastened herself in properly before climbing in behind the steering wheel and releasing a breath she hadn't realises she'd been holding. Knowing all three children were safely strapped into the car and not running around is a massive weight off her shoulders and makes her thankful for cars. However, it doesn't take them long to start bickering in the back.

"Hermione, Lauren elbowed me in the rib. Tell her to stop." Sophie whines.

"No, I didn't," Lauren shouts.

"Yes, you did," Sophie shouts back.

"You started it."

"No, I didn't.

Hermione, calmly as possible, pulls the car over to the side of the road. Without saying a word, she climbs out, walking around the back of the car to Craig's side. She opens the door, unbuckling her cousin.

"Come on, Craig." She lifts him onto her hip, grabbing his car seat before slamming the door shut. "You're going to sit in the front like a big boy." She tells him as she opens the front passenger door, placing the car seat down and fastening him in again.

When she's sat back in the driver's seat, she turns around to look at both Sophie and Lauren.

"Sophie, move over." She says calmly and her cousin does as she's told.

"Why's Craig sat in the front? It's not fair." Lauren complains, crossing her arms overdramatically.

"Craig is sat in the front because he was the only one being good. At the moment, it looks like only Craig and I will be going to the park this afternoon. Should we invite grandma and have an ice-cream?" She asks Craig who nods. "The two of you will have to stay with grandad whilst he reads the newspaper." She tells them, turning back around, ready to drive off. In the rear-view mirror, she can see the two girls exchanging worried looks, wondering if she would really leave them with their Grandad.

The rest of the car ride to their grandparents' house is in silence and when she pulls up outside, none of them jump out of the car or even undo their seatbelts.

"Girls, climb out on this side, away from the road," Hermione tells them as she undoes Craig's seatbelt. "And straight into the house." She adds and amazingly, the girls walk sensibly down the path and into their grandparents' house.

Almost an hour later, Draco and David are still going through all the files. Thankfully, they've made it into the nineteenth century and are going through Deimos Malfoy, who married Iola Black II.

"She was adopted," David states, having caught the word in the file.

"What? Pureblood's don't adopt children. It taints the bloodline." Draco turns on the desk chair to face David.

"Yeah, it says here her mother was Iola Black I. She fell pregnant in her fifth year at Hogwarts by Cecil Macmillan, a seventh year. Her parents disowned her but her older brother, Phineas Nigellus Black I took her into his home at Grimmauld Place. Her mother disappeared the day after her birth and was never seen again. Phineas took responsibility and adopted his niece when he was only nineteen years old." David reads from the file.

"She was raised by family but Phineas would still have been struck off for it," Draco says but David's not listening.

"Draco, listen to this. Iola II married Deimos Malfoy in 1895. They had a son, Arche, in 1900 but they discovered he was a squib when he was ten and left him in a village where he was raised by an old muggle farmer and his wife." David looks up at Draco in astonishment. "This is who we've been looking for." He adds.

"Who, the link between our worlds?" He asks. "I think he's most likely dead by now." He adds.

"Probably but he would have only been fifty-six in 1956 when Hyperion was sent to the orphanage." David points out. "Once Hyperion was made homeless by the orphanage, he might have gone searching for some family. Maybe he thought he could find his father and ask him for money or maybe he was searching for any Malfoy." He suggests.

"Why would Hyperion assume there were any Malfoy's in the muggle world?" Draco asks him.

"Going through these files, we've found seven squibs since 1443. If Hyperion's as clever as you say he is, he must have realised that he couldn't have been the first Malfoy squib. Maybe one was still alive or their children knew. All he probably wanted was a family and a home." David explains. "I work with these children all the time. They're called LAC's or Looked After Children."

"I think we should carry on in case anything more concrete comes up," Draco suggests.

"There's more information on Arche though. After the farmer and his wife died, they left him their money and farm, which he sold to the highest bidder than moved to London in 1919 where he met a Muggle called Sarah Current. They married in 1920 and had seven sons. Arche dies in 1940 during world war II." David explains.

"He's not your link then. He died before Hyperion was born." Draco says.

"Arche's children." David states. "William Malfoy was born 1921 and died 1940, within a month of his father. How upsetting for Sarah?" He shakes his head sadly. "Then Peter Malfoy was born in 1923 and died 1942. Thirdly was Nicholas born 1925 and died 1943. Sarah lost her husband and three eldest sons to World War II." David points out. "Arche's four youngest sons are still alive, according to this. James was born 1927, Neil was born 1930, Arthur was born 1933 and Benjamin was born 1938. James is probably our best bet and finding any information out. He was thirteen when his father died and is more likely to remember him talking about magic." David stands up from the floor excited. "I can't believe we have a lead this early. It took me months until I found one for the Adair's."

"I still think we should finish going through the rest of the files," Draco suggests again, making David stare at him confused for a moment before seemingly understanding.

"I remember that feeling, the nerves and excitement all mixed into one. You desperately want to find Hyperion but now we've got a breakthrough you've realised this is all happening so fast and it's so real. I'm sorry Draco but that feeling never goes away. Not until you find what you're looking for." David tells him with a soft pat on his shoulder. "I think we need a beer, do you want one?"

"Yeah, thanks." Draco nods as he leaves.

David had been right. He's nervous but not because it's happening too fast or because it's suddenly real. The whole point of this is to find Hyperion as quickly as possible. His worry is that he isn't going to like who Hyperion is or Hyperion won't like who he is or won't even want to know him in the first place. There are too many variables.

"I miss having them around the house." Her Grandma admits whilst she waits for the kettle to boil. They're stood in the kitchen watching Sophie, Lauren and Craig play in the back garden. "Although, it is nice to have a little break."

"It's for the best though. At Mum's they've got their own bedroom and they live closer to school. Anyway, we don't want them running you into an early grave." She jokes and her grandmother chuckles. "Has Louise been in touch yet?" She asks.

"No, and the social services told us not to try and to let them find her." She scoffs as she makes their drinks. "Like I'm not going to try and find my daughter, however wayward she is."

"You need to let them do their job, Grandma. When they find Louise, they'll help her become a better parent. Then Lauren and Craig can go home with their mother, where they belong." Hermione tells her Grandma.

"Louise isn't a good mum. I know that. It's why I was looking after them, so I wasn't constantly worrying about them." Her Grandma sighs.

"You don't have to worry about them now either. My parents have got them and they raised me so you know they're good parents." She smiles as they sit down at the kitchen table.

"That I do. I know they're safe with Sarah. She was always so much more mature than Louise." She says.

"You can't compare them. Mum is twenty-nine years older than Louise and when she was twenty-one, things were different. Although, I can't imagine Mum ever going out partying." She laughs at the thought of her Mum in one of Louise's short dresses and heels.

"Your Mum was never one for going out. She was a studier. She went straight from secondary school to sixth form to university where she met your Dad. She knew she wanted to be a dentist so she went and become one. Louise has never had that drive. You're a lot like your Mum in that sense. How are you doing in getting ready for university in September?" Her Grandma asks.

"Actually, I've been offered a teacher training placement at my old school up in Scotland." She tells her.

"You're not going to university anymore?" She asks sounding worried just as her grandad enters the kitchen.

"What? Why aren't you going to university? Is that boy behind this?" He questions her as he sits beside his wife at the kitchen table. "Don't let a relationship stop you from achieving what you want in life. There'll always be other boys."

Hermione doesn't know how to explain everything without blatantly lying, something she hates doing to her grandparents. It's times like this she wishes she could just tell them about magic and being a witch. She knows it would breach Clause 73 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy but it's not like Kingsley would arrest her for it. He needs her too much. And with that thought, her mind is made up.

"Grandma, Grandad, I need to tell you something." She starts, heart rate increasing as the nerves set in.

Her grandparents share a look before nodding at her to continue.

"When I was in year six at primary school, a strange man named Titan came around our house and told me and Mum and Dad that I was a witch. He gave me my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a magical school in Scotland." She admits but when they just keep staring at her, she continues. "That's where I've been offered an apprenticeship as the Transfiguration Professor, which is what I've wanted to do since I was about twelve." She finishes.

Her grandparents share another look.

"I told you." Her Grandad states, eyes wide.

"Yes, you did," Her Grandma rolls her eyes as she looks back at Hermione. "You hid it very well, Dear. We didn't suspect a thing." She congratulates her.

Hermione doesn't understand. How did they already know? She knows her parents would never have told them, they're too scared of the consequences.

"How?" She simply asks, unable to question much more.

"Should I get it?" Her Grandad asks and her Grandma nods in reply.

"I don't understand how you already know." She says.

Her Grandma smiles at her. "I'll explain when your Grandad come back."

Almost ten minutes later, Hermione hears the attic latch close and her grandad's footfalls coming down the stairs. He enters the kitchen with a small wooden box, placing it in the middle of the kitchen table Hermione leans forward to closely inspect the box. On the lid is an intricately carved coat of arms with the name ' _Rowle'_ and the motto  _'Omne stadium scientiae'_.

"Everything in the pursuit of Knowledge." Her Grandad translates for her.

"Rowle. You know about Karina?" Hermione asks, looking back up at them.

"Open the box." Her Grandad tells her as her grandma nods encouragingly.

Hermione's not sure if she wants to but the curiosity is too much. Hesitantly, she reaches out, fingers caressing the wooden coat of arms before squeezing the metal clasp to open the lid. It all looks very old and expensive. She would assume the box was actually Karina's back in the late sixteenth century. That would make the box almost four hundred years old. Taking a deep breath, she opens the lid to reveal a deep purple cushion.

"Take it out." Her Grandma urges her.

She glances up at her. "The cushion?" She questions in confusion.

"No, it's a jewellery bag." Her Grandma corrects her.

Carefully, Hermione takes out the folded velvet bag, which unravels to reveal a corded drawstring. She feels something about the size and weight of the pebbles on the shingle beach in Somerset land in her hand.

"Can I open it?" She asks.

"Of course, although be careful, it's extremely valuable." Her Grandad tells her.

Hermione nods as she pulls open the drawstring. Inside she feels a cold metal chain, which must be at least thirty inches long, she thinks as she keeps on pulling. At the end of the gold chain is another velvet drawstring bag around what she assumes is the pendant. With a curious glance at her grandparents, she opens the second bag, peering inside. With a sharp intake of breath, she carefully places the necklace back in the box.

"What is that?" She asks, eyes wide in terrified amazement.

"Take it out, Hermione." Her Grandad tells her firmly.

She stares completely confused at her grandad for a few seconds before picking the gold chain up again and this time, removing the second drawstring bag to reveal a gold pendant holding the biggest gemstone she's ever seen. She stares at it in awe, turning it over in her hands.

"What is this?" She whispers, not taking her eye off the necklace as a whole.

"It's yours." Her Grandad states simply.

"Mine?" She repeats, looking down at the pendant.

"Yes, the necklace is magical and it yearns for magical blood. She knew the path she needed to take to find you." Her Grandma tells her mystically, reminding her of Professor Trelawney.

"May I?" Her Grandad holds out his hand. "This is a gold titanium chain which holds a twenty-four-karat gold pendent. Set inside is a fifty-carat red diamond." He explains, pointing to each part of the necklace.

"How much do you know about the Rowle family?" Her Grandma asks.

"Quite a lot. We got permission from the Ministry of Magic to visit the archives. I looked into the Rowle family after David mentioned the name." She explains.

"So, you'll know all about poor Eros." She sighs.

"Poor Eros? I know he had multiple affairs with both his wives and left Karina to be raised in the workshops after her mother died." Hermione frowns.

"You know the facts, Hermione but you don't understand. He was forced into marrying both Vesta and Freya for money and political influence by his father, Lares. He met Florence in 1577 and fell in love with her. He paid for everything for her so she never had to work again. He gave her this necklace as an engagement present." Her Grandma explains.

"Traditionally, the necklace is passed on to the first-born son to give to the woman he loves." Her Grandad interrupts.

"Even though she was non-magical, he loved her more than anyone. When she died giving birth to their daughter, Karina, he was devastated. He wore the necklace himself for seventeen years until his daughter was of age and ready to hear about magic. He explained her heritage then presented her with the necklace. Upon her death during the witch trials, the necklace presented itself to her youngest son and so it began. The necklace's quest for a magical descendant." Her Grandmas finishes explaining.

"It presented itself to you?" She asks her Grandad.

"Yes, the day my father died, I didn't want my mother to be alone so I slept in the spare bedroom. I woke up the next morning to find the box and a letter from James Adair, Karina's grandson, on the bedside table. I'm afraid you won't get the letter or ownership of the necklace until your mother dies." He explains.

"What? Why do I have to wait until then?" She asks, not wanting to think about her mum dying.

"The necklace has to present itself to you. When I die, it'll present itself to your mother, then when she dies, it'll present itself to you. I'm not sure what'll happen when you die. Whether it'll present itself to one of your children or if it'll return to being passed on to your eldest son." He tells her.

"This is a lot to take in." Hermione sighs.

"You have to tell Draco." Her Grandma tells her.

"I was already planning on telling him." Hermione nods.

"Good, he'll become a part of this when you're married." She adds.

"I should probably tell you, we're already married. The Ministry enforced a decree to increase the population after our war. Draco and I were paired together and are legally obliged to have a child within the next two years." She informs them.

"You're married?" Her Grandma gasps. "We missed the ceremony?"

"It wasn't anything fancy, Grandma. Everyone received two tickets each. Mum and Dad were there along with thousands of other people." She explains.

"Should we buy you a wedding present? Do you need anything?" She asks, taking Hermione's hand in hers.

"No, we're fine, grandma." She smiles, squeezing her grandmother's hand. "Thank you though." She adds.

"Grandma," Sophie screams, running into the kitchen. "Lauren pushed me off the trampoline."

"She was being stupid," Lauren shouts, chasing after her.

"I'm not stupid," Sophie shouts at her cousin. "I'm cleverer than you'll ever be."

"Lauren, apologise to your cousin. Sophie isn't stupid and that isn't a reason to push someone off the trampoline." Their Grandma stares pointedly at Lauren.

"No, she was mean." Lauren pouts.

"All is asked was if she likes living with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Chris." Sophie shrugs.

"You said my Mum didn't want us anymore," Lauren shouts.

"Only because you said at least you had a Mum," Sophie shouts. "I have a Mum."

"She disappeared," Lauren tells her.

"Yours did too." Sophie snaps, angrily pushing her cousin.

"My Mum's coming back." Lauren pushes her back, causing her cousin to fall over.

"ENOUGH!" Their Grandad shouts. "This is not how we act towards out family. Both of you apologise now." He tells them.

"Sorry, Sophie." Lauren quickly mutters in tears.

"Sorry," Sophie says, looking down at her shoes.

"Now both of you, go sit on the bottom sit for five minutes and think of what you've said to each other." Grandad orders and they both scarper off to the stairs.

Hermione spots Craig stood on the backdoor step, looking upset.

"Do you want to go to the park, Craig?" Hermione smiles.

Craig nods. "With Grandma?" He asks quietly.

"Of course, darling." Grandma agrees.

"I told the girls they couldn't come if they weren't good," Hermione informs her Grandma.

"They knew the consequence," Grandma says as she helps Craig pull on his shoes.

Hermione squats down in front of her cousins. "We're going to the park and I think you know why you're not coming with us." She looks at them. They both nod sadly. "I'm going to buy some chocolate bars at the shop on the way home. If you're good for the rest of the day, I'll let you have one after your tea tonight at David's." She tells them. Their eyes widen in hunger for chocolate.

"We'll be good," Sophie promises.

Hermione nods her head as she stands up, leaving the house with her Grandma and Craig. On the walk to the park, they play that game with Craig where they each hold his hand and swing him forward. He giggles every time.

As soon as David had returned with a beer each for them, they had started on writing Arche's family tree on the wall, starting with Iola Black II. David was hoping that by looking further into Arche's children, they would be able to find some link or connection to Hyperion. Unfortunately for them, the Department of registrations didn't keep records of the children of squibs so all they had to go off was that Arche lived in London before his death.

They've just finished spreading the four remaining sons of Arch across the wall with their dates of birth since that's the only information they have about them.

"Where do we go from here?" Draco asks, eyes glancing across the wall.

"We go to the local library and search the newspapers for Arche Malfoy and his three sons that died. During the war, they printed a list of names of those who had died during the war that week. Alongside their name would be their age and their town of origin. We find one of their names, we can localise our search to a specific town." David explains, downing the rest of his beer.

"Seems easy enough." Draco nods.

"It won't be a quick job. Around four hundred thousand British people died during the second world war and the News of the World paper printed every single one of them." David tells him.

"We'll only need to look at the newspapers from 1940, 1942 and 1943, won't we?" Draco questions him.

"Yes, but that's still a lot of names and newspapers to go through. I won't have much time to search for you so if I take 1940, you can take 1942 and 1943." David mentions as he checks his watch. "We've got a couple of hours before Hermione and Sophie are due home. I'll take you to the library now and show you how to use the newspaper machine." He says, making his way downstairs with Draco following.

"Hermione took the car." Draco reminds him when he starts rummaging around a bowl near the front door.

"Oh, I forgot. I suppose we can walk. It'll take half an hour." David tells him, grabbing his coat off the peg and walking out the front door.

Hermione sits with her Grandma on a bench in the playpark whilst Craig repeatedly goes down the slide.

"That's his favourite." Her Grandma tells her.

"They have one at school, don't they?" She asks.

"Yeah, his nursery teacher tells me it's the only thing he'll play on." She chuckles.

"Does he have any friends at nursery?" Hermione asks curiously.

"She says he plays near other children but never with them and he doesn't talk to anyone." She sighs.

"He's been through a lot at such a young age. He could have become extroverted, like Lauren or introverted. It's just his way of dealing with the situation. When his life becomes more settled, he'll come out of his shell and make friends." Hermione tells her.

"I hope you're right." She sighs.

Ten minutes later, Craig runs over to them, a little breathless, and sits beside Hermione.

"Should we get an ice-cream then take a walk around the park?" She suggests, looking down at her cousin who nods. "Let's go then."

Hermione buys herself, Craig and her Grandma an ice-cream from the small hut inside the park along with a bag of seeds for the duck at the pond. By the time they've walked to the pond, they've finished their ice-creams and Craig asks for the seeds. Hermione stands close beside him as he throws the seeds into the pond for the ducks, just in case he gets too close. Craig laughs when an overly friendly duck jumps out of the pond and waddles up to him for more seeds. Surprisingly, Craig holds his hand out and the duck pecks the seeds straight from his hand.

"Wow, Craig. That's amazing. Ducks don't usually like getting too close to people." She tells him, watching him beam proudly as he holds another handful of seeds out for the duck

When all the seeds have gone, the duck waddles off and Craig waves him goodbye before taking hold of Hermione's hand so they can head home. As she had promised the girls, she stops off at the corner shop to buy a few chocolate bars for after dinner, as long as they're good.

As soon as Hermione walks through her grandparents' front door, Lauren runs up to her excitedly.

"We've been really good," Lauren tells her. "Ask Grandad." She says.

"Yeah, they've been good." Their Grandad grumbles from the front room, behind his newspaper.

"You need to continue to be good whilst we're at your Uncle David's if you want your chocolate bar." Hermione reminds them.

"When are we going?" Sophie asks, joining them in the hallway.

Hermione glances at her watch. "It's half four, so if you want to go now, we can." She suggests.

"Yeah." Both Sophie and Lauren answer.

"Alright, say goodbye to Grandma and Grandad then we'll get going." She tells them.

Almost half an hour later, they pull up into David's driveway and Lauren and Sophie jump out racing towards the front door. Hermione doesn't mind as much since they're not near the road.

"It's locked," Sophie shouts as Hermione unbuckles Craig from his car seat.

"Are you sure?" He asks as she walks over.

"Yeah."

Hermione tries the door to find it locked. "Sophie take Lauren and Craig into the back garden." She tells her cousin who looks at her confused before doing as she's told, taking hold of Craig's hand.

As soon as her cousins are out of site, Hermione takes out her wand and discretely taps the front door, unlocking it. Once inside, she heads into the kitchen to unlock the back door to let her cousins inside.

"How did you open the front door?" Lauren asks.

"Never you mind, let's play in the games room." She suggests and her cousins race down the hall into the room.

Hermione stays in the kitchen to call Draco on her phone. He picks up after a few rings.

"Hello, Hermione." He whispers down the phone.

"Why are you whispering?" She asks him.

"We're in the library." He answers. "The librarian's glaring at me." He adds.

"Why are you in a library?" She asks.

"David thinks we've found a link between the Malfoy's and the Muggle world. I'll explain later, the librarian's coming over here. I'm going to have to go." He tells her before hanging up.

She replaces the phone in her pocket before joining her cousins in the games room where they've got snakes and ladders out.

"Do you want to play?" Sophie asks as she sits beside her. "You can be green." She adds, holding out the last remaining counter.

For the next hour, they play a few games of snakes and ladders. They stop when David and Draco return home with some fish and chips for dinner.

"At the table kids," David announces as he dishes up six plates. He places three plates on the table for the children. "The adults are going to eat in the front room. Be good." He tells them as they leave.

"So, what's this link then?" Hermione questions curiously once they've sat down.

"Abraxas had a Squib brother he knew nothing about. He was called Arche, born 1900. In 1910 he was left in the countryside by his parents and raised by a farmer. He moved to London in 1919 where he met a muggle. They married and had seven sons. Arche died, along with three of his sons during the war but David thinks one of his four surviving sons will know something about Hyperion." Draco explains.

"I can't believe you found something so soon." She admits. "Why were you in the library then?" She asks.

"Looking at the war deaths in the newspapers. If we can find which town Arche and his family lived in, we have a better chance of finding the surviving sons. We've still got a long way to go and I can't dedicate any more time then weekends to this as I've got a lot of work to do." David explains.

"Draco and I will help out without whatever you need. Just let us know." Hermione tells him.

"I would hope so, this is your project." He jokes with a laugh.

When they've finished dinner, Hermione hands out the chocolate bars to her cousins then offers to wash up whilst everyone else gathers in the living room to watch some television until she has to take Lauren and Craig back to her parents' house. Once she's finished, she joins them in watching a children's programme until it finishes at half past six.

"We'll be back half an hour." She tells her uncle as they leave, safely fastening the children into the car.

The living room lights are on in her parents' house when she pulls up outside fifteen minutes later and she hopes they managed to get a good sleep. They look well rested when she and Draco enter with Lauren and Craig.

"Bath time for you two." Her Mum announces, ushering them straight upstairs.

"Thanks, Hermione. We really needed a break for a few hours. I guess we've forgotten how tiring it can be to parent under five-year-olds." He jokes.

"You'll get the hang of it." She assures him.

"Most likely." He smiles.

"I'll come around to see you later next week." She tells him as they get ready to leave. "We need to return David's car to him."

"Okay, drive safely." Her Dad reminds her as he hugs her and slaps Draco's shoulder goodbye.

They let themselves back into David's house after parking the car in the driveway. Hermione hands her Uncle the keys and starts to bid him goodbye when he suggests she and Draco stay the night in his spare room since they'll be coming back over in the morning to supervise Gwenog and Sophie's day out. After much arguing from Hermione on how they don't want to impose and from David on how they won't be, they agree to spend the night.

At eight o'clock, David sends Sophie to bed and announces that he's going to get a few hours of marking done before he turns in himself but they can feel free to stay downstairs and watch television for as long as they want.

Hermione and Draco end up stay downstairs until they hear David's office door close as he heads to bed at eleven o'clock. She leads Draco up the stairs and towards where she knows David's spare bedroom is.

"The bed is considerably small than our own." Draco points out as he strips out of his shirt and jeans.

"It's a double bed. Ours is a king size. There should be more than enough room." She tells him as she takes off her sandals.

"We might have to cuddle to make up for the lack of space." He smirks at her as he charms his teeth clean then climbs into bed, pulling the covers over his head so she can climb out of her dress.

Hermione charms her own teeth clean before joining Draco under the quilt. She turns on her side to face him.

"Do you want to cuddle?" She asks him, not sure if he was serious. They haven't cuddled in bed since before he found out about her visits to Lucius.

With a smile, he opens his arms in invitation which she gratefully accepts by shuffling closer to his warmth.

"I remember our first night as a married couple." She states after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "Your hands were freezing when you helped me out of my wedding dress." She chuckles.

"Are they still freezing?" He asks, holding his palm against her stomach.

"No, you're quite warm." She tells him, making him smile.

"No longer a cold-blooded snake?" He asks.

"No comment." She laughs, pulling the quilt further up around her ears.

Just before she falls asleep, Hermione feels Draco kiss her forehead and wish her a good night. She smiles in response and mumbles goodnight in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NaNoWriMo Chapters
> 
> Chapter 70 - 30th November 2017
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	70. Chapter 70

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 70 for you!
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
> 
> See below for ALL the chapters you'll be getting this December.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

After thirty years of waking up for work at six o'clock, David finds it impossible to sleep in past seven o'clock on the weekend or during the holidays, no matter what time he goes to bed. Instead of wasting his morning lying in bed until he hears Sophie or Hermione and Draco getting up, he decides to finish marking another pile of marking without distraction.

With a cup of coffee to waken his brain, David sits at his office desk marking for two hours before he hears the floorboards in the spare bedroom squeaks under the weight of one of its occupant. He finishes the essay he's on, writing a B at the top of the front page before tidying them up into semi-organised piles and joining whoever had made their way downstairs into the kitchen a few minutes ago.

"Morning." Draco yawns stood at the kettle in the same clothes he had been wearing yesterday. "Do you want a cup?" He offers.

David raises the empty cup in his hand. "I've just finished one but thanks." He says, placing the cup in the sink to be washed.

A flick of Draco's wrist and the cup starts washing itself, making David jump. He curiously watches as the cup rubs itself against the sponge, rinses itself then places itself on the drying rack. Hesitantly, he reaches forward and pokes the cup. It doesn't move, all the magic was seemingly gone. He turns around to find Draco watching him amusingly.

"I apologise, David. I forgot where I was for a moment." He says, hiding his smile. "I better get this to Hermione." He adds, walking back over to the stairs.

He casts a cautious glance back at the cup before heading into the living room to catch up on the news, however, with nothing of interest on he turns the television back off but remains on the couch.

He doesn't feel any better about letting Sophie spend the day with Gwen, even after the apparent success of the first meeting, which he completely puts down to the number of presents she bought her. When Sophie had shown him the books, cloak and handbag, he had been furious. How dare she try to buy Sophie's love with magic? Gwen knows how much Sophie wants to learn about the magical world and she's using that to manipulate her.

The clock in the hallway strikes nine so David pulls himself off the couch, with a groan as his back cracks, and makes his way up to Sophie's bedroom to wake her up. He knocks on her door, not expecting an answer but a few seconds later, her door flies open to reveal an already dressed Sophie wearing her blue cloak.

"Morning, Dad." She brightly greets him with a hug.

"I'm surprised you're up." He admits, entering the bedroom and perching on the edge of the bed.

Sophie opens the top drawer of her bedside table and rummages around.

"Where's you're alarm clock?" He asks, noticing that it's missing.

"It flew out the window." She states as she pulls out an old jam jar painted black.

"What's that?" He frowns, wondering why his daughter is hiding it in her drawer.

"It's where I keep my money. I washed it out and painted it black." She explains, unscrewing the lid and tipping it upside down on her desk.

David's surprised at how much money falls out. "Where did you get all that from?" He stands up to count the notes.

"You give me ten pounds a month for pocket money. Aunt Louise used to give me five pounds every time she saw me and told me to buy a magazine or some lip gloss." Sophie rolls her eyes. "Most of the coins are from Grandma and Grandad. They give me a pound each whenever we go around." She tells him as though he should already know this.

He watches as Sophie counts out forty pounds in five-pound notes and places them inside the handbag Gwen bought for her. She puts the rest of her money back in the jam jar. She turns around to replace it in her drawer but stops and looks at him.

"I'm going to have to find somewhere else to hide this now." She sighs, leaving it where her alarm clock one sat.

"What are you going with forty pounds?" He asks her curious.

"Gwen said she's going to open me a vault at the wizard bank so I can save wizard money for when I'm at Hogwarts. I thought forty pounds would be enough to start." She admits, looking up at him to gauge whether he approves or not.

David smiles, pulling her into a bear hug. "I'm so proud of you, Sophie. I can't believe you're only six. You're smarter than some of my student." He tells her, making her laugh. "Come on, I'll make you some scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast." He tells her.

"I'm just going to hide my jar again." She tells him as he leaves, making him chuckle.

When breakfast is ready, he asks Sophie to knock on the spare bedroom door and tell Hermione and Draco. The four of them sit around the breakfast table, eating their scrambled eggs and chatting. David smiles as he listens to Hermione and Draco explain something about the wizarding world and Sophie squeals excitedly before asking more questions. He hasn't seen Sophie this happy in a long time. He doesn't think he's been this happy in a long time. He finds himself wishing he knew more about the wizarding world so he could talk to Sophie like this.

When the hallway cloak strikes ten o'clock, Sophie jumps up with a gasp.

"We don't have long, Hermione can you plait my hair for me?" She asks her cousin.

Hermione looks unsure before nodding. "I'll do it in your room." She agrees, following her cousin upstairs.

"What was that about?" David asks Draco.

"I don't think she knows how to plait hair the muggle way and she doesn't like using magic in front of you," Draco explains. "Can you blame her for your initial reaction?" He teases with a smirk.

"I suppose not." David sighs. "I actually want to talk to you or Hermione about magic." He states.

Draco raises a curious eyebrow.

"I want to be able to talk to Sophie about the wizarding world but I obviously don't know anything about it. Are there any books I can read about this alley or the school?" He asks, feeling embarrassed.

Draco smiles at him. "Of course, I can get you 'Hogwarts: A History' to start off with."

"Is that the school?" David asks.

"Yes. Although, it was Ministry approved so it won't tell you everything about the school. If Sophie wants to know the secret passageway, she'll have to find them herself." He chuckles.

David frowns. "Where do these secret passageways lead?"

"Seven of them lead outside of the school but as far as I'm aware, only two of them are usable. Then there are hundreds of secret passageways throughout the school that lead to other parts of the school. Once you learn them, it means you can spend an extra few minutes getting ready in the morning and you won't be late for breakfast." Draco explains with fond memories.

David collects the dirty plates, setting them in the sink. "Draco, do you mind doing the dishes whilst I get ready?" He asks, taking advantage of the wizard in the house. "Then we can leave the library as soon as Hermione, Sophie and Gwen have left." He suggests.

"Sure," Draco sighs, making his way to the sink and pulling his sleeves up.

"You can do it your way if you want," David tells him as he leaves the kitchen. He hears a chuckle behind him as the kitchen chair is pulled out again and the sound of dishes as they start washing themselves.

On his way past Sophie bedroom, he hears giggling from inside. He knocks on the door before pushing it open to see both Hermione and Sophie sat on the bed with their hair sticking out in strange designs.

"What's happening here?" He asks, stifling a laugh.

"Magic." Sophie laughs reaching her hand up to feel her hair.

Hermione taps Sophie's head with her wand and his daughter's hair falls down flat. With another tap, her hair plaits itself into one long braid down the back of her head. Hermione then taps her own head and her hair falls down in waves.

"I'm glad you're having fun." He smiles before leaving to get changed.

"Off to visit your daughter again, Jones?" One of her teammates asks her as she stands up from the couch, halfway through an episode of blue peter.

"Yeah," She answers, pulling on a light jacket.

"I still can't believe you have a daughter. You hid her so well." The other woman says.

"Yeah." She answers again. "See you later." She mutters as she leaves the summer house.

As soon as she stepped through the grounds gate last Sunday, she had been ambushed by her teammates asking her if it was true what had been spreading like wildfire throughout the wizarding world. Did she have a daughter? Gwen doesn't regret telling Madam Malkin's. She knows the dressmaker is the biggest gossiper down Diagon Alley. It was kind of her plan but she didn't expect the world to go into such a frenzy. Every morning there's a new article about her, her daughter and David. Thankfully, due to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, the reporters can't go anywhere near Sophie or David.

As soon as she near the gate, reporters start shouting questions at her but she ignores them. The gate opens and Gwen disapparates straight to David's house. She's a few minutes early so she stands leans against the side of his house taking calming breaths.

All she wants is for Sophie to want her in her life. She thinks last week went well. They had spent the entire drive home talking about Quidditch, the one thing Gwen knows more about than anything else. She hopes her daughter will love the sport as much as she does, even if she doesn't want to play herself. She supposes she just wants to have something in common with Sophie. She's not interested in books or learning like Sophie but maybe Quidditch can be their thing.

She checks her watch. Half past ten. With one more deep breath, she walks to the door and knocks three times.

To her surprise, Draco Malfoy opens the door with a scowl. "Gwen." He nods, opening the door wider for her to enter.

"Draco." She nods in return, stepping into the house.

"They'll be down in a moment." He mentions as he walks upstairs, leaving her waiting.

She remains standing on the doormat for a few minutes until everyone comes down the stairs.

"Hi, Sophie." She greets her daughter.

"Hi, Gwen." She returns the greeting as she runs past her into the kitchen with David following behind her.

"How are you, Gwen?" Hermione asks her as she pulls her boots on.

"Good, thank you." She smiles. "And you?"

"We're great, thanks." She nods, standing up. "Are you ready to go, Sophie?" She calls down the hall into the kitchen.

"Yeah, coming." She calls as she runs into the hallway.

"Let's go then." Hermione opens the front door and Gwen steps out, making her way over to the passenger side door.

Draco and Hermione step out after her, exchanging a few words.

"Thanks, Dad." Sophie hugs David tightly and Gwen can't help but feel jealous.

Hermione gives Draco a kiss as David locks the front door than passes the keys to Hermione.

"We'll see you back home for five o'clock," David tells Hermione.

"Have fun!" She smiles as David and Draco set off walking out of the driveway and down the street.

"Where are they going?" Gwen asks as they all climb into the car.

"The library," Hermione answers as she starts the car up and sets off towards London.

The car ride is quiet with Sophie reading her a book on only breaking the silence to ask a question which Hermione answers since she couldn't care less about charms. She'd never been any good on the subject. She got an A in her exam which Professor Flitwick had told her he was surprised with.

"Did Hermione buy you that book?" She turns in her seat to ask, in the hopes of starting a conversation.

"No, it was Blaise's. he said I could keep it because he didn't need it anymore." Sophie tells her without looking up from the book.

"Who's Blaise?" She asks confused.

"One of my mine and Draco's friend," Hermione tells her.

"Another Slytherin." She assumes, turning back around in her seat.

"There's nothing wrong with Slytherin's, Gwen. My husband and two of my good friends are ones." She reminds her.

"Yes, and I don't like Draco or that Pansy girl." Gwen states.

"I like Draco and Pansy and Blaise. They're some of the nicest people I know. Are all Slytherin's nice?" Sophie asks, resting her book on her lap.

Gwen scoffs. "No, they're not."

Hermione glares at her for a split second before looking back at the road. "Not everyone is nice, Sophie but just because someone is a Slytherin, doesn't mean they're not nice. Draco, Pansy and Blaise are all my friends and they've all been nice to you. I know a few other people who are Slytherin's who are just as nice." Hermione tells her.

"Can we see Pansy and Blaise again?" Sophie asks.

"Not today, I'm sure they're busy but you'll definitely see them again," Hermione reassures her. "In fact, Pansy will be your History of Magic professor when you go to Hogwarts." She adds.

"What happened to the ghost?" Sophie frowns.

"It's time he moved on," Hermione says as she pulls into a car parking space.

They all climb out of the car and make their way over to the Leaky Cauldron, Sophie holding Hermione's hand as they cross the road.

"When you're older, Sophie, you can't wear your cloak when you're in the muggle world. It'll attract too much attention. It's alright now because people will think you're just a child playing dress up." Hermione explains and Sophie pouts as they walk into the Leaky Cauldron.

"Should we go to Gringotts first?" Gwen suggests as they walk through the crowded pub. "We can set up you're vault." She adds.

"Yes, I brought some of my money to put inside," Sophie mentions proudly.

"How much?" She asks as they head towards Gringotts.

"Forty pounds." She says. "And then Dad gave me five pounds before we left." She adds.

"How much are five pounds?" Gwen asks Hermione.

"About a galleon." She answers.

"Dad said he's going to give me half my pocket money in normal money and half for wizard money to help me save for school." She states.

"Do mind if I leave for half an hour whilst you go to Gringotts? I want to stop off at Flourish and Blotts." She asks.

"That's fine with me." Gwen looks down at Sophie who nods in answer.

"Great, I'll meet you outside Gringotts at half-past eleven," Hermione tells them as she sets off towards the bookshop.

Inside, she heads straight upstairs to browse the new transfiguration books. Now that she's decided to accept the apprenticeship from Professor McGonagall, she needs to keep up with developments in the transfiguration world. Taking a newly published book from the shelf, she sits down at one of the desks to skim read.

"I thought you were supposed to be supervising Sophie?" Draco asks as he sits down in front of her, making her jump.

"Gwen's setting up a vault for her in Gringotts. I didn't think they needed me." Hermione admits. "I thought you were in the library with David?" She turns the questioning around.

"I was. David wants me to buy him a book on Hogwarts. He wants to be able to talk to Sophie about the wizarding world but he doesn't know anything." He explains.

"I'm glad David's getting involved with the wizarding world. I never expected him to be this accepting of magic." She smiles.

"He asked me to wash up with magic this morning." He states with a chuckle. "How are Sophie and Gwen getting along?" He asks, leaning back in his chair.

"You'll be happy to know that Sophie likes you more than Gwen at the moment." Hermione sighs.

"That does make me happy." Draco nods.

"Sophie said you, Pansy and Blaise are some of the nicest people she knows," Hermione tells him. "Then asked if all Slytherin's were that nice." She adds, making Draco smile. "Gwen said she didn't like you or Pansy and Sophie pretty much told her off." Hermione laughs.

"Well, the feelings mutual." Draco scoffs, crossing his arms.

"I told Gwen and Sophie I'd meet them outside at half past so I better get going. I'll see you back at David's later." She leans across the table to kiss him goodbye.

"See you later," Draco calls after her as she walks down the stairs.

Draco finds the 'Hogwarts: A History' book on a bookshelf full of others and takes it downstairs to buy.

"Hi, Draco, don't you already have a copy of this?" Percy asks as he prices the book up.

"It's for Hermione's uncle, he wants to know more about Hogwarts." He tells him.

"How is Sophie?" He asks, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

"She's in Diagon Alley with her mother and Hermione. They're opening a vault for her in Gringotts." She says.

"Very wise for Sophie to start saving now for her future." "Percy nods. "That's a galleon and three sickles." He pushes the book over.

Draco opens his wallet to find muggle money. "Ah, one moment. Wrong wallet. He rummages around in his pocket for his other one. "Here we go." He hands over the money. "Hermione suggested I have two wallets. One for our money and one for muggle money." He explains after getting a strange look from Percy.

"Tell Sophie I said hello," Percy says.

"You'll probably see her later today," Draco tells him as he leaves.

Since the newspaper machines are locked in a private room within the local library, that David was allowed access to because he's a history teacher, Draco disapparates straight into the room, making the other man jump up.

"Oh, Draco!" He sighs, hand clutching his chest as he lowers himself back into his chair. "Do you have to do that?"

"It's quicker than disapparating into the alley and walking through the doors." He mentions, placing the book on the desk in front of David. "Besides, the librarian didn't see me leave, she would be suspicious if I entered again." He sits down, picking up the newspaper he left in front of him. "Wednesday 14th January 1942." He sighs as he starts scrolling through to the war deaths section of the newspaper. Similarly, to the previous thirteen newspapers, there's no mention of Peter Malfoy so he moves on the Thursday 15th January 1942.

By half-past four, Draco's made it to Tuesday 16th June 1942 with still no mention of Peter Malfoy. At one point, David thought he had found William but upon closer inspection, it was a William Malloy. For the entire walk back to David's house, the man talks nonstop about how unsuccessful he's been in finding anyone before Karina Rowle. Draco doesn't say anything, just nods at the right moments.

Hermione's only waiting outside Gringotts for a few minutes when Sophie comes running outside.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me about the bank? It's like going on a roller-coaster. It was so much fun." She beams excitedly as she explains. "Gwen was nearly sick which doesn't make sense because it looks like flying a broomstick and she does that all the time." She laughs.

"I don't usually fly in the dark. You never know how high up you are in there." Gwen defends her image but looks slightly green.

"The goblin exchanged my money into galleons. I kept three of them, some sickles and some knuts to buy something. Can you show me some books I need for school, Hermione?" Her cousin asks.

"Of course, do you want to go now?" She asks.

"Yes," Sophie cheers, pulling on her hand towards where she remembers the bookshop being.

As soon as they enter, Sophie sees Percy behind the counter and drops her hand to run over to him.

"Hi, Percy." She smiles up at him.

"Hi, Sophie." He greets her, placing his quill down on the counter. "Draco was just in here and he said you were in Diagon Alley with your mum and Hermione." He tells her.

"I thought Draco was with dad." Sophie turns to ask Hermione.

"He just popped in for a book," Percy tells her.

"Oh, okay." She turns back to Percy. "I thought you worked at the bookshop where Hermione lives." She frowns.

"I do. I'm just helping out here whilst someone's on holiday. Have you read the Tales of Beedle the Bard?" He asks her.

"Yes, I've read it all three times." She answers proudly.

"Which is your favourite?" He asks her.

"The Fountain of Fair Fortune." She tells him.

"Ah, a good choice." He nods.

"I've got my own money now and I'm going to buy my own book today." She tells him, holding up her handbag.

"I'll let you browse then. I'm sure Hermione can help you find what you want." He smiles at Hermione.

"I probably know this shop just as well as you do." She chuckles. "The subject books are upstairs." She mentions guiding Sophie towards the stairs.

They end up spending over an hour upstairs in Flourish and Blotts whilst Sophie decided between around eight books. Gwen offered to buy her all of them just so they could leave but Sophie declines her offer, telling her mother that she wanted to buy her own book, with her own money. In the end, she chooses 'Magical Drafts and Potions'.

"I can't wait to read it tonight." She mentions as she places the book into her handbag. "Can we go to the ice-cream shop next please?" She asks Gwen.

"Of course, Sophie. What would you like?" She asks as they walk to Florean Fortescue's parlour discussing the different toppings.

By the time all three of them have finished their ice-creams, it's two o'clock so they stroll up and down the rest of Diagon Alley until Sophie declares she's tired so Gwen takes them to the Leaky Cauldron for a glass of butterbeer each. Sophie takes her book out and eagerly starts reading.

"I think next time, I'll get that one on magical plants." She announces, closing her book and replacing it in her bag. "Most of the potions need plants but I don't know any of them." She sighs.

"You know you don't need to learn any of this stuff until you go to Hogwarts." Gwen reminds her.

"I like learning." She shrugs, looking down at her glass of butterbeer.

"Is there something else?" Gwen asks.

"All the other wizards and witches my age already know lots about magic because they live in the magic world but I don't know anything. I don't want them to think I'm stupid when I got to Hogwarts." She admits.

"You're not stupid," Gwen tells her. "Nowhere near stupid. You're a lot smarter than I was at your age." She tried to comfort her daughter.

"I know I'm not stupid in my school but what if I am at Hogwarts." She says.

"That's never going to happen. You said it yourself. You like learning. You're going to spend the next five years reading all these books and you'll be the cleverest witch Hogwarts has ever seen." Gwen tells her. "No offence, Hermione." She adds with smile.

"None taken. I don't think I was the brightest witch to ever attend Hogwarts. I was just the brightest witch of my age." She shrugs. "You'll definitely be brighter than me though, Sophie." She tells her cousin.

"Really," Sophie asks.

"Of course, you're going to have the best Professors of any wizarding school." She tells her.

"Oh, of course, I read in the Daily Prophet that you and Draco are going to be Professors in September," Gwen mentions.

"You're going to be my teacher?" Sophie gasps excitedly.

Hermione nods and Sophie excitedly starts talking so fast that she can't understand much of what she's saying.

At half four, Hermione announces that they should head back to the car so they can get back for five. Just as they turn onto David and Sophie's street, they drive past David and Draco who wave at them when Hermione beeps the horn to gain their attention. She pulls into the driveway where they wait for them to catch up.

"Did you have a good day out, Sophie?" David asks as they walk down the driveway.

"Yes, I bought my own ice-cream with my own sickles and I saw Percy and I bought my own magic book with my own galleons and it's all about making potions. Next time I'm going to get a book on magical plants." She rambles on excitedly.

"Let's go inside." David guides her inside, away from any neighbours that might overhear.

"Yeah, see you next week, Gwen." She calls her as she runs inside.

"Bye, Sophie," Gwen calls back before sighing. "I'll you next week, Hermione." She mutters before disapparating on the spot.

They both quickly glance around to make sure no one walking past or in any windows are watching. Thankfully, they can't see anyone so they quickly follow David and Sophie inside. They find them sat in the kitchen, Sophie showing David her wizarding coins and the book she bought.

"We're going to head home," Hermione announces, not wanting to intrude on their bonding moment.

"Okay, I'll see you out." David makes to rise from his chair.

"No need, we'll lock the door behind us." She tells him as they leave.

They disapparate straight back to the gates of the estate at the same time as Blaise, making all three of them jump in surprise.

"What's the chance of this happening?" Blaise laughs as they enter the estate. "Oh, Pansy told me about breakfast tomorrow. Thank you, guys." He hugs them both tightly.

"You're welcome, Blaise. We're going to miss you for three weeks." She tells him.

"No problem, Blaise." Draco says, patting his back.

"Anyway, I need to pack so I'll see you at eight in the morning." Blaise salutes them before heading off to his house.

Draco shakes his head fondly at his friend as they set off in the opposite direction for their own house.

"I'll cook some dinner when we get in," Draco says. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast." He admits.

"What are we having tonight then, Chef?" She asks jokingly, taking his hand in hers.

"Tonight, my dear, we'll be eating whatever I find in the cupboards." He speaks with an overly posh accent, making her laugh.

"Sounds delicious, daring." She teases him and they both laugh.

Hermione unlocks the front door, letting them into their house. Draco heads straight into the kitchen, grabbing an apple which he takes a large bite out of before rummaging through the cupboards. Hermione finds Athena perched on top of their bookshelf and lures her down with the promise of food, which she pours into her bowl inside her cage.

Draco finds two tins of soup that seems to have appeared from nowhere since he doesn't remember ever buying them. Perhaps they were there when they moved in. A present from the Ministry. Either way, Draco cooks them on the stove.

They decide to eat dinner in the living room, sitting on the couch as they listen to some music and chat about nothing of importance. By the time they make it upstairs until around half past eleven, they can't stop smiling from all the laughing. After brushing their teeth, they fall into bed, faces inches away from each other.

Draco sighs as he gazes into her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" She asks, sounding nervous.

"Remember when I told you I loved you?" He asks, staring her straight in the eyes, smiling when she blushes.

"Of course, we had been kissing. It was rather memorable." She admits, ducking her head down against his bare chest.

He reaches out to tilt her head back up so she's looking him in the eyes. "It kind of slipped out in the moment." He reminds her.

"Yes, I remember." She nods. "You said you meant it though." She frowns.

Draco leans forward to kiss her frown away. "I did." He assures her.

"Did?" She leans away from him.

"Well, this isn't going as well as I expected." He frowns to himself. "I want you to know, that right now, whilst we're just lying here, not having any particular moment, that I love you and would like to take you out on a date because I've realised that we've been married for twenty-six days and yet I've haven't tried to woo you. I've haven't wined and dined you. I haven't shown you what it's like to date Draco Malfoy." He says all at once before he backs out.

Hermione stares at him for a long moment, taking in all of what he's just said. "You want to take me out on a date?" She asks for clarification.

"Yes." He nods.

"Okay." She smiles shyly at him.

"Okay." He agrees.

"So, what's it like to date Draco Malfoy?" She asks, resting her head against his shoulder.

"You'll have to wait until Thursday." He teases her, having no idea himself what it's like to date since he's never taken a girl out for a romantic date before.

"I'm looking forward to it." She tells him.

Draco tilts his head down to kiss the top of Hermione's head just as she tilts hers up to kiss his cheek. Their lips meet unexpectedly instead. Both of them pause for a second before giving themselves over to the other and melting into the slow, passionate kiss that seems to last for hours but in reality, must have been a few minutes.

Hermione breaks the kiss when she can't stifle her yawn.

"Am I boring you?" He asks, raising a teasing eyebrow.

"Not in the slightest." She chuckles, resting her head against his chest again.

"Time for sleep, I think." He mutters, kissing the top of her head as he had intended to the first time. "Goodnight, my dear." He chuckles, making her laugh.

"Goodnight, darling." She replies, adding emphasis to the term of endearment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fic-mas Chapters
> 
> Chapter 70 - 1st December 2017
> 
> Chapter 71 - 11th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 72 - 20th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 73 - 21st December 2017
> 
> Chapter 74 - 22nd December 2017
> 
> Chapter 75 - 23rd December 2017
> 
> Chapter 76 - 24th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 77 - 25th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 78 - 26th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 79 - 31st December 2017
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	71. Chapter 71

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 71 for you!
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
> 
> See below for ALL the chapters you'll be getting this December.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

 

* * *

Both Hermione and Draco are awoken the next morning by repeated banging on their front door. Draco reluctantly climbs out of bed with a groan, throwing on his dressing gown as he heads downstairs to answer the door. Hermione pulls their quilt up under her chin as she yawns.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?" She hears Pansy loudly asks once Draco's opened the door.

She doesn't hear Draco's reply, which she assumes he muttered in his tired state.

"It's ten past nine. We were supposed to meet at nine o'clock." Pansy shouts.

"I don't mind as long as I get waffles at some point before I leave," Blaise admits as the front door slams.

"Get up those stairs, wake that wife of yours up and get dressed. You have five minutes." Pansy order Draco.

With a sigh, Hermione climbs out of bed and rummages through the wardrobe for something to wear. When Draco enters, he throws himself back on the bed.

"Whose idea was it to meet at nine o'clock?" He moans into the quilt.

"Who do you think?" She rhetorically asks, pulling a dress out. "You better get dressed before she comes up here to see what's taking so long." She warns him.

With another, overexaggerated groan, Draco rolls off the bed and searches through the wardrobe for something decent to wear. They make it downstairs with seconds to spare.

"Well, don't you both look cute." Pansy smiles, looking them up and down. "Here, an owl came for you, Draco." She hands him the envelope as she walks past them towards the front door.

Blaise gives them both thumbs up as he follows behind her. Hermione and Draco look at themselves then each other and realise they had unintentionally colour coordinated their outfit. Hermione had thrown on a dark blue flowery dress whilst Draco wore a dark blue shirt.

Draco quickly opens up the envelope to skim read the letter. He already knows what it's about, he just wants to know who it's about.

"Who's next?" Hermione asks, leaning over to read the letter.

"Jugson." He answers, replacing the letter in the envelope and throwing it down on the coffee table.

"Hey, can we go now?" Blaise sticks his head back through the door to ask.

"Yes, we're coming." Draco sighs, taking Hermione's hand and leading her out the door, which he locks behind them before they set off towards the gate.

"Are you looking forward to seeing Luna again?" Hermione asks as they sit down at a table for four inside Florean Fortescue's.

"Of course, I haven't seen her in ages." Blaise nods, shovelling waffle into his mouth.

"You remind me of my husband." Pansy scoffs, watching him in disgust.

Blaise stops in his chewing to glare at Pansy as he sits up straighter and begins to chew slower.

"It's only been a week Blaise." Draco reminds him.

"It feels like ages." Blaise shrugs, cutting up a smaller piece of waffle to place in his mouth.

"Well, I hope you have fun on this expedition." Hermione smiles, cutting up her pancake.

Pansy laughs. "Blaise. Camping. Not likely."

"Hey, I went camping for the Quidditch World Cup." Blaise defends himself.

"You slept in a bed, there was no camping involved. I saw the sleeping bag Luna was packing." Pansy points out before taking a bite of her waffle.

Blaise's face falls. "Well, I'll survive a couple of weeks." He states, looking unconvinced.

"Good luck. We'll think of you whilst we're sleeping in our four-poster king sized bed." Draco teases him.

"You got a new bed?" He asks.

"We're moving my bed from the Manor to our house. It's more comfortable than the one we've got now." Draco explains.

"You're right there. I think your bed is the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in." Blaise sighs. "Do you think Luna and her father would be offended if I brought a bed with me?" He asks.

"Yes, they would be," Pansy tells him with a smirk.

"At least I get to see Luna again." He shrugs, trying to cheer himself up.

"Every cloud." Pansy laughs, finishing her waffle. Blaise glares at her as he finishes her own. "Have you two accepted McGonagall's apprenticeship offer yet?" She asks, looking over the table at Hermione and Draco.

"Not yet," Hermione admits, looking at Draco. "We've been quite busy." She adds.

"It'll take you five minutes so we're going after breakfast. The only reason I took accepted her offer was that you convinced me to. I'm not going to sit at the Professors' table on my own with Neville and Atkins because you two didn't meet the deadline." Pansy warns them with a glare.

"Fine, we'll go to Eeylops straight from here." Draco nods.

"Good, the deadline is Thursday." She reminds them.

"I'm starting to feel left out here." Blaise pouts, leaning back in his chair. "The three of you are going to be at Hogwarts, working together, being friends and forgetting all about poor Blaise."

"Shut up, Blaise. We're not allowed to live at Hogwarts so you'll see us all the time. Stop being so emotional." Pansy rolls her eyes.

"I'm just an emotional person." Blaise overdramatically pretends to wipe a tear from his eye.

Once they've all finished their breakfast, Blaise stands up, stretching his limbs out with an overexaggerated groan.

"I better be off." He states, pulling his jacket on. "It's ten o'clock and I haven't finished packing. I'll see you all when we get back on the fifteenth of July." He smiles sadly.

"Have fun, Blaise," Hermione tells him as she stands up out of the booth to give him a hug.

"What, no hug from you two?" He asks, arms open for either Draco or Pansy to hug him but neither move. "I'm hurt."

"Draco, you're not going to see our best friend for three weeks. The least you can do is hug him goodbye." Hermione chastises him.

"Yes, Draco. Listen to your wife and come here." Blaise opens his arms again.

"Oh, fine." Draco sighs, sliding out of the booth and giving his friend a quick hug goodbye.

"You smell great, Draco," Blaise mutters in his ear.

"This is why I don't hug you," Draco tells him as he pushes him away.

Blaise laughs as he turns to Pansy and quirks a questioning eyebrow.

"No chance, Zabini." She crosses her arms.

"Well, thanks for breakfast. I love you all but I really need to go now." He says as he backs away towards the door. "Goodbye." He salutes before leaving.

"Eeylops," Pansy announces, sliding out of her side of the booth and stalking out of the shop.

Hermione takes hold of Draco's hand as they follow their friend to the owl emporium.

"Didn't even take you three minutes?" Pansy points out as they leave Eeylops.

"Have you got any plans today, Pansy?" Hermione asks as they stroll down Diagon Alley.

"I have lunch with Mother and Father at one o'clock and then dinner with the Weasley's at seven o'clock once Papa Weasley is home from work." She says with a laugh.

"What do your parents think about you spending all this time with Molly and Arthur," Draco asks, quirking a knowing eyebrow.

"What they don't know can't hurt them?" She smirks. "Molly's cooking is serious some of the best I've ever had. I would consider staying with Ronald just to eat her food one a week." She jokes. "Where are you two off too?" She asks them.

"Hermione's Uncle David seem to think we're close to finding a link that will lead us to Hyperion." Draco mentions.

"So, we're off to the library," Hermione tells her.

"You two and libraries." Pansy shakes her head. "I'm sure you'll have fun but I'm going. Goodbye." She nods before disapparating away.

Hermione squeezes Draco's hand. "Which library did David take you to?" She questions him.

"I'll take the lead. I don't know what it's called." Draco tells her, about to disapparate to the library when a voice calling his name stops him in his tracks.

"Draco!"

Both he and Hermione turn around to find Narcissa stood a few meters away from them. Draco steps slightly in front of Hermione, pulling her behind him by the hand.

"Mother." He greets her politely.

"Hermione, lovely to see you as always." Narcissa forces a smile as she glances around Draco at the other woman.

"I'm sure it is, Narcissa." Hermione glares at her Mother-in-law.

Narcissa suppresses a smirk as she steps closer to her son and daughter-in-law.

"We may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I would like to invite you both over for dinner tomorrow night at the Manor." Narcissa offers, looking hopeful. "We'll be having your favourite, Draco." She adds, in an attempt to persuade them.

Draco glances over his shoulder to Hermione who looks just as confused as he feels.

"Harry." Hermione mouths to him as a suggestion.

"Really?" He mouths questioningly in return. "She listened to him." He adds, turning to face her.

"Maybe we should," Hermione suggests.

"What? After everything she did?" Draco frowns.

"If she's serious about making amends, why not? It's only one dinner." Hermione mutters. "You can ask her about her true intentions and it'll give us the opportunity to look more in Hyperion's bedroom." She nods, eyes wide.

Draco thinks for a moment. "Are you sure, Hermione? He asks her seriously.

"Yes." She nods.

Draco turns back around to find his Mother watching them intently. "Okay, one dinner, tomorrow night, at the Manor." He agrees, letting go of Hermione's hand to step closer to her. "But I warn you," He hisses angrily. "If you have any ulterior motives, you will regret it." He threatens her.

"Son, I assure you, I don't want to lose you and if that means accepting her as my daughter-in-law, so be it." Narcissa smiles, lifting her hand up to stroke his cheek. "I've missed you, son." She adds.

Draco pushes her hand away. "We'll see you tomorrow night at six o'clock." He tells her before turning on his heel, taking hold of Hermione's hand and disapparating away.

When they enter the library, Draco doesn't recognise either of the librarians behind the desk. He smiles at them both as he walks up to them, leaning against the desk.

"Morning," He greets them. "Myself and a David Adair have been conducting research in your newspaper machine room."

One of them scoffs. "You mean the microfiche reader."

"Yes, he means the microfiche reader." Hermione steps up to the desk next to Draco. "My uncle is David Adair. He's a history teacher at St Gordon's Secondary School. He's conducting some research into the second world war and has asked us to help him out whilst he's at work. Could you let us in the room please?" Hermione smiles, looking at the two librarians.

"Oh, Mr Adair from St Gordon's. He brings his year ten classes here every September in preparation for their exams. Such a lovely man, isn't he, Sandra?" The elderly librarian nods as she grabs a key from under the desk. "Just this way, dears." She calls them as she sets off towards the microfiche reader room.

As soon as the librarian leaves, Draco shows Hermione over to the drawers where the microfiche newspapers are kept.

"David's looking at 1940. I've already started with 1942 so if you can look at 1943 we might be able to find something today." Draco suggests.

"Of course, but you're going to have to show me how to use this machine." She tells him looking at the microfiche reader.

After a quick tutorial on how to use the machine, they're both silently scrolling through the newspapers from their chosen year. Four hours later, Hermione has just finished looking through Friday 30th April 1943 and Draco is halfway through September 1942. Both of them were yet to find any mention of any Malfoy dying in the war.

Hermione had suggested stay for a couple more hours but Draco insisted they grab something to eat and head home for an early night. They have been so busy since the ceremony that they hadn't spent much time in the house the Ministry had so kindly forced them to live in.

They disapparated a few streets away from the supermarket they had visited a few weeks ago to pick up some food and drinks. Hermione decided she was going to try her hand at cooking a proper meal since they really weren't eating properly. The only time they did was when they were invited to someone else's house or they went out. If they were going to raise healthy children, they would need to start eating healthier themselves.

Draco pushed the trolley as Hermione grabbed whatever fruit and vegetables she thought they might need for the next few meals along with various types of meat and fish. As they're walking down the tin aisle, she decides that soup is both healthy and easy to cook if they get home late during the week, so she fills the trolley with multiple varieties.

"I don't think we need all this soup," Draco comments as she places four more tins of vegetable soup into the trolley.

"We need to eat healthier and since we've been so busy recently, this is the easiest way." She tells him, going back for some carrot and coriander.

Draco doesn't argue with her, he just continues to push the trolley, offering his opinion every now and then. When they reach the tills, over an hour later, Draco ends up paying just over a hundred pounds for their shopping.

"Those soups will last us for months," Hermione assures him as he hands over the notes.

"They better." He grumbles, making the cashier lady laugh.

"I'm starving, can we go home and not eat soup now?" He asks Hermione as they walk out of the supermarket carrying three bags of shopping each.

"Of course, we just need to find somewhere safe to make these lighter and disapparate." She whispers, glancing around the supermarket's car park. "There's a path over there. I think there's a field next to it fenced off by bushes" She tells him, guiding him over to the path in the furthest corner of the car park.

It turns out Hermione's right and there is a rather secluded field next to the path. Unfortunately, there were a group of young children playing football on it. Before she could suggest walking further down the path to find a deserted alleyway, Draco passes all the shopping bags into one hand, taking hold of Hermione's wrist with his free hand, disapparating them back to the estate.

"Draco! Someone could have seen us." She reprimands him.

"I checked, there was no one watching." He assures her as they set off back to their house.

Once home, Athena flies down the stairs to greet them as Draco helps unpack their shopping and Hermione starts to chop up some vegetable for their dinner.

"Hello, Athena!" Draco softly return her greeting, letting her land on his shoulder. "I wonder what you've been up to all day." He says as he continues to unpack their shopping bags. "How long should I expect dinner to be ready?" He asks Hermione, placing the last tin of soup in the cupboard.

"I don't know. It'll be ready when it's ready." She tells him.

"Would you like any help?" He offers, watching her scrap the chopped carrots into a pan of water.

"No thank you, this is something I'd like to do alone," Hermione tells him.

"I'll be in the living room if you need me." He mentions as he leaves with Athena, turning on the record player and picking a book from their bookshelf. He lowers himself down onto the couch and starts to read, hungrily waiting for Hermione to finish their dinner.

Over an hour and a half later, Athena has left him to return upstairs. Hermione calls him into the kitchen, his stomach growling in preparation for the meal he's about to eat. Draco stands up, throwing his book onto the coffee table as he heads into the kitchen to find dinner already served on the table with two glasses of wine and a lit candle.

Draco smiles fondly at Hermione, stood unsurely next to the table

"What's all this about?" He asks, walking over to her and kissing her cheek.

"I've been thinking about what you said last night. We've been married for twenty-six days and it shouldn't fall to you to do the wooing." She smiles, using his choice of words from the previous night. "So, this is my attempt at wining and dining you." She gestures to the table.

"It looks amazing." He tells her, pulling her into a quick kiss. "You didn't need to do this though." He adds, sitting down at the table.

"I wanted to." She admits, sitting opposite him.

"Well, thank you." Draco nods, picking up his glass of wine and holding it out to her. "To us and our future." He toasts.

"To us and our future," Hermione repeats with a soft blush as they clink their glasses and take a sip.

They eat in comfortable silence for a while until Draco pauses for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asks him, placing her cutlery down.

"I'm going to cancel dinner tomorrow night." He states.

Hermione frowns. "What? Why would you do that? It gives an opportunity to search Hyperion's bedroom." She reminds him.

"I know, but I think Mother's hiding something and I don't want you to get hurt if this dinner's a trap." He tells her.

"Draco, I'll have my want within reaching distance this time and you'll be there too. I don't think Narcissa is going to do anything in front of you and risk losing you. You're all she's got now." Hermione says.

"You have a point but I still feel like we're missing something." He frowns.

"You can figure it out whilst I'm in Hyperion's bedroom. Question her about any ulterior motives she may have." Hermione smiles. "I think we should go." She tells him, reaching across the table for his hand a squeezing it.

"If you're sure?" He asks, unconvinced.

"I am." She nods.

Draco nods, "Alright, we'll go." Picking up his cutlery again to continue eating his dinner.

After dinner, Draco pushes Hermione into the living room and down onto the couch, telling her to relax as he clears the table and washes up. He uses his wand to send all the dishes into the skink, where he sets them off washing themselves, before tapping the table to scrub itself. Once everything is clean and it's the right cupboards, he joins Hermione in the living room on the couch.

"I wish you wouldn't use magic for everything." Hermione sighs, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Draco wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "It's just so much easier and quicker." He tells her.

Hermione sighs again, making Draco laugh. "You know I'm right." He teases her.

"Of course, you're right, but just because something is easier and quicker, it doesn't mean you have to do it that way." She tells him.

"Doesn't it" He questions her.

"No, with some things, it's nice to do it the hard and longer way so you can savour the moment." She admits.

"Like what?" He frowns, trying to think of anything he would rather do the long hard way than the quick easy way.

"When I was coking your dinner tonight. If I'd used magic, it would have been ready within twenty minutes but I wanted to do it myself. I wanted you to know that I had taken my time to make sure everything was perfect. It might have taken longer, but it's the thought behind the act." She explains.

Draco's quiet for a moment as he thinks over what she's just told him. He can see her logic behind not using magic for some things. He smiles as he pulls her closer to him. "I must admit that you make a valid point and I appreciate the time and effort you put into wining and dining me." He kisses the top of her head.

Hermione rolls her eyes but leans closer into the embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and cuddling him closer. It's a while later when Draco speaks again, making Hermione jump since she thought he had fallen asleep.

"It's Sophie's birthday soon, isn't it?" He asks her.

"Yes, the seventh of July. Why?" She questions.

"I was thinking, we should give her a birthday party. We can make it magical since your whole family knows now." He suggests.

Hermione glances up at him in adoration. "You're amazing. Sophie would love that but Lauren and Craig don't know anything about magic." She reminds them.

Draco sighs. "They're young and imaginative. They thought the snitch was a robot. They'll come up with their own ideas and then they'll forget about it as they grow up. I can't remember much of anything from being four years old." He says. "Or we could just obliviate them after the party." He adds with a chuckle.

"We are not obliviating my cousins." She tells him sternly, leaning away to frown at him.

"I know, I was joking." He assures her, pulling her closer again.

"You can make the games room magical but the rest of the house has to be muggle. We should probably invite my godmother and Mark and Mia too. It'll be much harder to hide magic from Sharon." She points out.

"Then we muggle proof the door. They'll forget why they were going to open the door as soon as they touch the handle." He shrugs.

"We can specify it just for Sharon and possibly my grandparents too. They might know about the wizarding world and the Ministry but I don't think they've ever seen any magic being performed. I don't want to overwhelm them." She explains.

"So, that's a yes. We're throwing Sophie a magical birthday party." Draco smiles down at her.

"Yes," She smiles at Draco's excitement. "But we need to ask David first in case he has anything else planned for her seventh birthday." She adds.

"I'll call him tomorrow around lunchtime after Jugson's trial," Draco tells her. "Which reminds me, I need to be up at eight tomorrow morning to get to the Ministry in time. We should head to bed soon." He suggests.

"You head up now, I'm going to feed Athena then I'll join you." She tells him as he climbs off the couch and stretches before offering Draco a hand to help him up.

"I'll meet you up there then." He tells him, kissing the top of her head and heading upstairs.

Having heard her name, Athena had flown into the living room from somewhere upstairs. She excitedly followed Hermione into the kitchen where her food bowl was refilled and replaced in her cage. Hermione locks the cage door behind Athena, earning herself an annoying chirp.

"It's bedtime, Athena." She tells the owl who's ignoring her in favour of eating her food. "Goodnight." She adds as she closes the living room door and makes her way upstairs into their bedroom, where Draco is already wrapped up in bed. "Comfortable." She asks him teasingly as she collects her pyjamas.

"Very much so." He smiles, eyes closed.

Hermione goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth, the long hard way, and change into her pyjamas. By the time she returns to their bedroom, Draco's already half asleep, a soft snore emanating from his slightly open mouth. She climbs into bed, shuffling closer to her husband who instinctively wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer.

"Goodnight, darling." She whispers, closing her eyes and leaning into his warmth.

Draco scoffs. "Goodnight, my dear." He mutters, half asleep.

When Draco wakes up at eight o'clock the next morning, he quietly climbs out of bed, trying not to wake Hermione up. He picks himself out a pair of smart dress robes that he can wear to both the trial and to the Manor for dinner with his mother tonight. He doesn't know if Hermione has any plans for the afternoon but he wants to go back to the library to continue searching through the newspapers for the Malfoy's who dies during the war.

Heading to the bathroom, he gets dressed and brushes his teeth, the quick easy way. Hermione wouldn't be impressed. Downstairs, Draco lets Athena out of her cage, allowing her to stretch her wings as he goes about making a cup of coffee to wake himself up.

Today's trial is going to be harder than some of the others since Erik Jugson is the wizard who took the pleasure of murdering his Aunt Andromeda's Muggleborn husband. His Aunt, who he's never met or been introduced to, will be there watching him give his testimony against Jugson. If there was ever a case that needed Draco to slightly exaggerate on, it was this one. For the sake of his Aunt who lost not only her husband but also her daughter and was left to raise her grandson, who, with his name and metamorphmagus abilities, is a constant reminder of both of them.

Hermione's awoken by a chirping in her room, which she assumes is Athena.

"Good morning, Athena." She greets the owl with a sigh as she stretches and opens her eyes. "Did Draco let you out?" She questions, climbing out of bed.

Athena chirps in reply as Hermione pulls on her dressing gown and heads downstairs to find both the living room and the kitchen empty. She checks the clock in the living room.

"Half past eleven!" She exclaims, running back upstairs to get dressed.

She had wanted to meet Draco after the trail. Not knowing much about Erik Jugson, other than he was the one who killed Ted Tonks, she doesn't know how long the trial will last.

Hermione leaves the house as soon as she's ready, rushing down the streets towards the gate where she disapparates straight to the Ministry. By the time she reaches the same bench outside the courtroom, it's nearly twelve o'clock and it sounds like the trial is still going on. Having come without a book, she finds herself staring at the door, lost in her own thoughts. That is until Andromeda Tonks burst out the door in tears.

"Mrs Tonks?" Hermione stands up as the woman walks past her.

Andromeda stops, turning to look at who had called her. "Oh, Hermione. I didn't know you'd be here." She sobs, lowering herself onto the bench, beside Hermione.

"I'm waiting for Draco." She admits. "How's the trial going?" She asks.

"Oh, very well. Draco has been on the witness stand for nearly an hour describing in great detail the Death Eater's victims. He's just started on Ted." Andromeda cries.

"I'm sorry," Hermione places a comforting hand on her back. "Is it too much?" She asks sadly.

"It must be, Draco suggested I leave. He doesn't think I should hear what the Death Eater did to Ted and if Draco thinks that then it must be bad. I don't want to know that he suffered." She says.

"Draco's actually a very kind man once you get to know him," Hermione tells her.

"I tried to visit Narcissa and Draco after he was born but Lucius wouldn't even let me through the gates of the manor. I sent birthday and Christmas cards for the first five years but it became apparent he wasn't receiving them so I stopped. He's my only nephew." Andromeda admits.

"There's nothing stopping you now. I'm sure Draco would love to get to know you. He doesn't exactly have much family left with Lucius in Azkaban and Narcissa being distant since the partnership ceremony." Hermione tells her.

"I'm glad he got paired with you but you could have done better." She smiles sadly. "You're quite the influence on young Draco."

The courtroom door open and a man peers his head out. "Mrs Tonks. The witness has finished his testimony." He announces, disappearing back into the courtroom.

"It'll be time for the sentence." Mrs Tonks stands up abruptly.

"I, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, hereby sentence you, Mr Erik Jugson, to Azkaban for a total of fifty-five years effective immediately. This includes the remaining fifteen years from your first sentence, ten years for escaping Azkaban in 1996 and thirty years for your crime during the second war." The Minister announces to the courtroom before nodding to three Ministry Officials who release Jugson from the chair and take him down to the holding cells.

As the crowd of observers exit their seats, Draco's scans the room for his Aunt Andromeda, hoping for the opportunity to officially speak to her for the first time and apologise for what happened to her husband. He finds her sobbing into the sleeve of her dress, in the front row. Clearing his throat and straightening his robes, Draco walks over to the aisle and shuffles along until he's sitting beside her, offering her his own handkerchief.

Andromeda glances at the piece of cloth, following the arm up to his face and sitting a little straighter in his presence. She nods as she accepts the handkerchief and dabs at her eyes.

"Mrs Tonks, I am very sorry for the loss of your husband. I've heard from Hermione that he was a great man." Draco says, hands folded on his lap for a lack of anything else to do with them.

"He was the greatest man I've ever known." She sniffs, turning to look him in the face. She stares at him for a long moment. "You're as beautiful as your parents were at your age." She suddenly sighs. "How is Cissa?" She asks.

"Physically well." He nods.

"The war left many people, from both sides, mentally unwell and the only ones who know what's going on up there is the person themselves. All others can do is listen and try to understand." Andromeda glances away as she speaks from experience.

"She threatened my wife and future children, I find that difficult to understand," Draco admits with a frown.

Andromeda smiles. "She did the same to Ted when we were at Hogwarts. She was scared of losing her family so tried to scare my future one away. Obviously, it didn't work and she never carried out her threat but her biggest fear is losing her family. She already lost so much of it and you're all she has left. I think she's just trying to keep you safe, by her standards." Andromeda states.

"You know a lot about my mother." Draco points out as he lets her words sink in.

"Before she was your mother, she was my best friend and my sister. I miss her terribly." She says, looking out at the last few people leaving the courtroom.

Draco follows her gaze up to the Minister, who is watching them carefully. He stands up abruptly, making his Aunt rise to her feet also.

"I must get going, Draco. I hate to impose on Harry too much with teddy, especially since he's got his own little one on the way now." She announces, straightening her bag on her arm.

"I'm sure he doesn't mind," Draco says.

"I'm sure he doesn't. I've heard about all the trouble he got up to with his own Godfather." She shakes her head fondly. "Thank you so much for what you've done today. I very much appreciate it and…" She pauses, seemingly trying to make a decision so Draco patiently waits. "Would you and Hermione care to join Teddy and me for dinner one night this week. I understand if you're busy." Andromeda starts to backtrack.

Draco places a gentle hand on her forearm. "We would love to, although we are rather busy at the moment. Actually, we're having dinner with Mother tonight, you should join us." He suggests.

"Oh no," She shakes her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. I haven't spoken to Cissa in nearly thirty years. She wouldn't want to see me again. I'm a blood traitor, remember." Andromeda attempts to talk herself out of it but Draco can see the want in her eyes.

"You were her best friend and sister at one point, I'm sure that doesn't just disappear. Hermione and I will be there if she tries anything but I don't think she will. You said yourself that my mother's biggest fear is losing her family and I'm all she's got left, but I'm not. You're still alive, mother's still alive and if there's one thing I've learnt from surviving the war, it's to make amends and try to change." Draco tries to convince her.

Andromeda stares at him for a moment before sighing. "As long as you tell her this was your idea and I was bribed into attending, I'll come. Although, I'm not stepping foot through the door of that Manor of yours until she invites me in. If she doesn't want me there, I'm leaving." She says with the air of entitlement.

Draco nods, "We have ourselves a deal." He holds his hand out.

Andromeda shakes it once before pulling him into a hug. "Do you think you can call me, Aunt? I always wanted to be an aunt." She admits.

"Of course, Aunt Andromeda." He nods with a smile as they back away from their hug. "We'll meet you at the gate to the Manor at ten minutes to six." He tells her.

"I'm already regretting this." She sighs as they walk out of the row. "I need to have a few words with Kingsley. Goodbye, Draco." She smiles at him before walking over to the Minister.

Draco watches suspiciously for a few seconds before leaving the courtroom, where he finds Hermione sat looking very bored.

"How long have you been sat there?" He asks her as they walk down the corridor hand in hand.

"Since just before Andromeda came out. That was very kind of you, sparing her from the details." She tells him, squeezing his hand fondly.

"I only wish I could have spared myself in the first place, Jugson always was one for the dramatics." He sighs as they reach the lifts.

"Andromeda's coming for dinner with us tonight." He states as they step inside.

Hermione turns to face him in utter shock. "Have you completely lost your mind?" She rhetorically asks.

"I think it might all work out rather well," Draco admits.

"How are we supposed to search Hyperion's bedroom if we need to make sure your mother doesn't kill her sister," Hermione asks.

"Andromeda said she won't enter the Manor if Mother doesn't invite her in." He explains.

"I just want you to know that I do not agree with this." She mutters as they exit the lift on the disapparation floor. "To the library?" She asks and Draco nods, squeezing her hand as he apparates them to the library where they continue their search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fic-mas Chapters
> 
> Chapter 70 - 1st December 2017
> 
> Chapter 71 - 11th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 72 - 20th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 73 - 21st December 2017
> 
> Chapter 74 - 22nd December 2017
> 
> Chapter 75 - 23rd December 2017
> 
> Chapter 76 - 24th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 77 - 25th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 78 - 26th December 2017
> 
> Chapter 79 - 31st December 2017
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom


	72. Chapter 72

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 72 for you!
> 
> Happy New Years' Eve!
> 
> So for those of you who don't follow me on Instagram (bigdswisdom) you won't know that I was ill in bed with Strep throat for 6 days. You may think lying in bed would be the perfect time to write but I pretty much spent the whole time sleeping. Anyway, there will be a long paragraph at the end of the chapter about the new year.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

Andromeda stares at herself in the full-length mirror on the wall of her daughter's bedroom. Although she is wearing her fanciest dress robes, the ones she bought for Nymphadora's quiet wedding, Narcissa will no doubt scoff at the cheap material. With a sigh, she leaves her house wishing she could cancel but not wanting to give Narcissa the satisfaction.

Draco and Hermione are already waiting at the gate of Malfoy Manor when she apparates outside. They both jump up off the boulder they were sitting on, smiling encouragingly at her but she can see straight through it.

"We're glad you could make it, Mrs Tonks." Hermione nods at her.

"You both thought I had changed my mind." She smiles at them before glancing up at the Manor agape. "Lovely." She comments, hiding her shaking hands in the pockets of her cloak. "I assume confidence is still key when dealing with your Mother." She mutters, still taking in the extravagant gardens.

When Draco doesn't answer, she tears her eyes away to glance at her nephew.

"Yes," he nods. "Just act like you belong there."

Remembering her etiquette training from her teenage years, she holds herself taller and sets her jaw firm before nodding for Draco to lead the way. When they reach the front door, he knocks loudly, then steps back to await his Mother. She notices how he protectively steps in front of her, his hand gripping his want in his cloak pocket.

The door is opened by a house-elf moments later.

"Master Draco, welcome, sir." The house-elf bows lowly as he opens the door further for them to enter.

Draco and Hermione step over the threshold but Andromeda stays back. She said she wouldn't enter unless Narcissa invited her in but she hadn't expected a house-elf to answer the door. Taking a deep breath and holding her posture, she reminds herself that confidence is key before following her nephew and Hermione over the threshold, her heels echoing as she walks into the centre of the foyer.

"This is all very…prodigal." She smiles politely as she glances around the foyer. "No place for a child to grow up." She adds before her gaze falls upon her sister stood under the library doors.

"What is she doing here?" Narcissa folds her arms across her chest without breaking eye contact.

"Charming, Cissa," Andromeda smirks at the younger woman.

"Do not use that name as though you didn't walk out on us nearly thirty years ago." Narcissa snaps at Andromeda.

"I didn't walk out, I was thrown out for marrying the man I loved." She replies.

"You knew what would happen if you accepted his proposal. I begged you not to and still, you chose him over me. I was your best friend." Narcissa shouts.

Andromeda's face falls. "Cissa," She mutters, walking up to her sister and reaching out for her hands but she snatches them away. "You were the only one who wanted me to stay. Mother and Father had already given up on me. Leaving you behind was the hardest things I ever had to do." She admits.

"Then why didn't you take me with you, Andy?" She asks in a small, childish voice.

Andromeda sighs, sitting down on the loveseat against the staircase bannister. Hermione drags Draco up the stairs as Narcissa remains standing in the middle of the foyer, staring at her sister.

"Come sit, Cissa." Andromeda pats the seat beside her.

"I'll stand." She mutters.

She nods to collect her thoughts. "Do you remember the day you told me Father had made a deal with Abraxas Malfoy to promise you to Lucius? You came to my room and even though you were fifteen, you were so excited. You laid on my bed talking on and on about your wedding dress, the ceremony, the reception party, how you were going to decorate your room at Malfoy Manor, how many children you were going to have, what you would name them and on and on. I couldn't get a word in edgeways." She mentions.

"I remember that was the night you left." Narcissa huffs, perching on the edge of the loveseat.

"I had planned on asking you to come with me. Ted had been working longer shifts at the Ministry to buy us a house with two bedrooms so you could have your own room. Then that night before I left, I went to your room and you were asleep with your diary open. You filled the whole page with 'Mrs Narcissa Malfoy' in hearts. It was very cute if not extremely childish." She chuckles, earning herself a shove. "I realised then that you had your whole life planned for you and you were happy with that. You were never going to experience true love the way I did with Ted. He was my soulmate and he promised me a life away from our parents with the opportunity to live my life the way I wanted. That's all I ever wanted." She finishes her explanation.

"I came to your wedding," Narcissa admits after a few minutes silence. "I hid at the back of the room beneath one of our mother's cloaks. You looked beautiful, Andy." She tells her.

"I tried to visit you in St Mungo's after Draco's birth but Lucius wouldn't let me anywhere near your room," Andromeda says. "You made a beautiful child, Cissa. He's going to make some beautiful children with Hermione too. His bone structure with her skin tone, they'll be unstoppable." She points out.

"We'll see." Narcissa huffs, standing up. "I must check on the house-elves. Dinner should be ready by now." She announces, walking towards the kitchens.

Andromeda raises her eyebrow suspiciously. First of all, her sister is willingly stepping into the kitchens and secondly, she's going to the house-elves instead of calling them to her. That is not usual pureblood housewife behaviour. Instinctively, she follows her sister to the kitchen, peering her head around the door.

"Mitty, inform Draco that dinner is ready in the dining room," Narcissa orders the house-elf, who instantly disappears.

"Which plate is Miss Granger's?" Narcissa quickly snaps at the remaining house-elf, taking a vial out of her robe pocket.

"This one, Mistress." The house-elf shakenly gestures at the first plate of spaghetti Bolognese.

Narcissa pours the vial over the mince, mixing it in with a twirl of her wand. "Ensure this plate is to my right, where Miss Granger will be sitting." She orders, turning on her heel.

Andromeda rushes through the nearest door, which turns out to be the library. She doesn't know what was in the vial her sister just poured over Hermione's dinner but she knows that there is no way she can allow Hermione to eat that plate. After a minute or so, Andromeda leaves the library where she sees Draco and Hermione coming down the stairs. She contemplates telling them what she saw for a split second before deciding against it. She has no evidence for what she saw and why would Draco believe her over his mother.

"Draco, dear, where is your bathroom?" She asks her nephew. "I'd like to wash my hands before dinner." She smiles as Draco points to the end of the hall at a door near the kitchens. "Thank you, I won't be a minute."

Andromeda sets off towards the bathroom, casting an eye over her shoulder. When Draco and Hermione enter the dining room, she turns on her heel, heading over towards the door. She glances around, finding a vase upon a tall end table. With a flick of her wand, the vase topples onto the floor, smashing upon impact.

"Oh, my Merlin!" She gasps as Narcissa, Draco and Hermione rush into the foyer.

"How did this happen?" Draco questions as he and Hermione suspiciously walk over to the sharps of vase scattered around the foyer.

"My deepest apologies, Cissa," Andromeda says, walking over to her sister in an attempt to pull her into a hug.

"It's a vase." Her sister rolls her eyes as she walks over to the shattered object.

Andromeda points her wand through the open doorway and with a few flicks of her wand, the plate intended for Hermione has been replaced for her own. She doubts her sister would intend to kill her daughter-in-law in her own house with her son as a witness.

"A lot of fuss for nothing." Narcissa tuts as she leads the way back into the dining room.

Andromeda sits down opposite her sister with Hermione to her left and her nephew to her right.

"This looks lovely, compliments to the chefs, Narcissa." Andromeda smiles, picking up her glass of wine.

"Lets toast," Draco announces. "To new beginnings and old relationships." He raises his glass.

The rest of the table raises their own glasses to clink before picking up their forks to eat. Andromeda hesitantly moves the food around on her plate, hoping to catch an aroma that shouldn't be there. She was never any good at potions though, charms were always her forte, and she can't smell anything other than the spiced meat and wine. She glances at Narcissa, who's watching Hermione very carefully, as she twists the spaghetti onto her own fork. When Hermione's taken a bite and swallowed, Narcissa sit more comfortably in her own chair, taking a bite from her fork.

"Aunt Andromeda," Draco calls her attention and her head snaps towards him with a soft smile, hoping she wasn't just caught staring. "Where's Teddy this evening?" He asks her, breaking the awkward silence that had settled since they had all sat down.

"Harry was more than happy to have the child overnight. He and Ginny love spending time with him and Teddy loves them as though they're his parents." She smiles, blinking back tears. "I'm not getting any younger so I'm glad Teddy will still have a family when I'm dead and buried." She nods, finally taking a bite from her own plate.

"You're forty-seven, Andy." Narcissa states. "Not exactly on your deathbed." She adds.

"I've got to think about these things, Cissa. I'm the only blood family Teddy has left. There needs to be a plan in case anything happens. You don't need to worry about things like this. Draco's all grown up about to start a family of his own. Teddy's only fourteen months old." Andromeda explains.

"Teddy's going to be having children of his own long before you need to worry about anything like that." Hermione tries to reassure her.

"That doesn't help me, dear. I would like to reach my seventieth birthday before I become a great-grandma and I swear to Merlin if I'm a great-great-grandma before I die, I'm not leaving them anything in my will." She jokes. "Speaking of which, have the two of you thought about when you're going to start your own little family?" She looks at Draco and then Hermione, both of which are blushing.

"We're still getting to know each other." Hermione defends themselves as she glances around the table.

"We haven't even been married a month." Draco points out.

"And yet Harry and Ginny are pregnant." Andromeda counters.

"Don't be so naïve, Andy. It's common knowledge the saviour and his wife conceived prior to their marriage." Narcissa smirks into her glass of wine.

"Excuse me?" Andromeda glances at Hermione who nods.

"Ginny's five months pregnant." She confirms.

"My goodness," She gasps, placing her fork down.

"Don't tell me you and Ted waited until marriage." Narcissa chuckles.

"Of course, we did. We weren't going to risk falling pregnant in Hogwarts. Father would have killed me before I had the chance to run away." Andromeda exclaims. "Don't tell me you and…"

Narcissa rolls her eyes. "I might have gone through a rebellious phase after you left but I wasn't going to risk my price. No one needed to know that our wedding night wasn't our first night and Father got good money for me." She shrugs.

"I didn't want to know that." Draco lowers his head into his hands.

"Come on, Draco. I was your age once but you're part of a new generation. I'm sure you've done things at Hogwarts that I wouldn't have dreamt of." Narcissa teases her son.

"No, I haven't… done anything. There was a war going on and there was nobody I'd want to do anything with." Draco blushes as he defends his virginity to his Mother whilst trying to avoid everyone's eye contact.

"You forget that there was also a war going on during my last two years at Hogwarts." Narcissa points out.

"I'm sorry, Mother, did your father force you to take the dark mark at sixteen? Did the Dark Lord then task you with killing Dumbledore?" He questions her, taking another bite of his spaghetti Bolognese. "I didn't think so." He mutters.

Andromeda sits quietly as she continues to eat her poisoned dinner, eyes shifting nervously between her sister and her nephew. She hadn't known this about Draco and she felt sorry for him but no words from her were going to soothe the situation now. Something beneath the table brushes her leg. A quick glance under the tablecloth reveals Hermione comforting Draco by caressing his ankle with her bare foot. She averts her eyes to continue with dinner, as does everyone else at the table, in silence.

With a click of Narcissa's fingers, a house-elf appears beside her and follows her orders to clear the table and provide her guests with cups of coffee and chocolates. The house-elf bows deeply before disappearing. A few minutes later, four cups of coffees with a small chocolate each appears on the table.

"This has been a lovely evening," Andromeda announces, trying to break the awkward silence. "Much better than I expected the night to go anyway." She adds when the rest of the table stares back at her questionably.

"You're right, Andromeda, tonight was… lovely for part of the night." Hermione tries to agree with the woman but decides to drink her coffee instead of carrying on.

"Yes, I hate to cut the evening short, but I must be heading out soon. I believe an early night is in order since Teddy is out for the night. I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since before the war." She chuckles awkwardly before finishing her coffee.

"Hermione and I will walk you out, Aunt Andromeda." Draco stands up quickly, downing his coffee and harshly replacing the cup in its saucer.

"Thank you for a lovely meal, Narcissa. Thank Mitty and Gharther for me." Hermione smirks, following her husband to standing up.

"You're welcome, Hermione." Narcissa nods, joining them as they walk towards the front door.

"We should do this again." Hermione makes small talk at the front door. "Perhaps you could join us at the estate for dinner one night." She offers, regretting the statement instantly.

"That sounds delightful." Narcissa forcefully smiles.

"I'm sure we'll speak again soon, Cissa." Andromeda pulls her sister into a quick hug that is reluctantly returned.

"Goodbye, mother." Draco bids her as he steps out onto the doorstep, following his Aunt and wife outside.

Narcissa nods before closing the door as they walk down the garden path. Nobody speaks until they reach the gate when Andromeda bids her nephew and niece-in-law goodbye.

"I'm glad you talked me into joining you for dinner, Draco but please don't invite me again. That was a rather emotional and awkward evening that I would not like a repeat of." She admits.

"That's how most dinners with Mother turn out." He smirks. "I apologise, Aunt Andromeda. Hermione and I would like to invite you to our house for our next dinner." He offers.

"Don't forget that I am to host our next dinner. I would love the two of you to become a part of Teddy's life. You are his cousin once removed." Andromeda states. "I'll send you an owl with the details. Hermione, I assume you still remember where I live?"

"Yes, I do." Hermione nods in agreement.

"Good, I'll look forward to seeing you both. Good night." She nods before disapparating away.

Draco takes hold of Hermione's hand and disapparates them straight to the estate. Neither of them speaks as they think back to their night on the walk back to their house. Hermione unlocks their front door when they arrive.

"A cup of tea before bed?" She asks, walking into the kitchen.

"Thank you," Draco answers, following her and leaning against the kitchen counter as she makes their drink.

"What a night?" Hermione sighs as she places a tea bag in each cup.

Draco hums in agreement.

"Do you think your Mother and Aunt will rebuild their relationship?" Hermione questions him.

"I don't know." He sighs. "I'm still having a hard time understanding Mother's intentions behind the dinner in the first palace and I didn't have the chance to question her about it." He states.

"We most definitely threw her off her game by inviting Andromeda. She wouldn't have been expecting that so any ulterior motives she had for the dinner would have been put on hold. At least we have more time to think about what she could have been planning and might now be planning for any subsequent dinners." Hermione mentions as she pours the boiling water into their cups.

"Before we started eating, I checked your plate for traces of potions. There wasn't anything but I still don't trust her." Draco shakes his head as he takes a sip.

"It would be stupid to trust a woman like your Mother." Hermione states. "I also checked my dinner. I saw your Mother coming out of the kitchen and remembered you telling me she never went into the kitchen." She adds with a smile.

"Interesting!" He frowns. "Why would mother ever go into the kitchen?" He wonders aloud.

"We should hold up our offer of inviting her over for dinner. It'll give us an advantaged to be on home ground." She suggests.

Draco laughs. "This isn't a Quidditch match."

Hermione rolls her eyes. "I was referencing war, not Quidditch."

"Ah, that makes more sense coming from you." He nods with a smile. "Shall we invite her over for dinner next week?" He asks.

"Give it two weeks," Hermione suggests. "I'd like a longer break between visits with your Mother."

"Understandable." Draco nods, taking his cup of tea into the living room where he sinks into the couch with a tired groan. "We should go to bed soon. I want to be fully rested for our date tomorrow." He says suggestively as Hermione sits beside him, leaning against his shoulder.

"How excitingly mysterious." She smiles, sipping her tea. "And what will we be doing on this date?" She asks.

"You'll have to wait and see." He mutters, still not one hundred percent sure himself what they're actually going to do on their date.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it." She yawns.

Once they've both finished their cups of teas, Draco sets the cups off to wash and dry themselves before they head up to bed, brushing their teeth before changing into their pyjamas and climbing into bed. Hermione falls straight to sleep; however, Draco lays awake for a few hours, trying to come up with a worth enough date for Hermione. Something that they will both enjoy and will profess how he feels for her. Just as he's drifting off, an idea comes to him that makes him smile. He sets his wand to wake him up at seven o'clock the following morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The New Year
> 
> So we all know my upload schedule for 2017 was exactly... great. Apologies. My New Year's Resolution for 2018 is to keep to my upload schedule, which is every 1st, 11th and 21st of every month. However, those of you who follow my Instagram will know that the last chapter (chapter 133) comes out a year from today (31st December 2018). That means in 2018 I need to upload 61 chapters (or 5.08 chapters a month) so I'm not going to tell you when these extra chapters are going to be uploaded so I don't disappoint you. It will all be a surprise.
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	73. Chapter 73

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 73 for you!
> 
> I feel like I should put a warning on the final scene (Spoiler: it's a kissing scene). I know some younger people who read this might find it uncomfortable so just a warning.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

Hermione is woken up by the feeling of fingers running through her hair. She opens her eyes to find Draco fully dressed, lying on top of their covers with a content smile on his face.

"Good morning, my dear." He greets her, making her blush and bury her face in her pillow.

"What's happening?" She mutters in confusion.

"It's the thirtieth of June." He answers, which doesn't clear up her confusion. She lifts her head up to convey such with a stare. "It's the day of our date." He reminds her.

"I assumed our date was tonight." She admits, turning onto her back.

"When Draco Malfoy takes you on a date, it isn't just for the evening, you get a whole day of his undivided attention, a whole day dedicated to you." He tells her. "And to start off your date day, he has cooked you breakfast in bed." He turns climbs off the bed to lift the tray off his bedside table.

"Does he also spend the day talking about himself in the third person?" She questions him as he places the tray on her lap.

"No, he does not." He smiles at her. "Here we have scrambled eggs on toast with a croissant, raspberry jam and freshly squeezed orange juice." He gestures to the tray.

Hermione stares at the tray for a moment. "When did you go shopping?" She asks, picking up her fork to eat her eggs.

"This morning whilst you were sleeping." He admits.

"The greengrocer doesn't open until ten o'clock on a Thursday." She points out, taking a bite.

"I wouldn't go there." He frowns. "He stares at me like a hawk every time I go in. Why would I ever steal anything?" He shakes his head. "I went to that Muggle supermarket we went to." He admits.

"Well, thank you, this is delicious. Have you eaten?" She asks him, cutting up a piece of toast.

"I haven't had time. I've been planning our date day since half past six." He tells her.

"Here then, have a bite." She turns the fork towards him.

"No, this is your breakfast in bed." He leans away from the fork.

"If I want to share my breakfast in bed with my husband, I will. Now, have a bite." She offers him the fork again to which he takes the bite with a sigh.

"I don't want anymore." He tells her.

"You will eat half my croissant." She warningly tells him.

"I will do no such thing." He makes to stand up.

"You are not leaving me to eat breakfast in bed on our date day." She grabs hold of his hand.

"I'm already regretting asking you out." He sighs, leaning back against the headboard and crossing his ankles.

Hermione continues to eat her eggs on toast and takes the quiet to take in Draco. He's remembered what she told him about rolling his shirt sleeves up. They really do make his arms look great. She quickly averts her eyes from them before she's caught staring. Her eyes scan down the entirety of his body, taking in the black waistcoat buttoned up and his black trousers and dress shoes. She must remember to tell him how much she loves it when he dresses like this. If he were to throw on a long robe jacket, she would most likely fall for him on the spot.

"I hope you don't mind," He starts, making her jump slightly and blush for staring. "but I was looking through your wardrobe and found a black dress with a white collar. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to but it would compliment my outfit well and by your staring, I'm going to make the assumption that I look good today." He stares at her out the corner of his eyes.

"You look good most days, Draco, as I'm sure you're aware, but even more so today." She admits, placing down her fork as she's finished her eggs on toast and moving onto the croissant. "It's the waistcoat and rolled up sleeves combination." She adds as she spreads the raspberry jam inside the croissant.

"I shall keep that in mind." He smirks.

"I'm trusting you with this information. Don't use it for evil." She warns him as she offers him half the croissant.

"Would I ever, my dear?" He laughs as he takes the half.

"Darling, need I remind you of the many times you've played on my affections for you." She stares at him for a second before taking a bite of her croissant.

Draco nods with a smile. "I promise to only use my powers of attractiveness for good." He eats his half croissant.

When they've finished, Draco takes the tray away and orders her to get dressed and washed before meeting him downstairs. She does as he instructed, pulling out the black dress with the white collar that Draco had mentioned, then getting dressed and washed. By the time she's made it downstairs, Draco's stood in the living room wearing his leather jacket with his hands behind his back.

"Good morning, Athena." She greets their owl, who seems to be getting bigger every day recently.

Hermione walks over, finger reached out to stroke the top of Athena's head, when Draco holds his hands out to reveal he's holding a dark blue, velvet box. She stops in her tracks to stare at the box.

"What's that?" She asks, nervously.

"It's a present." He smiles sincerely at her.

"I can see that, but why?" She questions him.

"Today is our first date of hopefully many, tomorrow is our one-month anniversary and to be honest, I shouldn't need an excuse to buy my wife a present." He thrust his hand out a little further for her to take the box.

"Thank you, Draco." She whispers as she takes the box in shaking hands.

"Are you going to open the box or just stare at it?" He teasingly asks her.

Hermione nervously chuckles as she opens the lid to reveal a pair of emerald and diamond drop earrings.

"They're beautiful, Draco. Thank you." She throws her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug which he returns by wrapping his own arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"I'm glad you like them." He mutters in her ear.

"I love them." She replies, pulling away to press a kiss to his lips. "I'll be two minutes." She tells him as she runs upstairs into the bathroom to put her earrings in. She then takes her wand out and with a quick mutter of a spell, her curled hair ties itself up so she can see her earrings.

"Beautiful." Draco smiles when she returns downstairs.

"They are, aren't they?" She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"I wasn't talking about the earrings." He mutters as he pulls her into a passionate kiss.

Hermione's taken slightly by surprise by the kiss but quickly returns the affection she feels from Draco's lips, running her hands up his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She feels one of Draco's hands holding the back of her head whilst the presses her closer at the small of her back. The kiss doesn't last long enough for either of them when Draco pulls away.

"On any other occasion I would continue this course of action, however, as today is our date day, we really should get going." He tells her, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips then guiding her towards the front door with a few more kisses.

"I don't mind being a few minutes late to whatever you have planned." She admits, standing up on her tiptoes to take his lips in her own again.

"Neither do I but I'd rather not get on the wrong side of a certain somebody who's doing a favour for me today at twelve o'clock and since it's half past eleven now, we really should get going," Draco explains between kisses.

"Fine, fine, my curiosity is getting the better of me." Hermione sighs backing away to pull her jacket and boots on.

Draco locks their front door behind them as they leave, then takes Hermione's hand in his as they walk towards the gate.

"Do I get any clues about where we're going?" She asks.

Draco thinks for a moment. "You are friends with the person who's doing me a favour." He tells her.

"And what do you need to do in return for this favour," Hermione asks.

"Name our first-born child after him." He says straight-faced.

"Excuse me." Hermione frowns, pulling on Draco hand to make him look at her.

"That was a joke, Hermione." He laughs. "He hasn't named his price yet." He adds.

Hermione sighs. "That's dangerous, he could ask you to do something illegal." She points out.

"Is there something you're not telling me about some of your friends?" He quirks his eyebrow. "The only illegal thing this person's going to ask me to do is procure an illegal book for him." He smiles as he reveals another clue.

"Percy?" She frowns as they reach the gate.

"I see the book clue was a clue too many. Don't any of your other friends read?" He asks, gripping her hand tighter just before they disapparate to Diagon Alley.

"Not as prolifically as Percy does." She answers as he leads the way towards Flourish and Blotts where no doubt they'll find Percy. "Plus, you were probably right with that being the only illegal things he would ask of you." She chuckles.

"Good because I do not want to be any further on the Minister's bad side." He half-jokes with a laugh as they come to the bookshop. Draco checks his watch before pushing the door open. "After you." He gestures.

Percy is stood behind the counter pricing up a customer's items. There's a queue of six people waiting to be served and about twenty other people milling around on the ground floor and on the staircase. It's the same every Thursday since the shops don't open until ten o'clock. Everyone comes down as soon as they open and then usually have lunch in Diagon Alley since it's usually around that time that they finish their shopping.

Draco catches Percy's eyes with a wave. The other man nods and points upstairs, signalling that they should head up there. Draco takes hold of Hermione's hand, leading the way through the crowd of people and up the stairs, where they're even more people sat at the tables reading or browsing the bookshelves. Draco checks his watch again then guides her over the decree section.

"What are we waiting for?" She asks him as he pretends to look interested by the blurb of a book.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"You keep checking your watch." She points out.

"We're waiting for twelve o'clock." He tells her.

"What happens at twelve o'clock?" She asks, looking around curiously.

"You'll see in two minutes." He smiles, replacing the book on the shelf and sitting down at an empty table, gesturing for her to do the same.

Two minutes later, a clock begins to chime twelve times. A voice she recognises from her early Hogwarts years rises above the rest of the people in the shop.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's twelve o'clock. We will be closing for a half an hour break. Please vacate the shop in an orderly fashion." Percy informs everyone and a few groans can be heard throughout the shop.

Hermione makes to stand up but Draco places his hand atop hers, keeping her seated. Once everyone has left, Percy climbs halfway up the staircase so he can see them.

"You have until half-past twelve." He says. "And no funny business." He points seriously at Draco.

"I owe you, Percy." Draco smiles.

"Yes, you do." The other man shakes his head as he walks back down the stairs. A few seconds later, they hear the bell above the door ring as Percy leaves the shop, locking the door behind him.

Draco stands up, arms spread wide. "Here you go." He smiles excitedly at her. "We have twenty-five minutes," He says, checking his watch. "To shop without other people getting in the way. You can have whatever you want." He tells her.

"Are you serious?" Hermione laughs, looking around the shop. "It feels so wrong being here without any other customers or staff." She admits.

"You're wasting your time. You should be shopping." Draco sits down upon a table, watching her.

"I can have whatever I want?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Within reason." Draco nods.

Without hesitation, Hermione rushes down the staircase over to the stationary section near the till. She flicks through a few leather-bound notebooks, quills and inks. She places the items she decides upon on the counter before walking over to the fiction section and browsing through the new muggle section that Percy had told her he was installing into the Diagon Alley shop. She spends nearly fifteen minutes browsing every book on the three shelves before deciding upon a new release from last year by a Neil Gaiman called Stardust. She places it on the counter with her other three items.

"You have five minutes," Draco calls from where he's sat watching her at the top of the staircase.

She doesn't know how long he's been sat there watching her but she doesn't care. She hasn't even looked at the Transfiguration section, which she figures she ought to look at any new releases since she'll be the apprentice teacher in September. She chooses the most recent copy of the magazine 'Transfiguration Monthly' just as the bell above the door rings, announcing Percy's arrival.

Draco finally stands up, joining her by the till with the items that she wishes to buy.

"Is that all you want?" Draco asks her. "I did say you could have whatever you want."

"And this is all I want. I'm not greedy, Draco." She reassures him.

"That's fine by me." He shrugs, pulling out his coin bag.

When they leave Flourish and Blotts, after exchanging a few words with Percy, with their purchases, Draco takes her hand, guiding her further into Diagon Alley. They chat as they walk down the alley, gazing in the windows of some shops, going inside for a browse of any shops that took their fancy. Draco frequently checked his watch to ensure they were keeping good time, not wanting to be late for whatever their next meeting was. At quarter to four, Draco stops dead in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"We need to head back this way." He tells her as he turns around and drags her back the way they came.

Five minutes later, Draco stops outside the new restaurant that opened on the anniversary of the end of the war, appropriately called 'Victoria'. Harry had been invited to the opening night and he had taken Ginny. She later complained to Hermione how expensive the menu was and that the restaurant was so exclusive that even Harry had to wait five weeks for the next available table.

Hermione looks at Draco confused. "Are we eating here?" She asks.

"Yes, the owner offered me a table whenever I wanted. I simply asked her this morning on the way back from shopping." He explains as they enter the establishment.

"I'm amazed by your apparent power to get whatever you want," Hermione says as they wait to be seated by a very smartly dressed waiter.

"It's all about who you are and who you know. I'm a Malfoy and my family have many connections around the world. Even after everything, the Malfoy name still holds a lot of power in the upper-classes." He explains as they're seated at their tables.

"Your menus, Mr and Mrs Malfoy." The waiter bows as he places their menus in front of them.

"Upper-classes, plural?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Yes." He nods uncomfortably. "There's the lower-upper-class. Those with new money, such as yourself, who came into money through hard work or investments." He starts to explain.

"I am not in the upper-class." Hermione interrupts him.

"If the rumours about how much compensation you received from the ICW are true, then you are a part of the upper-class," Draco informs her.

"I thought that money came from the Ministry." Hermione frowns.

"The Dark Lord was a global threat and you, Harry and Ron put an end to his reign of terror. Rumour has it that every Ministry within the International Confederation of Wizards donated a percentage of their taxes to the compensation cauldron. It was then divided between those who the ICW deemed deserved it most. Harry, being a part of the upper-upper class since his money is old, received less than you, and Ron, being a part of the lower class, received more than you. However, I do believe he divided his compensating between his siblings and gave his parents a large sum." He finishes his explanation. "Although, you could be considered upper-upper class since we're married and the Malfoy's money is as old as you can get in the Wizarding World." He adds picking up his menu.

"I tried to refuse the compensation but the Minister wouldn't allow me to. I've only ever used that money once to pay for your hospital bill." She admits, picking up her own menu.

"I'm sure the ICW would be pleased you put the money to good use." He smiles at her over the top of his menu.

"Mr Malfoy, good evening." A very beautiful woman greets Draco. "I'm so glad you took me up on my offer of a table."

"Pearl, lovely to see you again." He shakes her hand. "Your restaurant certainly lives up to my expectations." He compliments her establishment.

"That means a lot coming from you, Mr Malfoy." She smiles, hand to her chest.

"I doubt you've ever had the pleasure of meeting my wife, Hermione." Draco gestures to her.

Hermione smiles up at the woman, trying not to let her jealousy show.

"No, I don't believe we have. Although, I am a big fan of your work during the war. Thank you." Pearl reaches out and shakes her hand enthusiastically.

"Thank you." Hermione shakes her hand back with an unsure smile.

"Now, both of you put those menus down. I'll have the chefs cook you something special. A thank you for everything you've done for me." Pearl winks at Draco, taking the menus away.

"What exactly did you do for her?" Hermione tries to ask calmly but the harshness of her voice gives away her jealousy.

Draco smiles at her. "I testified against her father, Gilbert Gibbon. Pearl was his only child but lived with her mother. She hasn't seen him since she was fifteen and found out he was a former Death Eater." He explains.

Hermione nods, understanding Pearl's thankfulness.

"A bottle of our famous Victoria wine." Pearl returns, pouring them both a glass each. "On the house." She adds with a wink to Hermione before leaving.

Draco picks up his glass of wine, gesturing for Hermione to do the same. "To us." He toasts, holding his glass out for Hermione to clink. "To us." She nods with a soft smile as she clinks their glasses and takes a sip.

"I can see why this wine is famous." Draco agrees, taking another sip then placing the glass down. "I spoke to David this morning." He announces.

"When?" Hermione frowns, wondering when he had time to go shopping, arrange the private shopping with Percy, book a table with pearl and then speak to David.

"I called him on my phone whilst I was shopping. He was brushing his teeth." He explains. "I asked him about Sophie's birthday and he said as long as we organise everything and makes sure the magic room is secure, he's fine with whatever we do." He tells her.

"That's great. I'm sure Sophie will love the magic theme." Hermione smiles, taking Draco's hand in her across the table. "I was thinking, we could make it a fancy-dress party and ask people to dress up as wizards and witches. It's a good way to bring the muggle and wizarding worlds together. Plus, Sophie will love the opportunity to wear her cloak." Hermione chuckles.

"That sounds perfect." Draco smiles. "Does this mean you're going to help me plan the event?" He asks.

"It's not an event. It's a quiet child's party." She tells him.

"Is that not an oxymoron?" Draco laughs.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "I'll help you organise the muggle side of the party but everything else is down to you. It's your idea." She tells him.

"Fair enough. Do you think she would want to invite any of her school friends?" He asks.

"I'm sure there'll be a few children she'd like to invite. I'll ask her tomorrow night who her school friends are." Hermione suggests. "Are you going to the library tomorrow?"

"Yes, I had hoped that we would have found at least one of the Malfoy's so David and I would have a lead to work on tomorrow." Draco sighs.

"How far through 1942 are you?" She asks

"I'm halfway through October." He answers.

"So, you have two and a half months left, you should be able to work through that and find Peter Malfoy tomorrow before we go to David's. I'll join you and try and get to August 1943." She says. "We'll find someone tomorrow. I'm sure of it." She smiles.

"Good evening," A waiter announces his appearance. "A creamy salmon carbonara for the Madam," He places the dish in front of Hermione. "And lamb meatballs with harissa and couscous for the Sir." He places the dish in front of Draco. "Enjoy." He bows before taking his leave.

"Well, it smells delicious," Hermione announces, picking up her fork.

"Mine smells spicy," Draco mentions, picking up his fork.

"That'll be the harissa." She points out. "Do you not like spicy food?" She asks, realising she doesn't know.

Draco stares at her as though the answer should be obvious. "I've never tried anything that smells this spicy." He finally answers.

"Just try it." Hermione chuckles, rolling her eyes as she takes a bite of her salmon pasta. "This is amazing." She hums with enjoyment.

She watches in amusement as Draco takes a bite of his spicy lamb meatballs and can't hold back her laugh at his recoil. With a flick of her hand, their dishes swap place son the table.

"I happen to enjoy spicy food." She admits, eating the half meatball that Draco had left on the fork. "Oh, this is hot. It's great." She smirks at Draco who glares at her.

"My eyes are watering." He tells her, taking a bite of the salmon dish. "I much prefer this salmon." He nods as he chews.

When they've finished their meal, Pearl arrives at their table. "Are you enjoying the dishes?" She questions them with a smile.

"The meatballs were delicious," Hermione tells her.

Pearl laughs. "I should have known you would have such a delicate mouth, Mr Malfoy." She comments, making Hermione laugh along with her to hide her pang of jealousy. "Was the salmon to your liking?" She asks.

"Yes, it was lovely, Pearl." He nods with a frown.

"Could I interest you in pudding?" She smiles at them encouragingly.

"I'm afraid not, we have other plans for dessert," Draco tells her.

Pearl raises her eyebrow suggestively. "Okay then, I'll have the bill brought over to you and you can go get to your… dessert." She winks with a chuckle as she leaves.

"I didn't mea-" Draco begins to say but Hermione shakes her head.

"She knows, she was just teasing you." She laughs.

The bill is brought over to them with a couple of mints and two cups of coffees. Before Hermione can see the price, Draco has written down the tip, his vault number and handed his vault key over to the waiter, who takes it away to the till.

"How much was it?" Hermione asks curiously.

"I gave them forty galleons. Tip included and a little something for the wine." He answers, taking a sip of his complimentary coffee.

"Draco, I don't like to have too much money spent on me. You've already bought me these earrings and everything from Flourish and Blotts." Hermione says quietly so none of the other diners can hear her.

"Hermione, I think you're underestimating how much the Malfoy's are worth." He whispers back, leaning over the table. "We have far too much money to know what to do with it and if I want to treat my wife on our date day, then I will." He tells her, leaning back in his chair, ending the conversation.

Hermione nods as she picks up her coffee. "This conversation isn't over." She tells him. "I won't have you constantly paying for everything because you have more money than me." She mutters, taking a sip and finishing her coffee.

Draco finishes his coffee just as the waiter returns with his vault key.

"Thank you, sir, for your generosity." The waiter bows then walk away.

"Shall we leave?" Draco suggests, standing up and pulling on his jacket.

He helps Hermione into her own jacket then takes her hand as they leave, walking towards the alleyway.

"We need to disapparate to our next location." He tells her with a soft squeeze of her hand.

"Lead the way." She smiles, squeezing back.

Draco disapparates them in onto a small hill near the coast, which coast, she doesn't know but in the distance, she can see a red and white lighthouse.

"Is this the right place?" She asks, unsure.

"Yes, it can get quite busy during the summer so I thought it would be safer to disapparate a little further away than usual." He explains, leading her towards the path at the bottom of the hill.

After a few minutes of nervous silence, Draco finally speaks up again.

"Hermione, the Malfoy's are one of the oldest Wizarding families in the world, and so is our money. The first Malfoy dates back to before Hogwarts was established. Armand Malfoy brought the family to England from France during the Norman invasion. He was King William's closest friend and provided services to the King and was paid plentifully." He explains as they finally make it onto the path.

"Is this the Malfoy family history lesson I was promised?" She jokes as they begin to walk towards the lighthouse.

Draco smiles. "I just don't want money to become an issue between us. Everything that's mine became yours a month ago when we got married. We are now the richest couple in the world." He winks at her.

"It's not really your money though, it's Malfoy money." She points out as they walk past a couple of thatched house on a muggle street. If she had to guess, she would say they were in a small village in the west country, Cornwall perhaps.

"With Lucius in Azkaban and mother living in Malfoy Manor, I am entitled to sixty-five percent of the money in the Malfoy vault." He tells her, leading her down the street.

"Okay, so it is your money." She sighs. "I still don't want you spending too much on me."

"It's our money, Hermione and if you would open a family vault with me, you would have access to it." He tells her.

"I have my own money, Draco. I have enough to live off for the next three hundred years. I don't need anymore." She tells him.

"I'm assuming you're living modestly for these next three hundred years?" He rhetorically asks.

"Draco, I don't want your money." She tells him with a forceful stare, telling him to stop pushing her on the topic.

"You want three children, yes?" He asks her suddenly. "That's what you said you wrote in your questionnaire."

"Yes." She answers hesitantly.

"Well, I must insist on opening a family vault when our first child is conceived. Our children will be born into the richest family in the wizarding world. I know how that status and wealth can get to a child's head." He explains.

"Fine," Hermione sighs, stopping Draco in his step and pulling him to face her. "For our future children, we can open a family vault. However, we will teach our children to have an understanding of status and wealth so they aren't irresponsible with it. I want our children to kind and modest." She tells him with a warning expression.

"With you as their mother, of course, they will be." He smiles at her, earning an eye roll in return. "I'm serious." He tells her, bringing his hand up to her cheek and pulling her into a kiss.

"Alright," Hermione mutters, pulling away. "Are you going to tell me where we are."

"Hörnum." He states, as though she should instantly know where they are, then takes her by the hand and continues their walk further into the village.

"And where exactly is Hörnum?" She asks, smiling at a woman who walks past them up the hill.

"It's a village in the South of the island of Sylt which belongs to the North Frisian Islands and can be found off the north coast of Germany." He answers.

Hermione's eyes widen as she glances around again. "We left England. I've never disapparated outside of the United Kingdom before." She tells him excitedly.

"Really," Draco frowns in disbelief. "Not even to France or Spain?" He asks and Hermione shakes her head. "Lucius used to take me all over Europe on business trips when I was a child. I'll have to take you to more places." He tells her, squeezing her hand as they start walking again.

"So, what are we actually doing here?" Hermione asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"We're going to get some dessert from a café on the beachfront, then walk along the beach towards the lighthouse, where there'll be a surprise." He answers with a self-satisfied smirk.

Hermione smiles as she squeezes Draco's hand between both of hers excitedly. "This is already turning out to be the best date I've ever been on." She admits.

Draco's face falls. "How many dates have you been on before?" He asks, trying to act nonchalant.

She chuckles at his reaction, turning his chin to face her. "There's no need to be jealous, Draco. I went on three dates with Viktor Krum, to the library, the lake and into Hogsmeade. Then I kind of went on one date with Ron into Hogsmeade but that didn't end well. To be honest, after breakfast in bed, this date was already top of the list." She assures him, making him smile. "So, if we're talking about dates, how many dates have you been on before?" She asks a nervous twitch in her stomach making her feel sick.

"Ah, well, I… you see… there was a war going on… and I was busy with exams and… Death Eater duties… and other things… so…" Draco stutters through an excuse.

"Draco?" Hermione interrupts him. "Is this you're your first date?" She asks in disbelief, her stomach flipping.

"It very well might be." He admits quietly.

She stares at him for a moment. "Then what was all that about showing me what it's like to date Draco Malfoy?" She asks him.

"Am I not showing you what it's like to date me?" He questions her in return as they make it to the beachfront.

"I had just assumed that you had shown other people what it's like to date Draco Malfoy." She admits.

"No, the closest I've had to a date is when Blaise took me out the day before the ceremony." He jokes with a snort.

"I remember that day. He ditched you for a eucalyptus tree her named Fern." She laughs.

"We're here," He tells her, suddenly stopping in front of a small café.

Draco leads her to a small table in front of the café's large window. "I'll go in and order." He tells her, leaving her to sit down.

Hermione glances out to sea, still amazed by the simple fact she's sat outside a German café on a German Island. She can't wait to tell her Mum, who's wanted to visit Germany for years. Draco returns a few minutes later with two cups of coffee.

"Arvin's going to bring our dessert out." He states as he places their drinks on the table and takes his seat opposite Hermione.

"Arvin?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

"He's our Kellner. I spoke with him this morning when I ordered our dessert." He admits.

"I don't know how you managed to do everything this morning before I woke up." She shakes her head in confused admiration.

"I was only here for fifteen minutes." He shrugs, sipping his coffee.

"Herr Draco und Frau Hermione," A man whom she assumes is Arvin announces his presence. "Das ist Zimt-Zuckerbrot." He places a plate with a loaf cake of some sort. "Ein traditionelles friesisches Nachtisch." He speaks proudly with a smile.

"Danke, Arvin. Es sieht lecker aus." Draco says with a smile.

"Genießen Sie bitte." Arvin bows his head, before heading back into the cafe. Hermione stares at Draco until he looks back at her.

"Since when do you speak German." She asks. "I'm an upper class, pureblood who was raised by an elitist father. I speak a few languages fluently and more conversationally." He admits, cutting up the loaf of Zuckerbrot.

"Such as?" Hermione prompts him.

"That would be telling." He smiles. placing the knife down. "Zimt-Zuckerbrot." He offers, holding the fork out to her.

"Which would be?" She asks, looking at the loaf. "Cinnamon sugar bread." Draco answers.

Hermione wraps her hand around Draco's holding the fork, bringing the sugary bread towards her and dragging the slice off with her teeth. She lets go of his hand as she chews, allowing him to take a bite himself.

"Very delicious." She comments, picking up another slice with her fingers. "How do you say that in German?" She asks, taking a bite.

"Sehr lecker." He tells her.

"Sehr lecker." She repeats, finishing her slice. "We're going to have to come here again. I don't think I could live with only eating this once." She admits.

"Of course, whenever you want and I'll come get you a loaf." He smiles lovingly at her. A warm fuzzy feeling spreads through her chest making her heart feel heavy at the thought of Draco loving her. She knew he loved her. He had told her on many occasions but that look on his face moments ago is what she needed to see for the realisation to sink in that Draco Malfoy loves her. Suddenly, it's too much. She stands up abruptly, making Draco jump slightly.

"I'm just going to the bathroom." She announces as she walks into the café.

Arvin looks up from behind the counter at the sound of the door opening. "Gibt es ein Problem, Frau Hermione?" He asks her.

"No, nien," She says with a polite smile. "The Zimt-Zuckerbrot is sehr lecker." She tells him, remembering what Draco had told her.

"Danke, Frau Hermione." He smiles as he nods.

"I need the bathroom." She tells him but he continues to smile, looking confused. "Toilet?" She questions hopefully.

"Ah, die Toilette." He laughs, pointing over to a door beside the counter.

"Danke." She thanks him before rushing into the bathroom. Inside, she locks the door and pulls out her phone. The time on the display screen reads half past seven. Without much thought, she calls the only person she can talk to about this. Her Mum. She answers on the fifth ring.

"Mum?"

"Yes, I'm here, Hermione. What is it?" She asks, sounding distracted.

"Are you busy?" She asks, not wanting to interrupt her if she's busy with Lauren and Craig. "I'm just tucking the kids into bed." She says. "I'm just going to put you down for a second." She adds, placing her phone down on the bedside table. "Goodnight, little Lauren. See you in the morning." Hermione hears her Mum singing on the other end of the line before she picks the phone back up.

"I'm just going to put Craig to bed then my ears are all yours." Her Mum tells her.

Hermione closes the toilet lid and takes a seat whilst she waits. A minute or so later, she can hear her mum walking down the stairs with a sigh.

"Right, I'm all yours. What's the matter?" She asks.

"Draco loves me." She states. "He told me two weeks ago but it's only just sunk in. I don't know if I didn't believe him or if I didn't believe that he believed it but the way he just looked at me, Mum. He loves me and I don't know what to do." She rambles on. "It's only been a month since we got married." She burst out laughing. "How ridiculous is that, Mum? We're married and I've only just realised my husband loves me and I don't have a clue how I feel about him. In the Muggle world, people would think I'm crazy, or stupid." She laughs.

Her Mum is silent on the other end of the phone for what feels like ages. "So, you say you don't know how you feel about him, but it sounds to me like you love him too." She tells her.

"Yes, yes, I do, but am I in love with him because he is definitely in love with me?" She asks.

"I can't answer that for you, Hermione?" Her mum tells her. "Where are you? Do you want to come over and talk about it with a cuppa tea?" She offers.

Hermione laughs again. "I'm in Germany." She announces.

"Germany." She repeats. "The country?" She questions.

"No, Mum. The town in Gloucestershire." She rolls her eyes. "Yes, the country. Well, actually, we're in Sylt, an island in the North Frisian Islands which can be found off the North of Germany." She remembers what Draco told her.

"No need to give me attitude, Hermione." Her Mum scolds her. "What are you doing there?"

"We're on a date." She admits.

"Okay," Her Mum elongates the word. "Draco took you on a date to a German island?" She clarifies the situation.

"Yes, we're at a café eating cinnamon sugar bread and I've been gone for five minutes now so can you hurry up and tell me what I need to do before he starts wondering what I'm doing in here." She sighs in frustration.

"First of all, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath. Then you're going to go and finish your date with Draco."

Hermione takes three deep breaths before standing up. "Okay, I can do that." She nods.

"Right, now hang up the phone and go back to him." Her mum tells her sounding amused.

"Yes, bye, Mum. We'll come visit you soon." She tells her before hanging up.

She takes one more deep breath before unlocking the bathroom door and making her way through the café to the door. Draco smiles at her nervously as she sits down opposite him again.

"Are you alright?" He asks her.

"Yes, thank you." She returns his nervous smile. "Are you alright?" She asks, cringing as soon as she says it.

Draco chuckles awkwardly. "Yes, I'm great. Did I say something?" He asks with a confused frown. "Was it my offering to buy you more loaves because we've already talked about h-" He starts.

"No, Draco. I was talking to my Mum." She tells him truthfully.

"Oh," he sighs in relief. "What did she want?" He asks.

"She wanted to confirm that we had Sophie's party under control. David had called her earlier to tell her your 'great idea'. Mum isn't sure about the magical part but I reassured her we know what we're doing." She lies, not wanting him to know that she was freaking out due to the fact that she returns his feelings that seem to be much stronger than she originally thought.

"I'm glad you have so much confidence in me as I'm not sure how I'm going to pull everything off." He admits.

"Draco, you have a week to get everything organised and figure out what you're going to do in the magic room. You'll pull it off and Sophie will love it." She assures him, picking up the final slice of the sugar bread. She tears it in half then hands a piece to Draco.

Once they've finished eating and drinking their coffee, Draco stands up, holding his hand out for Hermione to take, which she does. He keeps hold of her hand once she's standing and leads her down to the beach.

"I hate the feeling of sand in my shoes," Draco states when they reach a set of steps leading down to the beach.

He sits down on the top step and proceeds to take his shoes and socks off. Hermione laughs as she follows him in sitting down and taking her own shoes off.

"Or do you just love the feeling of sand between your toes?" She asks him with a raised eyebrow as she places her and Draco's shoes in her bag.

"To be honest, I'm not that big a fan of sand but I do enjoy the sinking feeling when the tide comes up to your feet." He admits, making Hermione laugh even more.

"That is the cutest thing you've ever said." She tells him, taking his hand in hers as they stroll down the soft sand towards the sea.

Draco frowns down at her. "I would hope there wasn't much competition for top spot. I try not to make a habit out of being 'cute'." He scoffs.

"Oh, Draco, you are so very cute sometimes." She teases him. Draco attempts to ignore her, huffing as he looks out to see.

"Right now, with that little scowl on your face. Very cute." She points out, earning a glare from her husband which just makes her laugh.

When they make it to the tideline, they pause to watch the tranquillity of the tide slowly moving in and out, getting closer to their bare feet each time it comes in. They stand there without saying anything for what must be half an hour, simply enjoy the closeness of their other half. Finally, the tide reaches their feet, washing past their ankles and pushing wet sand over their feet. Draco was right about the sinking feeling. It was strangely enjoyable. Hermione casts her gaze away from the sea to glance up at her husband. His eyes are closed as the warm sun kisses his face. He looks completely content as the tide washes over their feet once again, sinking them further into the sand. He smiles and in that moment, Hermione knows. She closes her own eyes, as tears threaten to spill down her cheeks, and lets her feelings take over her body. Her hand grips tighter onto Draco's, never wanting to let go.

"Shall we walk further down the beach?" Draco suggests and Hermione opens her eyes to find him watching her with that look of adoration and she's rendered speechless so she simply nods.

Quietly, they set of strolling down the beach, the tide still lapping at their feet. They see a few local people and holidaymakers, who nod in greeting as they walk past but neither party converses with the other, happy to smile and be on their way with their family or friends. Eventually, at quarter past nine, they make it to the lighthouse, where Draco said there would be a surprise. He leads her over to another set of steps leading up to the beachfront and glances around to make sure no one is watching before removing his wand from his pocket. He gently taps her feet with his wand and they dry instantly, allowing her to step back into her shoes whilst Draco dries his own feet then pulls on his socks and shoes.

"To the lighthouse?" She questions as she stands up, waiting for Draco as he ties his shoes.

"Yes, it closed at nine but the owner's left me the key to the door." He takes a key out of his pocket to show her as he stands up.

He holds out his hand to her, which she takes, then guides her up the beachfront to a path leading up the side of the hill that the lighthouse is situated upon. Once they reach the lighthouse, Draco struggles with the key before sighing in defeat and taking his wand out to open the door, muttering "Stupid key."

Inside, they are met by a curved staircase around the wall leading up to the two balconies and the massive light. Draco gestures for Hermione to walk up ahead of him as he quickly locks the door behind them before following her to the first floor.

"Wait there!" He calls to her as she's about to carry on up to the next floor.

"Why?" She turns around to question him.

"I need to check something first." He rushes past her up to the second-floor balcony where a picnic basket resides beside the door.

With a quick wave of his wand, the basket turns invisible. "You can come up now." He calls down the stairs to Hermione.

Hermione joins him on the top balcony and glances around for whatever it was Draco needed to check on but she can't see anything. Looking up from the balcony floor, her gaze catches upon the view of the thatched cottages of the village of Hörnum and the North Sea. She shuffles closer to the edge, leaning against the balcony's railing.

"This is beautiful." She sighs in awe.

"Care to sit and watch?" Draco asks her and she turns around to find he has spread out a picnic blanket on the balcony in perfect view of the horizon over the sea. Hermione doesn't know if her heart will ever stop beating this fast since she came to an understanding of her feelings and if she were honest with herself, she's perfectly fine with that as it provides constant reassurance that her feelings are real.

"I'd love to." She smiles broadly.

As she lowers herself beside Draco onto the picnic blanket, he lifts his arm up for her to cuddle into his side then wraps his arm around her. They sit quietly, for the most part, only speaking to exchange comments on the changing view as the tide reaches the almost up to the steps they had sat on and the sun moves further across the sky towards the horizon where the sea meets the sky. Just as the sun is beginning to set, Draco removes his arm from around Hermione, sending a chill down her spine.

"What are you doing?" She whispers as not to disturb the peace.

Suddenly, there's a loud pop, which makes them both jump and then laughs.

"Champagne?" Hermione guesses.

"Yes," Draco chuckles. "I'm always caught off guard by the pop." He admits as he pours two glasses and then passes one to Hermione.

"I thought it would be nice to end our date with a glass of champagne as we watch the sunset." He says, wrapping his arm around her again and pulling her near.

"The perfect end to a perfect date." She sighs, sipping her champagne flute as she looks out to sea.

Draco hums in agreement as he leans in closer to Hermione, enjoying her presence and his glass of champagne. It really is the perfect end to a perfect date. Once the sun has set and their champagne has been drunk, the lower themselves down to stare up at the stars above them. It reminds Draco of their first argument when he had bought her fish and chips to apologise. They had set on their doorstep beneath the stars to eat and Draco had pointed out the different constellations, even though he knew she already knew them all having been in the same astronomy classes at Hogwarts. He reminds Hermione of that night and she laughs.

"I wondered if you had forgotten that I sat on the table beside you but decided to let you carry on talking since you sounded so passionate." She smiles, turning her head to face him.

"I love the sound of your voice when you're talking about something you love." She admits.

Draco blushes at the compliment, turning his gaze back up to the stars. He clears his throat and points up at a constellation. "As you know," He smiles. "That is the constellation of Aquila, which is Latin for eagle, and was named after the bird that carried Zeus and Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greek and Roman mythology." He explains then proceeds to go into detail about the different stars and the history behind the constellation.

At midnight, the bells of Hörnum's church rings out twelve times.

"It's officially our one-month anniversary," Hermione mutters, shuffling closer to her husband on the picnic blanket.

"Did you ever think we would make it a month?" Draco asks jokingly.

Hermione laughs. "I didn't think we would be this close after only a month." She admits.

"Well, we are pretty close right now." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Without thinking, Hermione leans in, capturing Draco's lips, and his yelp of surprise, in her own. The kiss doesn't last long as a chill wind whips through the balcony, sending a shiver down her spine. She tucks her face into the crook of his neck, pulling the warmth of Draco's body closer.

"It's getting cold." He states, hugging her closer. "Do you want to go home?"

Even though Hermione loves lying under the stars, wrapped in Draco's arms, and the thought of staying there all night is tempting, but the idea of going home to their house together is even more so.

"Let's go home." She stands up, holding her hand out to help Draco up.

Draco waves his wand to tidy up then follows Hermione down the staircase, leaving the basket and blanket in front of the door for the owner of the lighthouse, along with the key, as instructed, after locking the door from the inside. Taking Hermione's hand, they disapparate back to the estate.

Since it's nearly half past twelve when they get to their house, they head straight to bed, after greeting and feeding Athena. Hermione can't stop smiling as she brushes her teeth in the bathroom mirror or when she changes into her pyjama, well aware that Draco is watching her from his position in their bed, or when she climbs into bed, straight into Draco's open arms.

"What are you smiling at?" He asks, her smile reciprocated on his face.

"I'm just happy." She blushes, ducking her head against his shoulder.

"I'm glad." He chuckles, nuzzling his face into her hair. Hermione presses a soft kiss to the crook of his neck, making Draco shiver. She chuckles at his reaction, glazing up through her eyelashes at him.

"I lied to you." She admits, still smiling which send Draco mixed messages.

"About what exactly?" He asks, sounding nervous as his body shift awkwardly.

"About the conversation, I had with my Mum on the phone. I called her." She tells him.

Draco frowns. "Okay, I wouldn't say lying about who called who is a big deal." He laughs it off.

"Why did you call her?" He asks, hugging her closer again.

"I was a little freaked out." She admits.

"I realised you loved me." She adds when his frown deepens.

Draco looks down at her in confusion. "What gave it away, the multiple times I told you?" He half-jokes.

"It was the way you smiled at me. I realised that I hadn't been convinced when you first told me, I mean we were making out and you just blurted it out in the heat of the moment, but then you told me you would buy me sugar bread whenever I wanted and you smiled at me and I felt loved and it finally sank in that you actually loved me so I called my Mum." She realises she's rambling and stops to take a steadying breath.

"What did you tell her?" He asks, relaxing slightly.

"That you loved me and I didn't know what to do. We've been together a month and how crazy would that sound to a Muggle, that we're married and yet I've only just realised you love me." She laughs nervously as she reiterates what she told her Mum. "Then I realised something else, you didn't just love me, you're in love with me and there's a big difference between the two."

Draco blushes. "I haven't told you that." He states.

"But it's true, you're in love with me, aren't you?" She asks, sounding unsure.

He nods with a sigh. "I know you're not there yet and my feelings might be growing too fast but I blame you completely. You're very easy to fall in love with." He closes his eyes in embarrassment from admitting his feelings.

Hermione beams as she presses her lips to Draco's in a long but chaste kiss, surprising him. She takes a deep breath before she speaks again. "I love you, Draco."

Draco's eyes snap open. "What?" He asks breathlessly.

"I came to the realisation that I love you. Mum told me to hang up the phone and go back to you." She sits up, turning to face Draco. "Then you had to take me down to the bloody beach. I finally knew I loved you and everything was fine but you had to be all cute and show me how the tide makes your feet sink into the sand." She rants at him.

"I don't understand, do you love me or not?" He asks, sitting up beside her, his heart waiting to sink or sore depending on her answer.

"The sand, Draco." She repeats. "The look of content-ness on your face as you stood there, eyes closed, taking in the sun as we sank into the sand, hand in hand. You have never looked so beautiful and I let that feeling of content take over me and I knew. I didn't just love you but I was in love with you too and I held onto your hand tighter, never wanting to let go." She finally gets her feels across.

Draco stares at her for a long moment, blushing deep red as her words rush around his head. "Contentness isn't a word." He points out after a long silence.

Hermione's face falls. "I know, I should have said contentment." She snaps. "I confess that I'm in love with you and that's all you're going to comment on?" She asks rhetorically.

"There was a lot of information and I was still processing the fact that you loved me and then you tell me you're in love with me and they are two different feelings because on the scale of love I would say being in love is much higher than just loving and it's finally sinking in that we're both in love with each other and we're sat here arguing over grammar when we should be expressing this love for each other." He states.

"And how would you like to express your love for me?" Hermione smiles flirtatiously.

"By kissing you more passionately then I've ever kissed you before." He answers straight out.

Hermione's slightly taken aback but it doesn't take her long to answer. "Do it then."

Before she has time to prepare herself, Draco pounces, pressing his lips firmly against hers and not wasting any time in licking his way into the warmth of her mouth as he lays her down on their bed. Hermione gasps in surprise as his tongue gently brushes against her own, despite the urgency of the kiss. She fervently kisses back, her hands on his hips, pulling his weight down onto her, needing to feel the warmth of not only his mouth but also his body. Draco seems to feel the same way as one of his hands finds the hem of her pyjama shirt, where he breaks their kiss only long enough to pull the offending item of clothing over her head and press the warmth of his bare chest against hers as their lips meet to continue their exploration. Breathlessly a few minutes later, Draco breaks their kiss again, rolling to lie beside her as they both catch their breath.

"I think we need to stop." He says through ragged breath.

"I don't want to," Hermione tells him, swinging a leg over his body to straddle his waist. She leans forward kissing her way from his ear and down his neck. Draco's eyes close as his head falls back in pleasure. Suddenly, Hermione changes her course and begins to press soft kisses down his chest. He places his hands on her shoulders pushing her away gently.

"I really think we should stop." He repeats, hoping she'll understand what his wide eyes are trying to convey.

"I want to express my love for you." She tells him, begging him with her eyes to ask her how.

Draco gives in and asks, "How would you like to express your love for me?" He repeats her earlier question with a smile.

Hermione leans forward, pressing her lips against his ear. "By consummating our marriage." She whispers seductively.

Draco's breath catches in his throat as the soft brush of her voice against his ear send his blood running south. He pushes her away from him again to look at her. He takes in the sincerity in her eyes and the soft smile on her swollen, from kissing, lips.

"Do it then." He softly smirks at her.

Hermione's eyes widen as her smile broadens. "Really, you want to?" She asks his consent.

"I'd love nothing more than to make love to you right now." He admits, voice purring as he leans up to taking her lips in a gentle kiss as he mutters, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She smiles against his lip, hands moving down his chest towards his hips.

Whilst they're both nervous about having sex for the first time, knowing that their love for the other person is returned helps the nerves to dissipate into arousal as they take this next step in their relationship together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram bigdswisdom to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	74. Chapter 74

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 74 for you!
> 
> For those of you who don't follow my Instagram (bigdswisdom), I've decided to take a break from writing for a few reasons. Basically, the anniversary of my nana's passing is coming up (those of you who have been reading for over a year might remember this time last year I was very inconsistent). On top of that, January's been awful, I'm not in the right frame of mind and I've lost all motivation at the moment. I DO NOT HAVE WRITERS BLOCK. I'll be posting on my Instagram when my break is over.
> 
> Please don't ask me if this will affect The End Game (final chapter, supposed to be released on 31st Dec 2018) because it will but I just can't think about it now.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

Hermione wakes up blissfully the morning of Sophie's birthday. She rolls over, wrapping her arms around Draco's bare chest. He mutters something unintelligible as he pulls her closer.

"What was that?" She chuckles against his neck, making him shudder.

"I love you." He mutters again.

She smiles. "I love you too."

She thinks back to a week ago when she had first confessed her love to her husband. They had gone on to consummate their marriage that night, as well as every night since.

"We need to get up." She tells him. "You have Nott's trial at nine and I told David I would be over to set up at half-past eight." She reminds him.

Draco sighs. "What time is it now," He asks.

"Quarter past eight." She answers, hugging him closer, not wanting him to leave the bed even though they really need to get up.

He groans as he pulls Hermione closer, then kisses the top of her head. "We really need to get up." He sighs.

"Yes." She nods, lifting her head up to look him in the eye.

"If this trial wasn't very important to me, I would stay here five minutes longer." He admits, leaning down to kiss her a few times, then climbing out of bed.

"Is Theo going to be there?" Hermione asks as she follows him to their wardrobe and pulls out her dress robes. She'd bought them, especially for Sophie's party in order to fit the magical dress code. The robes are red with attached cape and gold details on the shoulders. The skirt that falls straight to the floor.

"He said he never wanted to see him again, so I doubt it," Draco tells her, pulling his white dress shirt on and making sure the collar is stuck up straight. "I'm going to visit him after the trial and tell him the outcome so I might be fifteen minutes late to David's." He says.

"It's fine. The party doesn't start until four this afternoon and I've told you I'll help with the magical room. I'll set all the wards up and the food table then you can decorate it how you want when you get there." She assures him. "It's all going to go smoothly." She smiles as she waves her wand over her shoulder to fasten up the corset.

Draco sighs as he pulls on his black dress robe on over his shirt and fastening it up the front. He looks at himself in dressing table mirror shaking his head. The dress robes have longer sleeves than he's used to and the silver details are overly ostentatious, which is something he never thought he would think, taking pride in his own pretentiousness. The one thing, above all else, that he hates is the length of the skirt. He's used to his dress robes falling stiffly to his mid-thigh, not floatingly to his mid-calf. Then when paired with his new leather boots, it all seems too much but Hermione assured him on many occasions that it's so over-the-top that it would be considered normal wizarding costume in the muggle world, which is what they're going for.

"I can't believe I'm wearing this to the trial." He sighs again.

"Stop sighing." Hermione scolds him playfully. "I don't see how this is any different from your usual dress robes. There only a little longer."

"It's floaty, Hermione." He stares at her but she doesn't seem to understand so he steps away and gives her a twirl, the skirt of his dress robe fanning out. "See."

"Well, I happen to prefer these dress robes to your usual ones. You don't look like your father in these ones." She smiles then laughs at the image of Lucius wearing the dress robes.

"Oh, thanks, that's reassuring." He rolls his eyes as he tucks his wand into the wand holster on the inside of his robes. "Lucius was considered a fashionable man in his time, if he wouldn't wear this, then I don't see why I should either." He comments, taking his black cloak out of the wardrobe and throwing it over his arm. "I'm placing a winter charm in the magical room. If I'm expected to wear a cloak in the middle of summer along with these robes, I'm changing the season." He complains as he heads downstairs.

"Stop complaining," Hermione calls after him as she pulls on her own boots and follows him downstairs, already feeling far too warm in her outfit. "This is all for Sophie." She reminds him as she joins him by the front door.

"You're right." He nods. "And at least, as a couple, we look great." He smiles, leaning down to capture her lips in a quick kiss. "Let's go and hope we don't see anyone on our way to the gate." He opens the door, gesturing for Hermione to leave first then locks the door behind him.

They're almost at the gate when they hear someone wolf whistle at them. Turning around, they find Pansy walking over to them with a smirk on her face. She seemed to have taken a much subtler take on the dress code, wearing an elegant dark blue gown with a similar coloured summer cloak.

"You both look hot," She laughs. "In the warm sense, although you do look great." She looks them up and down as she reaches the gate with them. "Don't try and hide your dress robes from me, Draco. I want a full twirl at the party." She smiles.

"Pansy, don't, he's already self-conscious enough about it," Hermione warns her.

"Okay, show me this dress robe." She stops them before they can disapparate.

Draco rolls his eyes before opening his cloak to reveal the robes.

Pansy takes them in for a few seconds before nodding. "I could see you wearing them when visiting your mother as a form of protest. They're very pretentious, which matches your personality perfectly, Draco." She smirks. "But your parents would hate them." She adds.

Draco smiles. "I'm wearing them for the meal with Mother next week." He tells Hermione.

"I don't think that's the right approach to salvaging your relationship with her." She comments but secretly wants to see the look on Narcissa's face when she see's Draco in these robes.

Draco goes to check his watch, before realising he hadn't put it on as it didn't fit beneath the tightness of the robe's sleeves. Instead, he takes his phone out of his trouser pockets to check the time.

"I should be in the courtroom right now." He states. "I'll see you at David's." He kisses Hermione quickly.

"Where's my kiss?" Pansy jokingly complains as Draco disapparates.

Hermione takes her hand so they can disapparate to her Uncle David's house. They arrive just as David is ushering the birthday girl out of the door and into the car for school.

"Pansy!" Sophie exclaims, jumping out of the car to give her a hug, which Pansy reluctantly returns. "What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I came with Hermione to wish you a happy birthday." She answers.

"Why are you dressed up fancy?" Sophie asks, looking both Hermione and Pansy up and down with a frown. "

"These are our best dress robes. We were going to celebrate your birthday with some cake for breakfast whilst you opened our presents but I see we're a little late. We'll have to wait until after school." Hermione suggests.

"Ah, Dad, do I have to go to school today? It's so unfair, Joan doesn't go to school on her birthday." Sophie complains.

"That's because Joan's birthday is in August." Her Dad points out. "Now, in the car, you're going to school. We'll see them tonight." He orders and Sophie climbs back into the car with a huff. "Actually, could you pick her up after school at half past three? I have a meeting with the head after school. I should be home for four o'clock." He asks.

"Of course, that's fine." Hermione nods, only realising after David has pulled out of the driveway that she doesn't have any other clothes with her. Hopefully, the parents who know about the party will understand.

They enter through the front door; which David had left unlocked for them and head straight to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

"Where do we start?" Pansy asks as she sits at the kitchen table.

"Decorations." Hermione states. "We need to set up the living room for the Muggles who are coming. Whilst my whole family knows about magic, David's still a little nervous around it, my grandparents haven't ever actually witnessed any magic and my parents aren't too fond of it either. Plus, my godparents are coming and they don't know anything." She explains, placing a cup of tea in front of Pansy as she joins her at the table.

"What does Muggle decoration include?" She asks.

"It's a magic-themed party so there can be some magic in the room, but subtle magic. If it can't be explained by Muggle science or technology, it needs to be subtler." She tells her.

"I don't know anything about Muggle science or techology." Pansy frowns.

"I don't know much myself. It's changed in the past eight years." Hermione admits.

"How many people are coming?" She questions.

"My parents, grandparents, godparents, four cousins, Gwenog, six kids from her school and one dad. He told me he only gets his kids on Wednesday, Thursdays and Friday nights so he asked if he could come." Hermione answers.

"I'm already regretting coming." Pansy sighs, sipping her tea.

"Why? It'll be fun." Hermione tries to assure her.

"I was raised my whole life to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns. I've never been around Muggles and now I feel like I've been thrown off the Gryffindor tower." She admits. "I don't know anything about Muggles. I suppose I'm a little nervous and it doesn't help that I'm dressed ridiculously." She says.

Hermione smiles at her friend. "You'll be fine, Pansy. Muggles really aren't that much different from us. You can talk to my parents about anything from our world, they know quite a lot. I would stick to the pleasantries with my grandparents and godparents. Then you already know Gwen but I'll warn you, she's not particularly fond of you. That just leaves the kids who are all under eight and Sophie loves you." Hermione explains.

Pansy holds a hand to her chest. "Gwen doesn't like me." She gasps. "I'm offended." She frowns.

"You're a Slytherin, she doesn't like Draco or Blaise either." Hermione jokingly points out.

"Oh, is that so." She mutters, a dark look crossing her face.

"Pansy," Hermione says warningly. "The best thing you can do is prove her wrong. Sophie and I already defended your honour." She says.

"Really, Sophie defended me." She frowns.

"She said you, Draco and Blaise were the nicest people she had ever met and asked if all Slytherin's were nice," Hermione smirks when Pansy burst out laughing.

"Right, I need to go shopping for Sophie's present." She states.

"Haven't you got her one yet?" Hermione asks with a frown.

"Of course, but she thinks I'm nice and her mother hates me so I need to buy her a little something else." She smirks, an idea forming in her head.

Hermione sighs, knowing there's nothing she can do to stop Pansy from doing whatever she's planning on doing so she lets it go.

"You should go soon, I want you back to help me set up the living room," Hermione tells her. "I also need to set up some ward for the playroom where the magical room is going to be. Draco said he'll decorate when he gets here." She adds.

Pansy nods as she finishes her cup of tea. "I shan't be long." She smirks as she walks down eh hall towards the front door, leaving.

Hermione finishes her own cup of tea before taking her wand out and heading into the playroom to start on the wards.

"I, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, hereby sentence you, Mr Sylvester Nott, to Azkaban for a total of forty years effective immediately. This sentence includes the ten years for your part in helping Death Eater's escape Azkaban in 1982 and thirty years for your crime during the second war." The Minister announces to the courtroom.

Two Ministry Officials unshackle him from the seat in the centre of the courtroom and lead him towards the holding cells. However, as he passes Draco, he halts.

"May I have a quick word with Mr Malfoy?" He asks the two Ministry Officials who glance at each other and then at Draco, who nods.

"Speak quickly, Mr Nott." He tells him.

"Tell Theo, tell my son that I love him, that I'm sorry and that I'm so very proud of him." Sylvester Nott asks him calmly, his eyes boring into Draco intensely. "I hear he's happy with his wife and he's going to be a lawyer. Tell him I wish him a long, happy life." He adds with a sincere smile.

Draco stares at him for a moment before nodding once. Content with that answer, Sylvester Nott gestures to the two ministry Officials to lead him away to the holding cells. In a hurry, Draco swiftly exits the witness row. However, before he can reach the courtroom door, the Minister calls his name. With a sigh he stops in his steps, spins on his heel, forgetting his dress robes are rather floaty and walks over to the Minister's stand.

"Can we make this quick, Minister? I have plans." He says, looking up at the man.

"I must ask that you refrain from dressing so… outrageously theatrical in the courtroom, Mr Malfoy." He glances him up and down. "This is a place of justice, not a stage for your elaborate performance." He snaps.

"Minister, I took an oath to speak only the truth." Draco reminds him with an air of innocence.

The Minister shakes his head. "Mr Malfoy," He sighs. "You are the most deviously untrustworthy person I know."

"And you are the most tactically, uncompassionate and untrustworthy person I know." Draco smiles at him. "So, I guess we're equal." He states with a wink. "Now, I have a child's party to decorate for, are we done?" He asks.

The Minister nods, teeth gritted, as he glares after Draco when he walks out of the courtroom.

Draco exits out the Muggle entrance so he can call Hermione on the phone. Muggle technology doesn't seem to work well when in such close proximity to magic. He walks down the street, away from the Ministry, trying to a signal. He finally gets a bar fifty meters away. He stops and calls Hermione.

"Hi," She answers.

"I've just left the Ministry." He tells her.

"Just? It took longer than usual." She comments.

"Yes, I gave an elaborate performance." He rolls his eyes as he talks.

"What?" Hermione asks.

"The minister wasn't happy with my dress robes or my conduct within a place of justice, it seems. I think the words he used were, outrageously theatrical." Hermione laughs down the phone.

"How was the trial, anyway?" She asks.

"Forty years," He answers. "I'm on my way to inform Theo." He adds.

"Alright, I'll see you here soon." She says.

"Yes, goodbye." He says before hanging up.

He makes his way into an alleyway to disapparating back to the estate where he heads straight to Theo's house.

He knocks on the door and his friend answers after a prolonged moment take one look at him in his dress robes and burst out laughing. Draco pushes past him, slamming the door shut behind him on his way into the living room.

"So, what's the occasion?" Theo smirks, sitting in an armchair opposite Draco on the couch.

"It's Hermione's cousin's birthday party this afternoon." He tells him.

"The one who came here a few weeks ago?" He asks. "The Muggle?"

"Ah, you don't know," Draco remembers. "She's actually half-blood." He reveals.

Theo's eyes widen. "Oh, wow!"

"Her mother is Gwenog Jones," He announces.

Theo frowns at him. "You know, I think Lisa mentioned something about Gwenog having a child in the Muggle world. It was in the Daily Prophet." He nods. "Anyway, what can I help you with?" He asks.

"It was your father's trial today," Draco tells him.

"How long did he get?" He asks, trying to act nonchalant.

"Forty years." He answers.

Theo smiles softly as he strides over to Draco, pulling him off the couch into a tight hug. "Thank you, Draco." He says appreciatively as he steps back.

"No problem, I might have overexaggerated his actions a little but he got what he deserved," Draco admits.

"How did he react to the sentence?" He asks, sitting sideways beside Draco on the couch.

"He remained composed throughout the whole trial. When he was being led to the holding cell, he stopped in front of me and asked me to tell you something." Draco pauses to gauge his reaction before carrying on. "Do you want me to tell you?" He asks.

"You might as well." Theo nods, taking a deep breath.

"He told me to tell you that he loves you, he's sorry and he's very proud of you. He heard that you're happy with Lisa and are training to be a lawyer. He wished you a long and happy life." Draco tells him.

Theo scoffs, shaking his head. "There he is again, indirectly manipulating us. He's trying to trick me into feeling sorry for him and visiting him in Azkaban but that's never going to happen. Hopefully, he'll die in there but then he's only thirty-eight." He sighs.

"Are you alright, Theo?" Draco asks him.

"Yes, thank you for what you did, Draco." He smiles. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else what he told you. He's been sentenced and I don't need to think about him for the next forty years." He says.

"Of course, I won't breath a word of it to anyone." He nods, standing up. "I must leave but I'm sure I'll see you around." He nods as he makes his way to the front door.

"Of course, you and Hermione can come around whenever for a cup of tea," Theo tells him as he steps out onto the street.

Draco thanks him then quickly sets off towards the gate. This morning had already taken too long. He doesn't know if he'll have enough time to decorate the playroom the way he wanted to for Sophie. He disapparates straight to David's house when he reaches the gate and doesn't bother knocking on the front door, letting himself in.

"Hermione!" He calls as he struggles to take his boots off.

"I'm in the living room." She announces, stepping into the hallway. "How did Theo take it?" She asks leaning against the stairs bannister as she watches him.

"Rather well, actually." He answers, finally managing to pull both his boots off. "How far have you and Pansy gotten?" He asks.

Hermione scoffs. "Pansy ran off about nine o'clock to buy Sophie an extra present so she can prove something to Gwen." She rolls her eyes. "She hasn't been back since. I'm sure she's just trying to get out of helping." She adds. "Anyway, for each person who isn't allowed in the playroom, I've set up a ward to make them uninterested in the room when they get within a metre of the door. All except the dad who's coming with his kids. I don't know his name." She explains as they walk into the playroom. "Also, I've placed a silencing charm within the room so the kids can be as loud as they want."

"Perfect," Draco smiles. "I can use the fireworks now."

"I'm going to leave you to it. I need to finish the living room and start cooking the food." She states. "Also, I need to pick Sophie up from school at half past three." She adds.

"You're going to pick Sophie up from Muggle school dressed like that?" He questions.

"Yes, I don't exactly have any other options. I've got so much to do here and don't have time to go home and change." She explains.

"I'll come with you then. We can confuse the Muggles together." He jokes.

Hermione rolls her eyes as she leaves him in the playroom, heading back into the living room. She nearly finished with the decorations for the adults. There are colour changing streamers, shimmering banners and colour changing balloons that float in mid-air. All she needs to do now is set up the sweet table, which she'd bought some of the more inconspicuous wizarding sweets for. Liquorice wands, sour sweets, sugar quills, toffees, marshmallows and doughnuts. Once she's finished setting up the table, she heads into the kitchen to start on the sausage rolls, pies, mini-burgers, hotdog, garlic bread and mini-pizzas that all need cooking. The rest of the party food, the sandwiches, popcorn, crisps and breadsticks, that don't need cooking, are in the cupboard ready. Hermione hopes to be finished with all the food by three o'clock, which only gives her two and a half hours. She wishes Pansy would hurry up and return.

After four and a half hours of wandering up and down Diagon Alley, going into nearly every shop, she ends up back in Flourish and Blotts for what must be the fourth time that day. She's already bought Sophie a large selection of sweets from Honeydukes. However, with the revelation that Gwen hates her but Sophie thinks she's nice, Pansy needs to buy the child something else, something special to make reinstate Sophie's beliefs in her. That she is a nice Slytherin. It's a shame Blaise can't make it to the party, he's the epitome of a nice Slytherin. Now, it's down to her and Draco to prove that point to Gwen.

"Back again, Pansy," Percy smirks at her as she enters.

She sighs, waving him off as she heads upstairs to browse the books once again.

"You know, if you let me know what you're looking for, I might be able to help you," Percy suggests from the top of that stairs.

"I need something special for Sophie's birthday." Pansy finally relents, sitting herself down on the edge of a desk.

"When's her birthday?" He asks, stepping onto the floor.

"Today." She answers.

"You're leaving it a bit late, aren't you?" Percy teases as he stands beside her, glancing at the bookshelves. "I assume this is why you're dressed like you're going to a ball." He adds.

"I already have a present for her but I've recently been told that Sophie thinks I'm nice and her mother hates me so of course, I need to buy the child something special to prove that I am nice." She admits.

Percy stares at her sideways.

"I know I'm not particularly nice but the child seems to thinks I am so I need a special present, can you help me or not?" She asks sharply.

Percy laughs. "Maybe, if you stopped snapping at people, they would think you're less mean." He suggests, walking over to the stairs.

Pansy sighs. "Fine, I apologise for snapping." She tells him as he continues to walk downstairs. "Will you help me now?" She calls after him.

"I am helping you, but thanks for the apology." He says. She can hear the amusement in his voice as she follows him downstairs. "Aren't your dress robes a little… over the top for a muggle party?" Percy asks as her rummages through some books on the shelf.

"It's a magic party. Hermione wants everyone to dress up as stereotypical witches and wizards. I have no idea what that means so I just threw on one of my best dress robes." She shrugs.

"I think you need a pointed hat." He states as he pulls a book of the bookshelf. "I read a muggle book about witches and they seem to think we have pointed hats, wands and fly everywhere on broomsticks." He says, handing her the book.

"What's this?" She asks, turning the book over in her hands.

"A selection of short children's stories written by Constance Cavalier," Percy announces.

"Okay," She glances up at him. "Who was she?" She asks, wondering why the book was special.

"In 1337, she became the first ever Muggleborn to be sorted into Slytherin. In 1355, she married a pureblood Slytherin and went on to have eight children, all of whom were Slytherin and went on to do great things, and adopted three squib children. She wrote these short stories for them and anonymously donated all the money she earned from the sales to families less fortunate than her. She is undoubtedly the kindest Slytherin to ever attend Hogwarts. If you want to prove to Sophie that Slytherin's can be nice, give her this book. Constance's life is written in the foreword." He explains.

Pansy smiles down at the book. "I'll take it." She tells him, passing the book back to him.

Percy takes the book over to the till where he wraps it up in dark green tissue paper. Pansy hands him over some galleons, telling him to keep the change as an act of her gratefulness. Just as she turns to leave, Percy asks her to wait as he runs into the back room behind the till. Pansy waits impatiently for him to return, when he does, he has another book wrapped in red tissue paper.

"Will you give Sophie this from me?" He asks her, holding it out.

Pansy sighs as she takes the book. "Fine. I'm sure she'll be thankful." She says before leaving the shop and disapparating back to David's house.

"Where have you been?" Hermione berates when Pansy saunters into the kitchen around two o'clock.

"In Diagon Alley buying Sophie a present." She says, placing two wrapped presents on the kitchen table. "The red one is from Percy." She adds.

"Go put them then the living room on the coffee table with the rest of the presents and then help me cook. We've only got an hour before we have to leave to pick Sophie up from school." She orders, going back to check on the oven.

Half an hour later, Hermione realises that Pansy hasn't returned from the living room yet and goes to find her. When she isn't there, she checks in the playroom, where Draco is still decorating. There, she finds Pansy lounging on the couch, eating marshmallows straight from the bowl.

"Pansy!" She calls, making the other jump slightly. "I asked you to come help me." She reminds her.

"Yeah, but I'd just get in the way." She shrugs, placing another marshmallow in her mouth.

Hermione wandlessly accios the bowl of marshmallows into her hand.

"Hey, I was eating those," Pansy complains.

"In the kitchen, Pansy." She orders. "Now."

Pansy sighs as she stands up. "Fine, I'll help." She says, following Hermione into the kitchen. "What do you want me to do?" She glances around.

"Butter those burger and hot dog buns." She gestures to a pile of buns and a tub of butter.

Pansy quietly gets on with her task, passing the buttered buns to Hermione, who places a leaf of lettuce and a burger inside and set them on a plate. They work quickly and efficiently and by three o'clock, all the food is on plates ready to be served when the party starts at half four. All they'll need to do is magically heat them up before the guests arrive.

Since there aren't any secluded places near Sophie's school, especially not at three o'clock in the afternoon on a school day, so they decide to walk. Pansy hadn't wanted to stay in the house by herself so decided to join them on the walk. Hermione was glad since three of them in dress robes was lightly less strange than one or even two people in dress robes.

They arrived at the school gate just after twenty past three and found a free bench to sit on at the back of the playground where they hoped they could hide inconspicuously. However, almost every person in the playground was staring at them or trying not to, and muttering to other parents about the youths of today.

"What are you three wearing?" Hermione's Dad laughs as he walks up to them.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" She asks him, standing up to give him a quick hug.

"I'm picking up Lauren." He smiles. "You look like you've been invited for tea with the Queen." He states, looking her up and down. "Queen Victoria." He laughs.

"Dad!" She complains, embarrassed at his terrible joke.

"Sorry," he says unapologetically. "Your Mum and I won't be dressing this fancy. I'm just wearing my funeral suit with a cape and a pointy hat." He tells her. "Although, I do have a wand." He adds.

"I think most of the kids will be dressed in those Halloween witch outfits so anything better than that will look great," Hermione admits.

"Your Grandma made Lauren and Craig matching pink outfits so you know they'll look better than a Halloween costume." He assures her.

The bell rings and all the parent's start pushing their way closer to the gate to meet their children. Hermione's Dad bids them goodbye as he pushes past all the parents to walk down towards the reception gate where Lauren needs to be collected. When they see Sophie coming out with her teacher, Hermione waves at her cousin. Sophie's face lights up at the sight of Hermione, Draco and Pansy in their wizarding attire. She quickly informs her teacher that her cousin's here to pick her up then runs out the gate towards them.

"Here, Sophie." Hermione passes her a folded-up piece of cloth that Sophie instantly recognises as the summer cloak Gwen had bought her.

"I can wear it?" She asks, already throwing it around her shoulders and tying it in place.

"Of course, we're wearing our best dress robes to celebrate your birthday," Hermione explains, correcting the position of Sophie's cloak. "How would you like to go to the park on our way home for ten minutes?"

Sophie cheers, running off towards the gate with one of her friends, leaving the three of them to quickly rush after her.

After playing in the park for fifteen minutes, Sophie had begged them for five more minutes since she was playing with a friend on the roundabout, they made it home just after four o'clock to find David's car parked in the drive.

"Dad, we're home." Sophie calls as she runs into the living room, hoping to find him there. "Woah, what's all this?" Sophie stops in the middle of the room glancing around at the decorations, food and presents on the coffee table.

"It's your birthday party," Hermione answers as David comes downstairs in his wizarding outfit, which consists of a grey suit with a blue jumper underneath and a black clock. He looks the epitome of a history teacher.

"My birthday party?" She beams excitedly.

"Yes, surprise." David laughs.

"What are you wearing, Dad?" She laughs.

"It's a magic-themed party," Draco tells her. "Now, you can't attend a magic party with just a cloak, you need some dress robes." He tells her.

Hermione picks up one of the presents her and Draco had bought her, passing it over.

Sophie opens the present excitedly, gasping when the blue fabric is revealed. She pulls out the gown, holding it up to her chest, the blue skirt fanning out.

"It's beautiful." She says, running up and giving them both a tight hug individually. "Can I put it on?" She asks.

"Of course, darling," David tells her, watching as his daughter runs upstairs into her bedroom to get changes. "What time is Gwen getting here?" He asks.

"I told her ten past four so we have twenty minutes to do our presents before everyone else arrives," Hermione explains.

David nods checks his watch. "She's late." He states heading into the kitchen.

Just as Sophie's running down the stairs with her new dress robes and her cloak on, there's a knock at the door. Hermione goes to answer it but Sophie does so first.

"Hi, Gwen." She greets her mother. "I like your dress robes. Do you like mine?" She asks, giving a twirl.

"You look beautiful, Sophie." Gwen smiles down at her daughter.

"Thanks, Hermione and Draco bought me it. It's the same colour as the cloak you bought me." Sophie tells her. "Come look in the living room." She grabs Gwen's hand, pulling her into the house.

Gwen flashes Hermione a surprised smile as she follows her daughter.

Hermione goes into the kitchen, where Draco's trying to convince David to try butterbeer.

"It's delicious," Draco smirks.

"I don't care. I don't want any." David frowns, opening the fridge and taking a can of coke out.

Pansy enters the kitchen right behind Hermione. "What in Merlin's name is she wearing?" She hisses.

"Who?" Draco questions.

"Gwen, who do you think?" She snaps at him.

"She looks nice." Hermione frowns in confusion.

"Exactly, she looks gorgeous but it's not what I would call traditional dress robes." She explains.

"Are you jealous, Pansy?" Draco teases.

"I better go check on Sophie and Gwen," David announces, leaving them in the kitchen.

"Could he be any more obvious?" Pansy laughs.

"What?" Hermione frowns.

"He still has feelings for Gwen." She rolls her eyes.

"No, he doesn't. She broke his heart when she left." Hermione tells her.

"But he does find her very beautiful. He told me as much that day I took Gwen to him in the park." Draco admits.

"With Gwen in those dress robes, I wouldn't be surprised if they sleep together tonight." Pansy states.

"Pansy!" Hermione glares at her.

"I could have said something much worse." She smiles.

"You could have said nothing at all." Hermione retorts, walking out of the kitchen.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Pansy laughs, following behind Hermione and Draco into the living room.

"Can I open my presents now?" Sophie asks once they're all there,

"You can open the presents from us before everyone else arrives," David tells her.

Sophie excitedly kneels in front of her pile of presents on the coffee table, trying to decide which one to open first. She picks up what is obviously a book wrapped in silver paper.

"All the silver ones are from me," David announces proudly.

Sophie rips the paper off to reveal a thick notebook.

"There's five hundred pages in there." He says.

"Thank you, dad." She says, placing the notebook beside her and moving onto the next present.

Sophie ends up with an eagle feather quill, two pots of black ink, one pot of red ink, a pot of blue ink, three new books and for some reason, a digital safe from her father. She receives a book about the Holyhead Harpies, a Holyhead Harpies shirt, three bottles of butterbeer and a chocolate frog from her mother. Then, from Pansy, she opens a very large bag of wizarding chocolate and sweets, which would definitely need to be hidden before Hermione's parents arrived, and a book of short stories by Constance Cavalier, whom Hermione had never heard of before. Pansy also presents Sophie with an arithmancy book from Percy. From Hermione, she receives a Tamagotchi, charmed to live for as long as Sophie looks after it. Then, Draco gifts her with an alarm clock which he charmed, with the help of Arthur Weasley, and Bill Weasley, who had been visiting the Burrow at the time, to project a replication of space around Sophie's bedroom. She would be able to travel through space to the different stars through the use of a hand-held traction pad, which Arthur had made using a Muggle piece of technology.

"We've only got a few minutes before everyone else arrives," David announces, checking his wand.

"Come on, Sophie. I'll help you hide all this in your room." Hermione tells her, picking up some of her presents and carrying them upstairs.

Whilst placing them on her desk, the doorbell rings, announcing the arrival of more guests. Hermione follows Sophie as she runs downstairs to open the door.

"Happy birthday, Sophie." Hermione's Mum says, hugging her niece tightly. "What a beautiful dress?" She adds as she steps inside the house with Lauren and Craig in their matching light pink outfits looking adorable.

"Hermione and Draco bought me it. I love it. It's my favourite colour and it matches my cloak." Sophie spins around to show off her dress.

"Where's Dad?" Hermione asks her Mum shut the door behind them.

"He's gone to pick Grandma and Grandad up." She says, entering the living room and stopping suddenly, turning on her heel and walking out. "What is she doing here?" She asks, pulling David into the kitchen.

"Who?" David asks, glancing at the living room door. Hermione's Mum stares at him pointedly and he sighs. "With Sophie being a witch, I thought it was only right for Sophie to spend time with her Mum. Gwen's been taking her out with Hermione for days out to the wizard world. Gwen's really been trying to make up for lost time." David explains.

"After everything she put you through, I can't believe you're letting her back into yours and Sophie's life." Sarah snaps.

"If you're going to argue, can you at least do it quietly?" Hermione hushes them, closing the kitchen door.

"Sophie deserves a mother." David hisses back to his sister.

"Gwen doesn't deserve Sophie as a daughter," Sarah whispers angrily.

"I've given Sophie until the end of Summer to spend time with Gwen and get to know her before she decides if she wants her to be her mother. I just thought it was the best thing for Sophie seeing as she's a witch and will be spending most of her time in the wizard world when she goes to school in four years' time." David explains.

"Hermione could have taken her." Her mum gestures to her.

"I already ask too much of Hermione and Draco. It's not fair to ask anymore, especially when they're starting their own family within the next couple of years." He reminds them.

Sarah doesn't retaliate, turning to look at Hermione.

"Gwen really is trying with Sophie and I'm always there to supervise," Hermione assures her. "And Sophie's taking her time in getting to know Gwen. She doesn't call her Mum and told her off when she said something unkind about Draco, Pansy and Blaise. She's a smart girl who seems to know what she's doing."

Sarah sighs deeply. "She's too smart for her own good that girl. She gets it from you" She points accusingly at David.

"Please be civil with her, Sarah," David asks her.

"Fine, but I don't expect me to be nice. I don't like her." Sarah frowns, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room with Hermione and David following behind her.

"Hi Sarah, I've missed you." Gwen smiles, pulling the woman into a quick hug.

Hermione smiles when her Mum doesn't reply and sits down on the two-seater couch in front of the window. Hermione sits beside Pansy on the couch where Draco's awkwardly perches on the arm of the chair.

"I feel a little underdressed." Her Mum admits, glancing at the three of them.

"You look amazing, Mrs Granger." Pansy compliments her with a smile.

"Thank you," Her Mum chuckles. "You must be Pansy. Sophie told me all about you. Apparently, you feed her lots sweets." She raises her eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's me." Pansy smiles.

"Pansy was just introducing Sophie to our special sweets." Hermione defends her friend, eyeing Lauren and Craig to make sure they're not listening but they seem preoccupied with the balloons. "My parents are dentists. They're like healers for teeth. The sugar in sweets can be very harmful to teeth." She explains to Pansy.

"Oh, it was just a few different types of sweets, not massive amounts," Pansy explains.

When the doorbell rings next, David announces that he'll answer. The living room is thrown into an awkward silence as they listen to David talking to Hermione's dad and grandparents.

"We're all in the living room," David tells them.

Hermione's dad enters first in his black funeral suit and cape as promised. He smiles at his wife as he enters then lets his gaze scan the room, stopping abruptly and widening on Gwen.

"Oh, Gwen… Hi." His eyes flicker to his wife who shrugs. "What a… pleasant surprise?" He says, hugging her when she stands up. "How have you been?"

"Good, thank you." She smiles. "I've been focusing on Quidditch." She admits.

"Your sport?" Chris asks.

"Yeah," Gwen nods.

"That's great." Chris nods in return as he joins his wife on the couch.

David enters the living room with his parents. Hermione's grandparents sit straight down on the other end of the couch beside Pansy, avoiding looking at Gwen.

"Grandma! You look beautiful." Hermione smiles at her grandma in her white flowy dress.

"I look beautiful? Look at you, my dear. Let me see a twirl." Her Grandma smiles proudly as Hermione stands up and does a twirl, blushing embarrassingly.

"You look gorgeous." Draco leans down to whisper in her ear as she sits back down.

"Let me see all my girls twirl," Grandma announces, beckoning Lauren and Sophie over to twirl. "What about my biggest girl, Sarah?"

"Mum, I'm not twirling." Hermione's Mum refuses, making her grandma laugh.

"What about you Chris, in that cape of yours?" She suggests.

Hermione's dad confidently stands up and struts toward his mother-in-law, does a twirl, then struts back to his wife and taking a seat.

"Very masculine." Hermione's Grandad laughs.

"Oh, shut up, Tom." Her Grandma slaps her husband's shoulder. "It's not every day we dress up all fancy like this." She chides him. "Draco, dear, would you like to give us a twirl?" She asks him.

"I would not, thanks." He frowns, shaking his head.

"Oh, but your robes look like they were made for twirling." She tries to convince him.

"Please twirl, Draco," Sophie begs him with a giggle.

"Oh, fine, but no laughing." He warns them all as he stands up, arms spread wide as he turns on his heel.

Pansy wolf whistles, then enthusiastically clap along with Sophie, Laurena and Hermione's Grandma.

"Stunning." Hermione chuckles as he sits beside her on the arm of the couch.

Lauren and Sophie start a competition to see who can rally a balloon for the longest whilst the adults split off into the conversation. Pansy introduces herself to Hermione's grandparents whilst Draco and Hermione talk to her parents and David busies himself in the kitchen, making drinks.

"Have you see these balloons?" Lauren shows her Uncle Chris after losing for the fifth time. "They change colour." She throws one at him, laughing when Chris head buts it back to her.

"They're so cute in their matching outfits. Are they twins?" Gwen asks, nodding at Lauren and Craig.

"No, Lauren's four and Craig is three," Sarah tells her as David enters carrying bottles of beers and a glass of wine.

"Oh, you two have been busy." She awkwardly laughs.

"They're our niece and nephew." Chris corrects her.

Gwen looks at David in shock.

"Not mine," He frowns. "Louise's." He clarifies, passing the glass of wine to Sarah and a bottle of beer to Chris.

"Oh, of course, where is Louise anyway?" She asks and all conversation stops.

"She couldn't' make it," Chris states before anyone else can think of an excuse.

"Okay." Gwen glances around the room in confusion but doesn't press any further.

"Hermione, Pansy, what can I get you to drink?" David ask changing the topic of conversation.

"Do you have any butterbeer?" Pansy asks.

"What?" Hermione's Grandma asks.

"It's a Scottish drink." Hermione quickly lies. "Yeah, I brought some over." She stares wide-eyed at Pansy. "I'll have a glass of wine, please." She answers.

David nods just as there's a knock on the door.

"I'll get that." Hermione stands up, walking out of the living room towards the front door.

"Hermione! Goodness, don't you look beautiful. Not very witchy though." Her Godmother, Sharon frowns, looking her up and down.

"If witches were real," Hermione smiles. "I like to think they would live in large communities where they have elegant dinner parties. That's the look we went for." She says, stepping aside to let her Godfamily inside.

Sharon's wearing a transparent purple dress with a black slip dress underneath and a matching pointed hat. Scott's wearing a long purple dress with a purple starry robe, matching hat, white gloves, a wand, a white wig and beard.

"Oh, Wow, don't the two of you look magical." Hermione comments on the twins' outfit.

"Yeah, Mia wanted to look cute." Sharon smiles down at her daughter.

"It's far too short," Scott grumbles from under his beard.

Hermione has to admit that for a five-year-old, Mia's black dress is rather short but she is wearing tights.

"Look at Sophie's dress," Scott nods at Sophie's who's come out of the living room to greet them. "Very sophisticated." He adds.

"She looks three years old." Mia comments.

"Mia, it's her birthday, be kind." Scott scalds her.

"Do you like mine, Hermione?" Mark asks.

"I love your outfit, especially this cloak." She tells him.

Happy enough with his praise, he runs off into the living room.

"So, where's that mother of yours." She asks, following Hermione down the hallway.

"We're all in here." She tells her, entering the living room.

Sharon takes a look around the living room and frowns. "Are we the only ones to follow the dress code. You all look like you're going to a ball rather than a child's magic party." She complains, sitting where Hermione's Grandad had been sitting.

"I told you, we went for a more elegant look." Hermione reminds her.

"You could have told us, I have the perfect dress at home." She sighs, taking a glass of wine from David, who returns to the kitchen where Scott, Hermione's Dad and Grandad are drinking.

"Gwen?" She gasps. "Since when is she back in the picture?" She asks the room.

"About two weeks." Gwen answers. "I can't quite remember your name?"

"Sharon."

"Oh, yeah," Gwen smirks, standing up and exiting the living room.

Not long later, Scott, Hermione's Dad and Grandad return to the living room.

"So, why is she back?" Sharon leans forward to loudly whisper to everyone in the room.

"She came back and Dad thinks I have the right to know her if I want to," Sophie answers with a shrug before shoving a marshmallow in her mouth.

Sharon glances at Sarah who nods.

"Okay then." She sighs, drinking from her wine glass.

A few minutes later, there's another knock at the front door. David calls out that he'll get the door.

"Hey, I'm Harley, Kate and Naomi's Dad. Sorry, we're late, I couldn't find my top hat." The man's laugh carries down the hallway into the living room.

"Harley, is your Dad a motorcycle fan?" David asks, walking him down the hall to the living room.

"No, my Mam was a Steve Harley fan." He corrects, smiling at everyone in the living room.

"Sophie, why don't you show your friends and cousins to the playroom. I think Draco's decorated it for you." David suggests.

"Alright, come on Kate, Naomi. I haven't seen it yet." Sophie tells them.

"Wait, I'll show you around," Draco calls them as she follows them out the door.

"How old are you, Harley?" Hermione's Grandma asks. "You don't look old enough to have two daughters?" She adds.

"I'm twenty-three. The girls are non-identical twins so it's not as bad as it sounds." He laughs. "Only one teenage pregnancy for me." He jokes.

"We all make mistakes." Her Grandma smiles. "My daughter's twenty-one and has a four-year-old and a three-year-old." She adds.

"My girls weren't mistakes, they were surprises," Harley states, straightening his top hat.

"Would you like a drink, Harley?" David asks.

"Sure, point the direction and I'll serve myself." He smiles.

"The kitchen, just down the hall." David gestures.

Pansy downs the rest of her butterbeer. "I think I need a replacement." She stands up.

"Could you be any more obvious?" Hermione mutters, earning a wink from Pansy as she follows Harley into the kitchen.

Within the space of five minutes, four more of Sophie's friends had been dropped off by their parents and were having fun in the playroom. Hermione hadn't seen Draco for nearly an hour when she decided to go find him. She pushes the playroom door open to reveal Draco and all the children dancing to what she assumes is popular Muggle music. Upon seeing Hermione, Draco holds his hands out for her to take, which she does, and join him on the dancefloor. The dancing occurs for nearly fifteen minutes until there's a knock on the door and David announces that they're allowed to eat now.

The children rush into the living room. Hermione stays behind with Draco to help spread out the beanbags ready for the fireworks display he had prepared for after dinner.

"It looks amazing in here." She tells him, pressing a small kiss to his cheek as she walks towards the door.

"Thanks," He mutters, pulling Hermione back toward him. "They really seemed to love the music and dancing." He adds before capturing her lips in a soft kiss.

Before their kiss can become anything more than chaste, there's another knock on the door, making them part.

"Stop making out in there and come eat." Pansy's voice calls from the hall with a laugh.

Hermione rolls her eyes as she takes Draco's hand and pulls him out of the playroom and into the living room.

All the children are sat on the carpet around the coffee table with paper plates full of food. Hermione's Mum and Godmother are sat on the two-seater, with her dad and Godfather sat on either arm next to their respective wives. Gwen's sat in the armchair with David perched on the arm. Hermione's Grandparents had retaken their place on the couch. Hermione and Draco sat at the other end of the couch after choosing their own food. Pansy had chosen to sit on the carpet with Harley to continue their conversation. Conversation flows freely as everyone eats.

When finished, Sophie asks if they can play in the garden, which David approves and the group of children run outside leaving the adults in the living room to continue their conversations. Around six o'clock, Draco and Hermione call the children back into the playroom for the firework show.

Once all the children are lying on a beanbag, giggling in excitement for the show, Hermione calls their attention.

"Are you ready?" She asks and all the children cheer. "I want you to remember that these are very special fireworks that aren't made from gunpowder so we can use them inside and they won't set the house on fire. Don't try this at home." She tells them seriously and they all seem to understand as they nod back quietly. "Let's start then." Hermione smiles, lying down in Draco's open arms on his beanbag.

With a small flick of Draco's wrist, the firework display starts with a mermaid swimming around the room jumping out of the lake with a backflip and diving straight back in with a splash. The children gasp in awe as the display goes on. Multiple beings running, dancing, galloping and flying around the room. Twenty minutes later, the display ends with a large dragon breathing cool spark upon them, making the children squeal then burst out laughing.

The first parent arrives at half-past six to pick up their child and by twenty to seven, all the guest children have left, including Harley and his twins. Then, by seven o'clock, Sharon and Scott have left with their twins and Hermione's dad has taken her grandparents' home, leaving Draco, Hermione and Pansy to tidy up the playroom and David, Gwen and Hermione's Mum tidy the living room and kitchen. Sophie and Lauren are lounging on the couch, playing with the Tamagotchi that Hermione bought her whilst Craig sleeps on the two-seater.

"Should we have one more drink before we disapparate back to the estate?" Draco suggests with a relaxed sigh once they've finished tidying.

"Usually I would but I've got an early morning." Pansy sighs in a complaint.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asks.

"Nothing that you need to know about," Pansy smirks as she stands up.

"Why so secretive?" Hermione asks suspiciously.

"You don't need to know everything about me. A little mystery keeps a relationship alive." She winks. "I'll see you around." She adds before leaving.

"That was strange." Hermione comments, looking at Draco.

"Not really." He shrugs. "She's always like that. If she wants to tell us what she's up to, she'll tell us, if not, we'll never find out. It's just something you learn to live with." He explains.

When Hermione's dad returns, he carries a still sleeping Craig to the car, fastening him into his car seat. Her Dad, Mam and Lauren then bid them goodbye with the promise of seeing them soon. Gwen leaves around the same time after thanking them for the invitation. Once they've gone, Draco, Hermione and David have one more drink whilst Sophie plays with some of her presents. When finished, David sends Sophie to bed since it's a school night then declares he has some marking to finish. Hermione and Draco take the hint and leave, reminding him that they'll see him on Friday to continue tracking Hyperion.

They disapparate straight back to the estate. As soon as they're in their house, Draco lets out a long sigh as he removes his cape and dress robe, throwing them over the back of the coach before pulling his boots off and leaving them where they fall. Hermione watches in amusement as Draco throws himself down on the coach, whilst she takes her shoes off then joins him. Draco shifts onto his side, opening his arms to give them more space on the couch and embrace her.

"It was a good party. Sophie loved your present too. I heard her tell David she was going to put it on tonight." Hermione tells him.

"I'm glad, it took far longer to make than I thought it would. Although I am blaming Arthur for that, he wanted to look inside the Muggle alarm clock before we charmed it. Also, I get a slight feeling that Bill doesn't like me. He growled at me more than once when I apparently got in the way." Draco admits.

"He doesn't hate you. He was the one who carried you to St Mungo's. You just haven't given him many reasons to like you." Hermione suggests.

"Just because he didn't want me to die, doesn't mean he doesn't hate me." Draco points out.

"Fair point." Hermione shrugs. "Anyway, I think you managed to pull together an amazing party for those children." She kisses his nose. "And for Sophie."

"No need to thank me. I enjoyed it, even if you had to do most of the work." He chuckles. "At least that's another trial out of the way."

"How many is that now?" Hermione asks.

"Nine down, fourteen more to go." He sighs, closing his eyes.

"Anyone of significance?" She asks.

"No, no one you'd know or remember." He tells her. "Most of the fourteen won't get any more than fifteen years." He admits.

"Your father got fifteen years." Hermione reminds him.

Draco tenses. "Lucius paid his victims off plentifully and they refused to testify. If it weren't for me he would have walked free." He says angrily, pulling Hermione closer and burying his head in her hair.

Hermione hugs him back tight to remind him that she's there as he loses himself in his mind. Softly, she draws runes on his back until he starts laughing.

"Did you just write 'I love you' in Elder Futhark?" He asks, leaning back to look her in the eyes.

"I may have." She smiles, making him laugh harder.

"Oh, Hermione, you're making me fall so hard." He mutters, surprising her by locking his lips with hers.

"Good." She mutters against his lips as their kiss deepens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent hours searching for the perfect dress robes for each character so will be posting the pictures on my Instagram
> 
> You should follow me on Instagram (bigdswisdom) to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave COMMENTS and KUDOS. It will be much appreciated.


	75. Chapter 75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 75 for you!
> 
> Hi, I'm back. Nothing's changed, everything's the same but it's been two months and I started to feel guilty so here we go.
> 
> This chapter could have been split into two, but I decided to put them together as a token of my appreciation for your patience these last two months.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

The past two weeks since Sophie's birthday, both Hermione and Draco have been so busy that they feel as though they've barely spoken to each other, despite spending the majority of their time with the other.

Desperate to find Arche, or one of his children that died during the war, after David told him in passing that he thought he would have made more progress by now, Draco spends every free morning that he doesn't have to bear witness at a trial in the Muggle library. He searches through hundreds and hundreds of newspapers. Whilst Hermione came with him, she no longer helped him, stating that she needs to start studying Transfiguration and going over the planning Minerva had sent her for the following academic year. Draco can't even think about studying Potions when he's so close to a breakthrough with his squib family, but he does stay quiet for Hermione sake.

On an afternoon, Hermione and Draco had offered their babysitting services to her parents, so they were able to treat more patients. Apparently, dentist appointments when up in July as people wanted better oral hygiene ready for their summer holidays. This past week, they've picked Craig up from Nursery and taken him out for the afternoon to either the park, an interactive children's museum, the beach or a soft play area. Many times, Hermione and Draco have been confused for Craig's parents and been roped into conversations with other parents. Draco had been in his element after reading quite a few of the parenting books they had bought a few weeks ago. Usually, Hermione left him to argue his opinions on many different parenting debates and played with Craig and some of the other children.

Due to this busy schedule over the past week, when Hermione's parents invited them to a barbecue at their house on the upcoming Friday, they initially thought about politely declining so they could spend some time together, alone. Although, after giving it some thought, they accepted the invitation. Hermione hadn't had the chance to spend much time with her family the past eight years, and with her apprenticeship starting in September, she wouldn't have much time for them again so they might as well make the most of the time they have.

That's how Draco finds himself animatedly whispering to David by the picnic table about a breakthrough he had made only that morning in finding one of Arche's children and Hermione finds herself in the kitchen talking to her Mum, Grandma and Gwen, who her parents had invited in a way to keep things civil between them.

"You found one of his children?" David mutters, lifting a beer bottle to his lips.

"Yes, this morning. I had to check it was Peter Malfoy and not Peter Malloy, one of William Malloy's siblings. I didn't want to get my hopes up again." Draco nods excitedly.

"It took you long enough," David smirks.

"I started in January of 1942, and he died on 5th November 1942. It took a while." Draco defends himself.

"So, where was he from?" David asks, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice.

"Exeter in Devon, which, coincidentally, is where the orphans from Hyperion's orphanage relocated to when theirs closed down. There weren't any records of Hyperion moving to Exeter with the orphans though, and I assumed he, being seventeen, would have stayed in London where there would have been better job prospects." Draco explains.

"There's no such thing as coincidences." David states. "You and Hermione should stay in my spare bedroom tonight so we can regroup and plan our next step tomorrow." He tells him.

"I'll need to check with Hermione. She might have something planned tomorrow." Draco stands up.

"Can you grab me a can of coke whilst you're in there?" David calls behind him.

Draco enters the kitchen and motions for Hermione to follow him over to the fridge, which she does.

"We're you telling David about Peter?" She whispers as he takes a can of coke out of the fridge.

"Yes, he doesn't seem to think it's a coincidence that Hyperion's orphanage moved to Exeter." He tells her.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "David doesn't believe in coincidences. He'll say it was fate or something." She tells him.

"Perhaps it was fate," Draco mutters.

"Really, Draco!" She gives him an unimpressed glance. "You're an intellectual."

"Yes, but I'm also a wizard. We can feel the magic running through our veins." He whispers, running his fingers down her wrist. "It's been debated for centuries whether or not squibs have any magic in their blood. Of course, Purebloods hate to admit it but these days it's widely accepted that they must have some since they are able to see dementors and are able to form strong relationships with Kneazles, something Muggles are unable to do. We don't know why the orphanage relocated all the way to Devon when I'm sure there were plenty of other options closer to London, but I bet Hyperion had something to do with it because he felt in his blood that Devon was the place he needed to be." He explains.

"I agree with you that squibs have some form of magic blood, the evidence is all there, but to suggest that they can predict the future with instinctive feelings sounds a lot like something Professor Trelawney would say," Hermione mentions.

"It's not predicting the future; it's following instincts. The magic in our blood heightens our instincts, and the same goes for Squibs, allowing them to make better decisions than Muggles. Hyperion's instincts led him to Exeter where Arche's instincts told him to settle down with his family and children forty-four years prior." Draco tries to convince Hermione

"I'm sorry, but it sounds superstitious. Find me some reliable evidence on the matter, and I'll believe in these heightened instincts, but I'm not going to blindly believe in something." Hermione admits.

Draco shakes his head as he realises he's not going to convince Hermione on the matter. "Anyway, David's invited us to stay in his spare bedroom tonight so we can plan our next step tomorrow morning."

"That's fine. I'll have to go back to the estate to feed Athena first, but you can head straight over after the barbecue." Hermione tells him.

"I'll let David know." He gestures to the can of coke still in his hands.

"I'll come join you both soon; I need to talk to Mum about Wednesday and Craig." She says.

Draco nods in understanding before he leaves.

Hermione walks over to her Mum. "Mum, can I quickly tell you something?" She asks her.

Her Mum looks confused but nods and excuses herself from the conversation between Grandma Betty and Gwen. Hermione leads her outside to the drinks table.

"What the matter?" She asks, pouring herself a glass of white wine.

"Professor McGonagall has asked Draco and I to start attending staff meetings on Wednesday afternoons. They start at quarter past three, so we won't be able to pick Lauren up or look after Craig from three o'clock onwards. I'm sure Grandma and Grandad would be happy to pick look after them for a few hours until you finish work on a Wednesday." Hermione explains.

"It's alright; we'll figure something out." Her Mum smiles. "Thanks for letting me know." She sighs. "What a mess this family has turned into thanks to Louise."

"It'll be easier once Craig starts school full time in September." Hermione points out.

"Yes." Her mum chuckles. "Raising two under five-year-olds in my fifties was not part of my plan."

"Mum, you're not in your fifties, you're fiftieth was two months ago." Hermione laughs.

Her Mum shakes her head as Her Dad comes over.

"David asked if we've got the spicy sausages. Do we have the spicy sausages?" He asks.

Her Mum sighs. "Chris, you were in charge of the meats. I was in charge of drinks, cheese and desserts." She reminds him.

"I can't remember if I got the spicy sausages. Did you see how much meat I threw in the trolley?" He asks rhetorically.

"Enough to feed the five thousand." Her Mum sarcastically replies. "Go check the fridge where all the meat is defrosting." She tells him.

Her Dad pecks her Mum's check before heading into the house.

"I told him to make a list, but did he? No, he just threw whatever he liked the look of into the trolley." She shakes her head fondly. "I better make sure he doesn't disturb my trifle." Her Mum mentions, following after her husband.

Hermione walks over to Draco and David at the picnic table, sitting beside her uncle.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow," Hermione asks.

"I was just saying that we need to check for birth and marriage certificates of Peter Malfoy in the Exeter City Council, but that entails actually travelling to Exeter and trying to convince them that as descendent of Peter Malfoy, Draco is allowed access to his birth certificate. If you get access, the birth certificate will give us an address of where Arche and Sarah lived at the time of his birth." David explains.

"Hey, David!" Hermione's Dad shouts from the back-door step. "I have spicy sausages."

"Please, Chris, there are children here. Keep it between you and Sarah." Her Grandma scolds him.

"No, I have spicy sausages." He reiterates, waving the pack of spicy sausages in the air.

"Come throw them on the barbecue then, I'm hungry." Her Grandad complains.

Hermione shakes her head, turning back to face David and Draco. "So, are we going to Exeter tomorrow?" She asks.

"It will take us nearly three and a half hours to drive there or just over two hours on the train. Too long for a day trip." David points out.

"Unless we apparate there," Hermione suggests.

"David's not keen on disapparation." Draco points out.

"I'll be fine in the morning. I was severely hungover last time you suggested it. I didn't think it would help. If I don't drink much tonight, I should be fine." David explains.

"It sounds like a plan. We're going to Exeter tomorrow morning." Hermione smiles. "Are we bringing Sophie?" She asks.

"I don't see why not. She's told me she's disappeared before." He says. "We can go for lunch after we've been to the Council."

Hermione nods as she stands up. "I'm going to help Mum in the kitchen." She tells them, kissing Draco quickly on the lips before heading inside. "Can I help, Mum?" She asks as she enters the kitchen.

"Thanks, Hermione. Can you butter the bread bun for me?" She asks. "You're Dad was supposed to help me, but Grandad roped him into helping on the barbecue." She shakes her head with a laugh.

"How have you been, Mum?" Hermione asks, realising she hasn't really asked her since they became the guardian of Lauren and Craig.

"Oh, I'm fine." She smiles.

"Really, Mum?" She raises a questioning eyebrow.

Her Mum sighs deeply. "I'm just tired. I haven't had this little sleep since you were five and got the chicken pox. Craig's starting to open up a bit more to both your Dad and me, and you know how he is with men. He still cries most of the night, so I spend most nights in his bedroom, comforting him. Lauren was okay, to begin with, but she's seen Craig getting all this attention, and she wants some, so she's been acting up at school and home. Your Dad and I are thinking about getting them a child play therapist. Someone they can talk to through play about what they're going through." Her Mum turns to look at her. "Don't tell your Grandma this, but I hope Louise never comes back. She's broken those kids, and it's going to take years to fix them." She sighs.

"How long will you and Dad look after them because they need consistency in their life?" She asks her.

"We haven't actually talked about anything in the long term, but they're family. We're not going to throw them into care." Her Mum admits, going back to making a salad.

"Are those buns ready?" Her Dad peaks his head through the back door. "The burgers and sausages are ready."

"Yeah, I'll bring them out now, Dad," Hermione tells him, piling the buns onto a plate and carrying them outside to place in the middle of the picnic table.

Her Dad and Grandad place plates of cooked meats next to the bread buns, allowing everyone to help themselves once her Mum has placed a bowl of salad and the plate of cheese on the table. Hermione's Grandma helps serve all the children first, who sit on a picnic blanket in the middle of the garden, chatting away to each other about a children's cartoon. Once everyone has a plate full of food and a glass full of drink, they take their seats at either the picnic table or on the bench, which had been pulled closer to the picnic table. Hermione takes her seat between Draco and her Grandma on the picnic table whilst her Dad, Uncle and Grandad sit opposite them and her Mum, Sharon and Gwen squeeze onto the bench.

An hour or so later, when they've all finished eat, and the children are gathered in the living room watching a video together, the doorbell rings. The adults all glance around the kitchen, where everyone had gathered when it had become chilly outside.

"Who could that be, we're all here?" Her Dad jokes, standing up to answer the door.

The conversation continues in the kitchen until the door suddenly bursts open to reveal a heavily pregnant Louise and nervous looking Darren. For a long moment, nobody says anything, just staring at Louise and her baby bump.

"Surprise!" Louise burst out laughing, taking the seat where Hermione's Dad had been sitting.

Her Dad closes the kitchen door behind him as he enters then joins his wife by the sink.

"Gwen, is that you? OMG! Are you and David back together? That's so cute." Louise asks Gwen.

"No, I'm trying to build a relationship with my daughter." She explains.

"Oh, Sophie, she's turned into such a little nerd without you. Just like her father, eh?" She jokes, turning to her brother with a wink.

"I'd rather her be just like David than just like me." She states, sounding annoyed.

"Enough small talk, Louise." David snaps. "What are you doing here? We haven't heard from you in almost seven weeks then you show up pregnant as if nothing has happened." He angrily whispers so the children can't hear him.

"So, Darren and I were talking after that barbecue at yours, and we realised that the reason why we keep breaking up and getting back together is because we're stuck in a routine. We needed to be more spontaneous and what's more spontaneous than catching the next flight to Disneyland Florida and spending a week on the rides and then another two weeks chilling in the sun, which is where we found out we were pregnant. It was such a surprise. Anyway, apparently sunbathing isn't good for the babies, so we flew up to Las Vegas and spent a week in the casinos, and you won't believe this, but we won big. Ten thousand dollars. So, we flew to New York, which is nice but there's nothing to do unless you're boring and into history or musicals. We were only there a few days before we flew Paris, that's in France, and Darren proposed, so we stayed there for two weeks as an Engagement holiday before flying back to London. Now we're here." Louise reels off her story with a smile, showing off her massive engagement ring that no one had noticed with the baby bump to look at. "Anyway, it turns out you can get married in Las Vegas for cheap, so we've come back for the kids. I can't get married with all my babies being there. And I want Hermione to come too. Will you be my maid of honour?" Her Aunt Louise asks her.

Hermione stares agape in shock at her Aunt.

"You're not taking those kids anywhere," Chris states abruptly.

"What?" Louise frowns.

"You're not taking Lauren and Craig anywhere," Chris repeats.

"I'm their mum; I can take them anywhere I want." She bites back.

"You left them for seven weeks. Social Services gave Sarah and I custody over them, and they're not going anywhere." Chris argues.

"You got social services involved." She shouts loud enough that the children in the living room must have heard.

Hermione discreetly takes her wand out of her bag, locking the kitchen door and casting a silencing charm.

"I did. You left them with Mum and Dad. It's getting too much for them to look after two children that age." David admits.

"I'm taking them with me. Where are they?" She stands up.

Louise pulls on the door handle, but it won't budge. "Why won't it open?" She frowns in confusion.

"You're not taking them; they've got school on Monday," Sarah tells her.

"It's fine. They don't have to be in school full time until they're five." She huffs as she lets go of the door handle.

"Lauren is five. She turned five three months ago." Chris reminds her.

Louise glares at Chris. "You're trying to make me sound like a bad mother." She snaps at him.

"You're doing that all by yourself, Louise." He snaps back.

Louise screams as she lunges at him. Chris holds his arms up in defence as David and Darren try to pull Louise off him.

"Gwen, Sharon!" Hermione calls, gesturing them to follow her as she takes Draco's hand and pulls him into the hallway. She locks the door again behind them. "Sharon, I think you better take Mark and Mia home. Us three are going to take Sophie, Lauren and Craig to David's to get them out the way." Hermione tells her godmother who nods, walking into the living room where she quickly ushers her twins to get their shoes on so they can leave.

"We'll have to disapparate," Hermione whispers to Draco and Gwen.

"With Muggles? I don't think so." Gwen scoffs.

"You take Sophie to David's. Draco and I will get Lauren and Craig." She tells her with a swift glare as they enter the living room. "Hey kids, we're going to Sophie's house for a sleepover. We can stay up however late we want and watch as many videos as we want." Hermione tells Sophie, Lauren and Craig.

"Why?" Sophie asks as Lauren and Craig cheer.

"The adults are having boring conversations, so we're going to have some fun," Hermione explains as she helps Craig fasten his shoes whilst Draco helps Lauren.

"Have your Mum call me later," Sharon tells Hermione as she rushes her children out of the front door.

"We have to travel in s special secret way," Draco tells them once Sharon's gone. "It's so secret; you have to wear a blindfold." He tells them in an excited tone.

"Wow." Lauren gasps. "Put mine on now." She asks, closing her eyes and Craig copies.

Draco waves his wand over the top of her head, whispering "Obscuro". Then repeats quickly for Craig.

"We're going to have to carry them," Hermione mentions. "I'll take Craig." She picks her cousin up, balancing him on her hip.

Draco nods, picking Lauren up bride style, making her laugh.

"I'm a princess." She states as they open the front door.

Hermione casts a temporary invisibility ward over the front garden path before they step outside then all individually disapparate to David's house.

"Draco, I don't feel very well," Lauren complains, looking pale.

"It's okay; it'll stop soon." He tells her as they walk down David's side garden path into his back garden.

"Are we nearly there?" She asks, gripping onto Draco's neck tighter.

"I feel sick," Craig mutters, looking pale.

Hermione hugs him tighter. "It's okay. We'll be there soon."

Gwen takes Sophie straight into David's house whilst Hermione, and Draco walk around the garden for five minutes as not to make them suspicious of their sudden arrival at David's house. When they take them inside, they lower them onto the couch in the living room before removing their blindfolds. Sophie had already chosen to watch Aladdin. Once the film has started, and all the children have settled down, the three adults group in the kitchen.

"I can't believe Louise is pregnant." Gwen laughs in disbelief as she sits down at the kitchen table. "How old is she?"

Hermione glares at her as she turns to face Draco, who opens his arms for her to fall into his embrace.

"It's going to be fine." He mutters, rubbing her back. "Do you want me to head back to your parents' house and check what's going on?" He asks.

"Would you?" She asks.

"Of course, Hermione." He kisses her forehead before breaking apart. "I'll keep you informed." He pats his jacket pocket where his phone resides.

"Thank you."

Draco disapparates from the side of David's house to the alleyway behind the Granger's house and walks straight through the back door, surprised to see a man and a woman wearing black trousers, a shirt, tie and a blue jumper with 'police' written across the left. Draco knows Hermione's told him what a police is before but he can't remember right now. He glances around the rest of the kitchen, noticing that Betty and Tom are no longer in the room and that Louise is sat opposite these police people with her hand shackled together. David, Chris and Sarah are stood near the counters whilst Darren stands near the sink with a bag of frozen peas on his eye. They're all staring at him.

"This is Draco, our son-in-law, he was here at the barbecue as well," Chris tells the police people and the woman makes notes in her notebook.

"When did you leave the house?" The man asks him.

Draco glances at Chris who nods at him to answer the question.

"We left around twenty minutes ago." He answers.

"Who else was with you?" The man asks his follow up question.

"My wife, Hermione, David's ex-girlfriend, Gwen, and the three children, Sophie, Lauren and Craig." He tells him.

"You took the children?" The woman asks.

Draco stares at her. "Yes, I just said that."

"Where are they now?" She asks, ignoring his last statement.

"We took them to David's house. It's the closest to here." He states, glancing at David who smiles.

The man and woman police people glance at each other before the woman nods and stands up, taking a phone out of her pocket as she walks out the back door.

"Now that we've located the children, we'll send social services over to check on them and bring them back here. Meanwhile, we'll be taking Louise into police custody for further question. I will need yours and your wife's information in case we need to ask you any more questions. What is your address?" The man asks, opening his notebook.

Draco frowns at the man, realising he must be the muggle version of an Auror but he's still not about to tell him their address since he doesn't actually know where about in the United Kingdom he lives, just that he lives at Seven Gamma Street in the Pentagon Estate.

"They live with me at the moment," David announces, making both Draco and the man turns to stare. "They've just graduated college and are off to university in September; I offered them my spare bedroom, so they didn't have to waste their money on renting a place for three months." He explains.

The man seems to find this believable as he nods and makes a note in his notebook.

"You're mobile phone number?" The man asks.

Draco takes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his list of contacts until he finds his number and reads it out.

"And you're wife's number?" He asks next.

Draco finds Hermione's number and reads hers out too.

"That will be everything, thank you." He announces with a forced smile as he closes his notebook, placing it in his jacket pocket, that's hanging over the back of the chair.

The woman returns and nods at the man who nods back as he stands up, pulling on his jacket.

"I would recommend getting your jammed door fixed." The man points out as the woman leads a crying Louise out of the back door with Darren following, frozen peas still pressed against his eye.

"What's happening?" Draco asks once the back door closes.

"Louise is being arrested for common assault and multiple cases of short-term abandonment and ill-treatment of her children." Sarah sighs, taking a seat at her kitchen table and lowering her head into her hands. Chris stands behind is wife, comforting her by rubbing small circles across her back.

"Could you unlock the door, Draco?" Chris asks him.

"Ah, yes. Hermione didn't want Louise getting to the children. She thought it would be best if they didn't know their mother was here." Draco takes his wand out and removes the locking charm and the silencing charm that he knows Hermione would have used.

"Thank you for taking them away somewhere safe." Chris nods at him.

"I was just telling Hermione earlier on that I hope Louise never comes back. She broken those children and left us to pick up the piece and put them back together." She shakes her head angrily.

Draco nods awkwardly before excusing himself to call Hermione. She answers on the first ring.

"Draco, what's happening?" She asks.

"The police were here when I arrived. They asked me when I left, who with and then where we took the children. They're sending the social services to pick the children up and bring them back to your parent's house." He explains.

"Okay, I'll come with them and meet you there," Hermione tells him, and he nods.

"They've arrested Louise for assault, and abandonment and ill-treatment of her children." He adds.

"They arrested her." Hermione gasps, shocked.

"Yes, the police people took our details in case they need to ask us any further questions. If they ask, we lie in David's spare bedroom until we go to university in September." She tells her.

"Okay, oh, wait, that's the doorbell. Tell David I'll have to leave Sophie with Gwen at his house." She tells him.

"I will, see you soon." He says, hanging up and heading back into the kitchen.

"The social services have just arrived at your house, David. Hermione said that she's coming with them and she'll have to leave Sophie with Gwen." He explains.

"Right, I better go then." David sighs, pulling on his jacket and taking his car key out of his pocket. "I'll see you and Hermione back at mine later." He nods as he leaves.

"Where did Betty and Tom go?" Draco asks after a few uncomfortably awkward minutes once David had left.

"Tom didn't want Betty to see Louise like she was, attacking David and Darren, so he took her home just before the police arrived. Actually, I told him that I'd phone him when it's over." Chris admits.

"Wait until we have the kids back," Sarah tells him, placing her hand on his on her shoulder and he nods, sitting down beside him.

Draco glances around the kitchen, noticing the pile of dirty cutlery and dishes besides the sink.

"I'll make a start with these dishes." He announces, rolling his sleeves up.

"You don't need to, Draco?" Sarah tells him.

"It'll give me something to do whilst we wait." He admits, filling the washing up bowl with washing up liquid and hot water from his wand.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rings just as he's on his last plate. Chris and Sarah stand up to answer the door together. Draco places the plate on the drying rack before following them.

"Why did Lesley pick us up from Uncle David's?" Lauren asks, staring at the lady who brought them back.

"Never mind that, let's go watch a film together. Would you like popcorn?" Sarah asks, plastering a fake smile on her face.

Craig's confused face lights up at the mention of popcorn, and he pulls on his Aunt's hand excitedly. Lauren needs a little more convincing but eventually settles on the couch with her brother.

"Mum, I'll make the popcorn," Hermione tells her, heading into the kitchen with Draco. She takes the bag of popcorn out of the cupboard and placing it in the microwave.

Chris and Sarah sit at the kitchen table with the social services lady, Lesley, who tells them what's going to happen now Louise has been found and arrested.

"The police officer I spoke to on the phone told me it is likely Louise will be charged with the common assault of her boyfriend, Darren Peterson, and multiple cases of short-term abandonment and ill-treatment of two children under the age of five years old, Lauren and Craig Adair. Her sentence could be anywhere from forty to sixty weeks imprisonment." Lesley pauses, and Chris and Sarah nod, taking the information in. "Now, I know it's a little early, but arrangements are going to have to be made, sooner rather than later. The police officer told me that Louise is twelve weeks pregnant with twins."

"Twins!" Hermione gasps, interrupting the social services lady.

"Yes, twins." Lesley nods before turning back to Chris and Sarah. "It is likely that due to Louise's repeated child abandonment and ill-treatment offences, she will be asked to relinquish her parental rights and the twins will be put up for adoption."

"No, we'll take them." Sarah interrupts her before looking at her husband. "We can't let them go into care. They're our family."

Chris nods with wide-eyes but ultimately agrees. "If Louise relinquishes her parental rights, we'll adopt the twins, and we'll adopt Lauren and Craig. As my wife said, they're our family." Chris states.

Lesley stares between Sarah and Chris, along with Hermione and Draco in shock.

"This is not a decision to be taken lightly. If you choose to adopt even just Lauren and Craig, there are steps that need to be taken. You will need to be interviewed, assessed and reviewed, which takes around six months. If you pass, you will then need to apply to adopt them both, which takes a further ten weeks and for those ten weeks, the children must be permanently living with you." Lesley explains.

"Nothing is too much for those children or the twins. If Louise is twelve weeks pregnant, then six months will take us to the birth of the twins. We'll take custody of them, and then we can start the ten weeks application to adopt Lauren, Craig and the twins. We are their family, and we are more than suitable to look after and provide for them. We're dentists who own our own practice for goodness sake." Sarah explains.

"I'm well aware of your annual income," Lesley tells them. "It's why you were chosen to take custody of Lauren and Craig instead of David." She nods, glancing at them both. "If you'd like to start the process of adoption, we can fill out the necessary paperwork on Wednesday at the review. I'll go over the information in more details then. I know you're both emotional right now in light of what has happened today so just that you're aware, if you wish to stop the process of adoption, you can do so up until the last review in your adoption case." Lesley states, standing up just as the microwave beeps, announcing the popcorn is cooked. "Thank you for your time." She nods. "I'll see myself out." She adds as she leaves.

"Thank you, Chris. Thank you so much." She hugs her husband. "I know this is a lot and it's going to be hard, raising four children under the age of six but-" Sarah cries into his shoulder.

"We'll manage. Although, we may need a bigger house." He half-jokes.

Hermione takes Draco's hand, pulling him out of the kitchen with the bowl of popcorn and into the living room where Laurena and Craig are watching a video.

"Here's your popcorn." She places the bowl between them, and they dig in.

"By this time next year, you're going to have four siblings," Draco tells Hermione, making her laugh.

She sighs as she wraps her arms around his waist. "What a mess my family is."

"It is all going to work out for the best." He assures her.

"Come on; I think we should head over to David's." Hermione states.

"Are you not going home for Athena?" He asks.

"Yes, I'll meet you at David's. I'm going to check on my parents first." Hermione says.

Draco understands that she wants to do this alone so presses a quick kiss to her lips before leaving.

Hermione knocks on the kitchen door before entering.

"We're leaving for David's, but we'll see you on Sunday." She tells them.

"Thank you for everything this afternoon, taking Lauren and Craig away to David's." Her Mum hugs her tightly.

"It's no problem, Mum. They're my family too, and I want what's best for them." She tells her.

Her Mum nods as they break out of their hug. "We'll see you on Sunday." She smiles as Hermione leaves out the back door and disapparates from the alleyway to the estate.

When Hermione turns onto Gamma Street, she's surprised to find Andromeda sat on her doorstep with Teddy cradled in her arms, wrapped in a pale-yellow blanket.

"Andromeda, I hope you haven't been here long," Hermione says as she helps the woman stand up.

"Where's Draco?" She asks, glancing down the street.

"He's at my uncle's house. We're staying there tonight. I can call him to come over if you-" Hermione starts to suggest as she unlocks the front door.

"No, I want to speak with you." Andromeda interrupts as she enters the house with Teddy still clutched in her arms.

"Do you want to place Teddy on the couch?" Hermione suggests, moving the cushions out of the way.

"Thank you, dear." Andromeda places the sleeping child onto the couch, ensuring his blanket is still covering him. "The kitchen, dear." She nods towards the adjoining room.

Hermione leads Andromeda into the kitchen, gesturing for her to take a seat at the kitchen table.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" She asks, walking over to the kettle.

"No, I won't be staying long." She admits, wringing her hands together anxiously.

"Are you alright, Andromeda?" Hermione asks, frowning as she sits across the table from her.

"No," She sighs sadly. "Draco's only just come into my life, and I don't want to lose him. I know his relationship with his mother has been rocky as of recently, but I could tell that he's trying to rebuild it at the dinner we had at the Manor." Andromeda explains.

"Yes, it's not easy for Draco, after everything Narcissa has done and said to both myself and Draco but they're both trying. Narcissa's even been trying with me, inviting me out for afternoon tea last week. I must admit, it was an awkward hour or so but if she's trying then I should too. You don't have to worry though, Draco's really looking forward to our dinner next week. He's desperate to keep hold of any family he can." She assures him.

"I need to tell you something, Hermione. I know I can't ask you not to tell Draco, I just didn't want to be the one to tell him myself. I'm a coward." She glances down at her hands in her lap.

"What is it, Andromeda?" She questions worriedly.

"At that dinner, Narcissa was acting strangely and downright suspicious. She went into the kitchens." Andromeda starts.

Hermione furrows her eyebrows, remembering what Draco had said about his mother never setting foot down there in her life.

"She said she needed to check on the house elves. Naturally, I followed her. She told Draco's house elf to tell the two of you that dinner was ready. When she left, Narcissa asked her house elf which plate was your then poured a vial of liquid over your dinner." She reveals, finally looking back up at her.

Hermione pales as a shiver passes over her body. "Why didn't you tell me?" She whispers.

"I switched your plate with mine after causing that commotion with the vase," Andromeda adds quickly.

"You risked your life for me. You have Teddy to think about." Hermione reminds her.

"She wouldn't try to kill you in front of Draco and in the Manor. It would obviously be her doing." Andromeda points out.

"Are you alright? Do you know what was in the vial?" Hermione asks, worried Draco's Aunt might be seriously ill because of her.

"I went to St Mungo's the next day for multiple tests and received the results last week. I've been trying to convince myself all week to tell Draco and yourself; you need to know in case she tries it again." She explains. "It was an infertility potion. A strong one at that. It was made to last up to ten years. That's what the healer told me." She finishes. "I've told you now; you can choose to do whatever you want with the information. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you." She adds.

Hermione doesn't know what to say as she lets the information sink in. Her mother-in-law tried to poison her with an infertility potion to stop her son from fathering half-blooded children. Narcissa knew that when she and Draco were childless after two years, tests would be done and traces of the potion would be found in her. She would have been sentenced to six months ins Azkaban.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Andromeda adds, standing up. "I should go." She announces.

"Thank you for telling me, Andromeda. I'll need to get myself tested to make sure she hasn't repeatedly been poisoning my food to endure its effect." Hermione says, remembering their afternoon tea the previous week. It had been at a tea shop, so she hopes she'll be safe.

Andromeda hugs her niece-in-law before they exit the kitchen to find Teddy still fast asleep snoring on the couch.

"If you wait a moment, I'll walk you to the gate," Hermione mentions, quickly refilling Athena's food and water tray.

The owl herself was sulking on top of the curtain rail after being ignored when Hermione had initially walked in.

"I'm sorry, Athena. Draco and I will buy you a special treat tomorrow as an apology." She promises the owl before leading Andromeda, with Teddy, out the front door.

Conversation is sparse and slightly awkward in light of new information, but Hermione reassures Andromeda that both her and Draco are looking forward to dinner with herself and Teddy the following week before they disapparate their separate ways.

Draco sighs deeply as he sinks into the couch, next to David, with a bottle of beer.

"I know," David sighs too. "What a day?" He mutters, flicking between the channels on the television.

"It's a very noble decision Sarah and Chris have made to adopt Louise's four children." Draco states. "However, I can't help thinking that by the time the twins are adults, they will both be nearing their seventies. I'm told not many Muggles live long after this." He adds.

David frowns at him. "The life expectancy in the UK is just over seventy-seven years. The twins will be twenty-six by then."

"That seems rather selfish. You're fifty-five and both your parents are alive." Draco points out.

David seems to think about that for a few minutes. "They were both young when I was born. You can't expect Sarah and Chris to live to their hundreds."

"It's not impossible for Muggles to live that long." He points out.

"Well, Sarah and Chris are dentists. I read that there's a correlation between the amount of money a person makes and how long they live, so you never know." He states. "I'll be long gone by then. I don't make much as a teacher and with the stress of the job. I'll be surprised if I make it to seventy-seven." He jokes, self-deprecatingly, as he finds a programme about antiques and focusses his attention onto the television.

Draco watches as the woman on the television makes the audience guess which painting, out of three, is the most expensive. He guesses correctly himself whilst David guess the cheapest was the most expensive.

"Malfoy's have an eye for the more expensive items." He smiles.

Just as the programme is coming to an end, the front door opens, and Hermione calls that she's here. She pushes the living room door open but doesn't enter, giving Draco a worried look.

He sits up straight. "What's the matter?" He asks in confusion.

"I need to speak with you in private." She announces, sending David an apologetic glance, who shrugs, going back to his television.

Draco stands up, following Hermione upstairs to David's spare bedroom that had become there's whenever they spent the night. When she sat on the edge of the bed, he joined her.

"What's happening?" He asks her, a pang of worry hitting his stomach.

"Andromeda was on our doorstep when I got home." She states.

"What for, is she alright" He frowns.

"She saw your mother pour a vial of something onto my plate when we were at the Manor for that dinner last month." She starts to explain.

Draco's frown deepens. "Why is she only telling us now?" He looks Hermione up and down, checking she's alright.

"Your Aunt switched my plate with hers after that vase broke. She went for tests the next day and got the results back last week." She adds

"What was it? Is she going to be alright?" He asks worriedly.

"It was an infertility potion," Hermione admits, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

A dark look crosses Draco's face. "My mother tried to make you infertile. Did the results say how strong the potion was?" He asks, voice scarily soft.

"It was made to last ten years." Hermione answer.

"Ten years." He repeats, abruptly standing up. "I'll kill her." He says seriously, walking towards the door.

Hermione grabs his hand, pulling him back. "You'll do no such thing. She's your mother." She warns him.

"She's trying to control our relationship. After two years, we both would have been tested, and you would have been sent to Azkaban for using an infertility potion. I would have been forced to marry someone else." He snapped angrily.

Hermione takes his face in her hands, turning him to look at her. "I know, but it didn't work out as she planned and we're fine. If you go around accusing her of poisoning me, we're going to lose access to Hyperion's bedroom. We need to read the rest of all the diaries in there. They might help us in finding Hyperion if the Arche Malfoy lead in Exeter doesn't work out." She explains. "You do want to find Hyperion, don't you? She reminds him.

"Of course I do." He sighs, falling back down onto the bed.

"Then we pretend we don't know anything, then when we find Hyperion, we can cut all ties with your mother, if that's what you want, but I won't let you kill her." She says, sitting beside him.

"What a day?" He mutters, repeating David's earlier statement.

"I know." Hermione sighs, lying down. "I can't wait for today to be over." She adds.

"I'm going to ask David what time he wants to leave in the morning," Draco announces as he climbs off the bed, leaving Hermione to undress.

He returns to the spare bedroom to find Hermione already in bed; the covers pulled up to her chin. Draco quickly undresses and joins her under the covers, opening his arms for her to cuddles, which she does, laying her head on his chest.

"David wants to leave at half past eight tomorrow morning so we can get to the council for opening hours." He says.

Hermione nods her head with a yawn.

"Goodnight, my dear." He mutters, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Hermione chuckles. "I feel like we're no longer joking with this."

"Goodnight," Draco repeats, smiling into her hair.

"Goodnight, darling." She finishes the joke.

"Hermione! Draco! Dad says you need to get up." Sophie calls as she knocks on the door, waking them both up.

Draco groans, running his hand across his face, wondering what time he had been suddenly awoken.

"It's eight o'clock," Sophie answers his unspoken question. "Dad says we're leaving in half an hour." She warningly tells them before running back downstairs.

"We should get up if we want breakfast before we leave," Hermione says as she rolls over to climb out of bed, but Draco keeps a hold of her hand.

"And if we don't want breakfast?" He questions, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione pulls her hand free and gets out of bed, pulling her dress on as she speaks, "We won't be eating lunch until around twelve, so we're eating breakfast."

With a sigh, Draco rolls out of bed, pulling on last night's clothes, which thankfully are smart enough to wear when conducting business in the Muggle world.

When they make it to the kitchen, they find two plates of eggs on toast and two cups of teas set out for their breakfast. Also, on the table was a map of the United Kingdom with a red arrow pointing to a red dot on the outskirts of Exeter city. Once they've eaten, washed up, charmed their teeth clean, it was almost time to leave so they pulled their shoes on whilst they waited for Sophie to finish brushing her own teeth.

At half past eight, the four of them left the house, walking down the garden path where Hermione takes Sophie's hand, and Draco takes David's before disapparating to where David had placed the red dot on the outskirts of Exeter city.

The red dot happened to be a park and ride bus station on Honiton Road, fifteen minutes away from Exeter City Council and the next bus was in ten minutes. In hindsight, the should have checked whether the bus actually stopped near the Council. They ended up having to get off at Exeter Cathedral and dragging an eager history teacher away with the promise of going inside after they've been to the Council.

Whilst the walk took them a further ten minutes, making them five minutes late for the opening of the Council, there was a relatively short queue inside, of mostly pensioner wanting to complain about their pension apparently.

When it was their turn, the four of them stepped up to the counter, and David took the lead.

"Hello, Miss, we'd like to speak to someone from the birth, marriage and death registration office." David smiled politely as he spoke to a young woman behind the counter.

The woman smiles in return, picking up the phone beside her computer. "Let me call to see if they're in yet." She says sweetly as she presses four numbers on the phone, then waits for an answer.

"Hi, Shelly, I got a man here wanting to speak to one of yous." The woman says down the phone. "Yes, he is." The woman looks David up and down. "I don't know, let me ask." She takes the phone away from her ear, pressing it against her chest. "What's this about?"

"We'd like a copy of a birth, marriage and death certificate of a deceased ancestor." David answers.

"Alright," She places the phone back to her ear. "Yeah, they want the BMD certificates of a dead relative." She repeats to her co-worker, Shelly. "Yeah… okay… alright, I'll send them up to you." She says before hanging up the phone.

"You need the third floor. The lift and stairs are over in the corner." She gestures over. "Have a nice day." She smiles as they leave.

On the third floor, there's a sign pointing right for the birth, marriage and death registration office, which they follow until they get to a door with the same name on the door. David knocks on the door then pushes his way in without waiting for an answer.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A woman asks motioning for them to sit at one of the two chairs in front of her desk.

David takes one of them, letting Sophie sit on his lap, whilst Hermione takes the second, letting Draco pull over a third chair from the small waiting area next to the office door.

"Hi, we'd like the birth, marriage and death certificate for Peter Malfoy, born 1923 and died 5th November 1942," David states clearly.

"And you're a descendent?" She asks him as she types presuming those details into her computer.

"I am," Draco announces.

The woman glance over the top of her monitor at him. "Why aren't I talking to you then?" She asks him, pausing in her typing.

"I'm not from here; I don't know how your Council's work." He simply states.

The woman nods in understanding as she continues to type. "We're in the same boat there. Where are you originally from then? I came here from Montana back in summer of ninety-five to go to Exeter University. Let me tell you, that was a strange summer with all those storms, I knew English weather was gloomy, but I wasn't expecting the whole summer to be black and wet." She laughs. "Anyway, I dropped out of university after two years and needed a job asap to stay here and my friend, Daisy, on front desk said they were looking for an assistant for BMD registrations, so I applied and got the job. Now, two years later, I'm head of this office. You'll get used to the English culture." She briefly glances over her monitor to flash Draco a smile. "And here we go." She says, standing up and walking over to the printer stand precariously atop a filing cabinet.

Three pieces of paper come out, one after another. The woman taps them against the filing cabinet to straighten them out before handing them over to Draco.

"There you go. Is there anything else I can get you?" She asks.

"Give us a moment to look at the certificates," David tells her, taking the certificates out of Draco's hand and flicking through them. "He was born in Tiverton on the fourteenth of February 1923. It says Arche's occupation was Captain in the British Army, and Sarah was unemployed, at the time of Peter's birth." He paraphrases from the certificate.

"Where's Tiverton?" Draco asks.

"Not far, just thirty minutes up the road." The woman tells them.

"Peter was married for two months," David announces. "He got married in Tiverton, so the Malfoy's still resided there in 1942." He explains.

"Excuse me, can we have the death certificate of Sarah Malfoy, maiden name Current?" Hermione asks the woman, who begins type at the computer. "It should list her place of death. If it's Tiverton, then we know the Malfoy's stayed there after the deaths of Arche and the three eldest children." She points out.

"There's no Sarah Malfoy or Sarah Current listed here." The woman says. "One second." She continues to type.

"There has to be a Sarah Malfoy." David frowns.

"Ah, here we go. According to the 1991 census, there was an eighty-eight-year-old woman living at the same postcode as when Peter was born." She says. "Only the age, sex, relationship to the eldest person and postcode are available on the computer." She adds as an explanation.

"She's still alive," David says in shock. "She'll be ninety-six now."

"Can we have a copy of the census?" Draco asks.

"I'm sorry, but that's a massive breach of their privacy." She smiles sadly.

"That's fine." David turns to look at Draco and Hermione. "We have their address from Peter's certificates. We can just go around and knock on their door and hope Sarah remembers ever meeting your Uncle." He explains.

"Do you know how old he would have been, I can check the census for you." The woman smiles excitedly at the prospects of helping them further.

"In 1991, he would have been forty-four." Draco nervously tells her.

The woman types something into her computer. "Okay, there were six people residing at the Malfoy's Rackenford Road residence. There was a forty-four-year-old son of the eighty-eight-year-old female living at the same residence with his wife and three children." She reads off the screen.

"No, he wasn't her son." Draco sighs both in relief and disappointment.

"Sorry, I wish I could help you more." The woman admits.

"No worries, we've still got their address. That's our next step." David smiles at the woman as he and Sophie stand up. "Thank you for your help." He adds.

"Yes, thank you." Draco nods at the woman as he stands up with Hermione and leaves the office, walking towards the lift.

"Draco and I are going to take the stairs. We'll meet you down there." Hermione announces as David presses the button for the lift to go down.

"Oh, okay." David watches after them as Hermione pulls Draco through the door to the staircase.

"What's wrong?" She asks as they begin to walk down the stairwell. "I thought you'd be happy. You must have done the maths and realised none of Sarah's children would be anywhere near forty-four in 1991. The youngest would have been fifty-three. We have a possible place of residence for Hyperion. The forty-four-year-old son." She frowns in confusion at his lack of excitement.

"I am happy." He forces a smile but lets it drop with a sigh after Hermione stares at him. "I didn't want to get my hopes up so I told myself Peter Malfoy wouldn't lead us to Hyperion. I thought we'd get a birth address for Peter Malfoy somewhere and find the Malfoy's have been long forgotten from the house." He admits. "I keep thinking that we're going to find Hyperion, but he's not going to want anything to do with me or the wizarding world. I just don't want to get my hopes up." He repeats.

Hermione stops at the next landing, pulling Draco into a hug. "Hyperion's going to love you because you're his family as much as he is yours, but that won't happen if you don't allow yourself to find him."

Draco hugs her tighter as he sighs against her neck. "You're right, as always." He chuckles.

"Come on," Hermione releases him from her hug. "It's nearly ten o'clock, let's take David to the Cathedral then get some lunch." She leads the way down the rest of the stairs.

They meet David and Sophie in the foyer of the Council, where they set off for the Cathedral. David spends over an hour and a half walking around the Cathedral with Sophie and a guide, asking questions and reading all the plaques on the wall. Hermione and Draco decide to sit outside on Cathedral Green, enjoying the late morning sun. When David and Sophie joined them on the green around half past eleven, the four of them decided to find a local café for some lunch.

"So, Draco, are we going to Tiverton this afternoon?" David asks as they walked to a pub called 'The Hog's Head' that a local woman had recommended.

Draco exchanges a glance with Hermione who smiles encouragingly, but he shakes his head. "Not today, David. It's something I'd like to do on my own. I hope you don't take offence."

"Of course not, Draco." David smiles, clapping him on the back.

For lunch, the four of them enjoy a pub meal with a few drinks, that David pays for as a congratulation to getting a good lead on Hyperion. Afterwards, they enjoy a leisurely walk around Exeter, looking in a few shops, where Hermione bought a ball with a bell inside for Athena, before finding a secluded park to disapparate back to David's house. Hermione and Draco didn't stay for very long once inside, just long enough to thank David for coming with them to Exeter. Then they disapparated back to the estate and the comfort of the home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram (bigdswisdom) to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.


	76. Chapter 76

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> Here's Chapter 76 for you!
> 
> If you follow my Tumblr blog (bigdswisdom . tumblr . com) you'll already know what this chapter is about due to my brief chapter descriptions. I'm also going to start posting some previews of upcoming chapters so follow me maybe.
> 
> Anyway, thank for all the kind comment on the last chapter. It really makes me nervous when I see I have new reviews or private messages but they're all positive 99% of the time so thank you.
> 
> As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
> 
> Love Dumbledore's Wisdom
> 
> P.S. Enjoy

Hermione wakes up early on the morning of the fifth of August, after setting her wand to wake her up at seven o'clock. Without waking Draco up, she dresses and makes her way downstairs to start on breakfast. She lets Athena out of her cage and chuckles when she chirps for her ball. Hermione finds it at the bottom of her cage and rolls it across the kitchen floor, watching in amusement as Athena chases the sound of the bell inside the ball and nudges it with her head.

This morning has been marked on Hermione's mental calendar as the day Draco will be most likely agree to anything Hermione asks due to the fact that today is the day Blaise returns from his long travels. She has been hoping for the past month that Draco will be in a good enough mood on this day that he will agree to visit his father in Azkaban. She has tried to ask him multiple times but she could tell his mind was busy with thoughts of Hyperion, Tiverton and the increase in Death Eater cases he's had to bear witness at recently. They're under the belief that the Minister is trying to get the cases over and done with so he can stop relying on Draco sooner.

Due to this, Hermione's not embarrassed to admit to herself that she's trying to butter Draco up by making him breakfast in bed and wear one of her best dresses that Draco had complimented a few times.

When Hermione wakes Draco up by sitting beside him on the edge of the bed and gently brushing his hair out of his face, she receives a loving smile in return.

"What a pleasant surprise." She tells her, rolling onto his back as he stretches.

"I know how busy you have been with the Ministry and Hyperion lately, you've barely had time to relax with so much on your mind, so I've brought you breakfast in bed." She smiles, standing up to collect the tray from their dressing table.

"You're too good for me." He sighs contently as he sits up in bed, ready for his breakfast.

"I was thinking," Hermione says as she sits back down on the edge of the bed. "Blaise and Luna most likely won't have time to go food shopping when they return tonight, so why don't we make them some dinner and take it round their house once they're back. It will give us all chance to catch up." She suggests.

Draco's face breaks into a massive smile. "I can't believe I completely forgot what day it is today. That sounds great, thank you Hermione." He squeezes her hand excitedly.

"Of course, we'll need to go shopping for some food, all we have in is canned soup." She reminds him.

"How can I forget, we bought enough soup to last us months and yet we never seem to eat dinner here." He shakes his head.

"It'll be different when we're back at Hogwarts in September. We won't have time to have dinner out with our family or friends." She points out. "We need to make the most of this summer."

"Of course, you're right." He smiles, going back to his breakfast.

"Speaking of being busy in September," She starts nervously, which is something Draco picks up.

"What is it?" He frowns concernedly.

"Well, we're both going to be focusing so much on our apprenticeship in September and won't have time to visit our family and friends as much as we want, or I want, so I thought, this morning we could-" She continues.

"You want to visit Lucius," Draco states, interrupting her.

"Yes, it's been nearly two months since I last saw him and with his state of mind, who knows how much of an effect that has had on him. Our agreement was that you would allow me to continue to visit him in order to help him, as long as you came with me. How am I helping him if I never see him?" Hermione rambles on in an attempt to convince him.

"Okay." He agrees. "We can visit him before we go food shopping."

"Thank you, Draco." Hermione throws her arms around his neck in a hug, careful not to disrupt the breakfast balancing on his lap.

"You're welcome." He chuckles. "Can I eat my breakfast now before it gets cold?" He jokes.

Hermione removes her arms from around his neck and stands up, dusting down her dress.

"Is that why you made me breakfast in bed and are wearing that dress I like?" Draco narrows his eyes with a smirk. "We're you trying to cajole me?" He asks with a laugh.

Hermione doesn't even attempt to justify herself; she just smiles at him.

"I can see straight through you, Hermione Granger." He laughs.

"Oh, shut up." She tells him as she leaves him to eat his breakfast whilst she washes the dishes in the kitchen.

They end up leaving their house around eleven o'clock in the morning. Hermione had used her time productively, going over the September lesson plans Minerva had owled her. She wanted to familiarise herself with the content of the lessons and practice the spells, even though they were the most basic transfiguration spells. Draco, on the other hand, had decided to use his time to take a long shower, shave his face and style his hair, which had grown back down past his ears in the six weeks since his haircut. Draco might have claimed to be able to see straight through her, but she could see straight through him as well. She knew he hadn't just thrown on his pair of black jeans and the red shirt she had made him buy. He'd done it for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of his father.

Hermione took the lead in disapparating them both to the gates of Azkaban, and even though it was the middle of summer, the prison still managed to look dark and ominous. Draco's hand tightened in hers as she leads them up the winding path to the wooden door and it's bronze knocker. As usual, the door opens itself for them and they make their way up the winding staircase to where two Ministry Officials are sat playing Yahtzee.

"Ms Granger," Lohier nods upon her entrance then jumps out of his chair when Draco enters behind her. "Mr Malfoy!" He greets him, looking between them in shock at seeing them together. "I'll get Andrews." He quickly scrambles around the table into the Head's office.

The other official smiles and nods his head in greeting as he sits awkwardly at the table, waiting for Lohier so they can return to the game.

"Why did you place five sixes in the sixes box instead of the Yahtzee box?" Draco asks the official with a frown.

The official stares at him for a confused moment before glancing down at his score card. "I needed the bonus." He states.

"You would have gotten the bonus with three sixes and now you've wasted a Yahtzee which is a lot rarer that three of a kind. No wonder your forty-six points behind him." Draco nods at Lohier who is exiting the Head's office.

"You can enter." He states, motioning for them to enter the office.

Upon entering the office, the Head, Anthony Andrews, gestures for them both to sit at the two chairs opposite his desk.

"I assume you're here to see Mr Malfoy." He says, giving them a nervous smile.

"Yes, we are." Hermione smiles back.

Mr Andrews sighs, glancing around his desk for a moment. "Right, you need to leave your jackets and bags in the locker." He reminds them, pointing over to the visitor's locker.

Hermione and Draco place their jackets in the locker, making sure to keep their wands on their person, before joining Mr Andrews at his office door ready to make the long trek up to Lucius' cell at the top of Azkaban.

"How has Lucius been recently?" Hermione asks Mr Andrews whilst in the lift, waiting to reach the fiftieth floor.

"I wouldn't know. I don't supervise the high-security inmates." Mr Andrews states. "They're all purists, and as a Muggleborn, I find it in my best interest to avoid the high-security floors at all cost." He admits.

"As one of the Heads of Azkaban, surely it is within your job role to supervise all inmates." Hermione frowns unimpressed.

"Rasheed and Lexi handle them just fine whilst I deal with the paperwork and budgeting." He shrugs as the lift reaches the fiftieth floor.

"Helloooo? Mr Aaaahmed?" The flirtatious voice of Isabelle calls from her cell.

"Mr Ahmed's in on Monday, Isabelle." Mr Andrews tells her, opening the little window in her cell door to reveal an old woman, which shocks Hermione. HSe had been expecting a young woman in her twenties or thirties.

"Who knows what day it is in here? I miss knowing what day of the week it is." She sighs.

"Maybe you shouldn't have killed all those people then." Mr Andrews points out.

"It's alright; they were only Mudbloods." She shrugs.

Draco pulls Hermione away from the cell door.

"Have you been taking your potions?" Mr Andrews asks.

"No, they make me lie." She snaps.

Mr Andrews sighs, taking a notepad and pen out of his pocket and scribbling a note before sending it off down the corridor.

"Goodbye, Isabelle." Mr Andrews shakes his head.

"You're top of my list when I get out of here, Tony." She tells him.

"Yes, I'm aware." He mutters as he shuts the window. "Come on." He motions leads them down the corridor.

"I thought you didn't supervise the purist," Draco asks.

"She's not a purist. She first murdered under the imperious curse for a group of Death Eaters and was tortured so much she believes she did it out of her own free will. Then she took it upon herself to murder whoever she pleased, the majority of which were Muggleborns because the Death Eaters told her they deserved to die. She's a Muggleborn herself." Mr Andrews explains. "When she takes her potions, she remembers but believes it to be a lie. She's never getting out, she's seventy-seven and still has thirty years on her sentence." He adds.

"When was she sentenced?" Draco asks.

"Thirteen years ago." Mr Andrews answers as they reach the door at the end of the corridor.

They climb the stairs up to the fifty-fifth floor in silence. When they reach the top, the two guards seem more shocked to see Mr Andrews than they did to see Hermione and Draco together for this visit.

"Mr Andrews." They both greet him professionally.

"Open the door." He orders them, voice shaking slightly.

Both guards place their hands either side of the cell door, unlocking it. Both Draco and Hermione step closer in preparation of entering, whilst Mr Andrews takes a few guarded steps backwards, away from the door. Once open, Hermione doesn't hesitate in stepping further forward but Draco pauses for a moment.

"Are you okay?" She asks him quietly, taking his hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Draco puts on a fake smile. "Yes, of course." He squeezes her hand back in return, allowing Hermione to guide him through the cell door.

They find Lucius standing in the middle of the room staring expressionlessly at them, his hands dangling uselessly by his side.

"Hello, Lucius," Hermione greets him with a smile.

His eyes flitter to meet hers, where they turn into a confused frown before looking at Draco, who's stood slightly behind her. She feels Draco's grip tighten around her hand, something that Lucius seems to notice as his eye lock onto their entwined hands.

"Your arrangement. Your family." Lucius' voice croaks, still staring at their hands.

Hermione doubts he's spoken much at all in the past six weeks since Draco visited him.

He frowns for a second before coming to some sort of understanding. "Your wife?" He finally looks back up at Draco with a questioning expression but not one with negative connotations. "You read my letters?" He asks hopefully.

"No, I didn't," Draco admits truthfully.

Lucius' eyes widen as his breathing becomes shallow. "Y-you promised. You promised. I- I gave you them. You promised. You have to. You promised." He mumbles to himself, eyes unfocused and body shaking.

"I can't watch this," Draco mutters, pressing the button to alert the guards they want to leave.

"We can't leave him like this, Draco," Hermione tells him.

"Yes, we can." He steps closer to the door.

Hermione releases her hand from his grip. "I can't leave him like this. Our agreement was I would help Lucius as long as you came with me. If you don't want to stay, you can go but I'm here to help him. You can wait in the corridor." She tells him sternly as the door opens.

Draco stares at her, unsure.

"I have my wand, I can protect myself, and I don't need your permission." She reminds him, placing her hands on his chest and pushing him gently towards the door.

"I'm just in the corridor, if you need me." He tells her pointedly as he steps over the threshold.

Once the door has closed again, Hermione turns to face Lucius, who's still stood muttering to himself, staring at the wall where Draco had been stood.

"Lucius, I'll make him read the letters." She tells him, taking a cautious step closer.

Lucius seems to snap out of it as his eyes focus on her and his mutterings stop.

"You promise." He asks.

"I promise." She nods. "You can trust me." She adds with an encouraging smile.

"Can I?" He asks.

"Of course, Draco trusts me, and he doesn't trust easily." She points out.

"You married my son." He states.

"Yes, I did." Hermione smiles.

"Narcissa?" He asks, frowning in confusion.

"She's let her disapproval be known." She assures him. "Can we sit down?" She asks.

"I have a single chair." He says.

"That's not a problem; there's this spell called the Gemino charm. I don't know if you've heard of it before." She tells him sarcastically, taking her wand out and duplicating the chair.

They both take a seat on one of the chairs.

"How have you been since my last visit?" Hermione asks.

"Pleasantries?" Lucius quirks his eyebrow, but the effect is lost when he starts swinging forwards and backwards slightly.

"I'm being sincere." She tells him.

Lucius stops mid-swing to stare at her in disbelief, tilting his head to the side.

"You don't look well. Have you been eating?" She asks.

"Do you need more information from me or are you simply here to insult me." He asks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

Hermione stares at him pointedly as she waits for him to get comfortable, resting his hands on top of his knees.

"When was your last visit?" He asks, watching her intently.

"About six weeks ago." She answers.

"Really, what's the date?" He frowns, a hard expression on his face, but it doesn't fool her.

"It's the fifth of August."

"I thought it was June." He lets a smile slip through his façade. "One year gone, fourteen years left."

"That's a long time." She comments.

"I don't need reminding, Miss Granger." Lucius sends her a glare, making her laugh at how hard he's trying to act like his normal self. "Or should I say, Mrs Malfoy." He narrows his eyes disapprovingly.

"Don't worry, Lucius, I haven't take the family name." She assures him. "And I think these visits will be easier for both of us if you called me Hermione."

"There will be more visits. Draco told me you would no longer be visiting me." He says, eye twitching slightly.

"Draco doesn't tell me what I can and can't do. If I want to visit you, then I shall." She tells him.

"Why would you want to visit me?" He asks, glaring down his nose at her.

"Lucius, please stop pretending to be our old self. You don't need to try to intimidate me; I want to help you." She admits.

"I don't need your help." He scoffs.

"Yes, you do, Lucius. Do you know anything that's transpired over the past year of your sentence?" She questions him.

"I know you and Draco are now married." He answers, disapproval still evident.

"But you don't know why we married." She retaliates.

Lucius' brow frowns in confusion as his mind tries to devise reasons as to why his son would marry her.

"In fourteen years, when you are released from here, you aren't going to know a single thing that has happened in the past fifteen years. Do you realise how difficult and terrifying that will be for you? If you had been sentenced under the same circumstances in 1981, after Voldemort's disappearance, you would have been released just before Christmas of Draco's sixth year at Hogwarts. You know better than I do how much the Wizarding world changed between Voldemort's disappearance and reappearance. You need my help to remain sane not only in here by in the future when you're released into the already changing wizarding world." She explains.

Lucius' eyes had unfocused during her explanation, and she hoped he was thinking over what she had said. A few minutes later, he nodded.

"It seems that you are my only option in this situation." He tries his best to smile politely, his way of dropping his act and she appreciates it.

"Yes, it is." She smiles back.

"Now, do you mind telling me why you and my son are married." He asks.

Hermione spends the next fifteen minutes telling a silent Lucius about the letter and questionnaire all eligible wizards and witches received on the second of January, the marriage ceremony, the reception party, the pentagon estate, what Draco did in order to get them access to the Ministry's registration archives, and what she discovered in the book vault. Once she had finished, Lucius had the same glossy eyed look as he had earlier as he thought over everything she had said.

"I have many questions." He finally states after five minutes of silence between them both.

"Where do you want to start?" She asks.

"The beginning." He nods. "What were the questions on this questionnaire? I'd like to know how the Ministry came to the conclusion that you two would be a good match." He asks.

"They were rather useless. I don't see how our favourite colour, number, food and drink can help match couples together. Anyway, I told you that when it came to Draco and I, the Ministry Officials matched us together because they thought it would be funny." She rolls her eyes.

"Yes, but you must have matched on some of the questions for it to not look suspicious." Lucius points out.

Hermione had been trying to avoid bringing this up. "It seems that the only question they particularly cared about was how many children each person wanted."

Lucius raises an eyebrow in interest. "And how many children do you wish to have, Mi- Hermione."

She blushes as she answers, "Three."

"I'm afraid us purebloods rarely have more than one child," Lucius mentions.

"I'm not a pureblood." She points out.

"Aren't I aware." He sarcastically drawls.

"Lucius." She warns him.

"Apologies, Hermione." He nods for her to carry on.

"What other questions do you have?" She asks.

"Who else were paired together in this ceremony?"

"Oh," Hermione laughs. "You're going to enjoy this one."

"You're turning into a right gossip, Hermione." He smirks in amusement.

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes, yes, carry on. I have nothing better to do." He recrosses his legs in the opposite direction.

"Guess who Pansy got paired with?" She asks him, holding back a laugh.

"I really can't remember who is still alive within the age gap you mentioned, nor do I remember the children in the years above Draco." He states.

"Ron Weasley."

Lucius stares at her, as though waiting for her to tell him she's joking and she's actually married to somebody respectable.

"How disappointing for Perseus?" He sighs, then seems to realise something. "I thought you said purebloods weren't allowed to be paired together."

"The Parkinson's are half-blood." She announces.

"Oh, this is interesting." Lucius leans forward. "Please, elaborate."

"Her paternal great-grandfather's mother was a half-blood."

"How scandalous? Perseus kept that little secret well hidden." Lucius smirks.

"You never know how many secrets a person can hide." She tells him.

Lucius seems to catch her meaning. "What else is Perseus hiding?" He asks.

"Now who's the gossip." She jokingly teases him.

From behind them, Lucius' cell door begins the rather lengthy proses of unlocking. Hermione stands up, waving her wand over her chair to remove it before the door swings open. Draco peers his head around the door, taking them both in.

"Lunch is going to be served soon and Mr Andrews has a pile of paperwork to get through." He tells her, avoiding looking at his father. "We need to leave." He adds.

"Okay, I'll be a minute." She nods to Draco who leaves the door ajar but walks away. "I'll come visit you again before September, there's still much more to tell you and I'm sure you still have many questions." She tells him.

"Remember your promise, Hermione." He says. "You need to earn my trust." He stands up, making his way over to his bed.

"Try to eat more, Lucius, you're looking sickly." She tells him and he wafts his hand in her direction, gesturing for her to leave. "Goodbye." She adds before leaving the cell.

"What promise did you make to him?" Draco asks her as soon as she's stepped over the threshold, looking annoyed.

"He wants you to read those letters, Draco. He has some form of emotional attachment to them and he isn't going to move on from this until you read them." She explains as they follow Mr Andrews back down to the fiftieth floor.

"I don't want to read them." He tells her sternly.

"If you want, I can read them first to make sure he isn't still trying to control you." She offers.

Draco sighs. "I can see you're not going to let this drop, so go ahead. They're in the middle drawer of my bedside table." He tells her.

"Thank you." She takes his hand in hers, kissing the back of it in further thanks.

"What are we going to make Blaise and Luna for dinner?" He asks as they reach the lift.

"Why don't you make your Spaghetti Bolognese?" She suggests.

"Blaise does enjoy my Spaghetti Bolognese." He nods in agreement.

"It's settled then. We can also pick up a nice bottle of wine." She smiles as they reach the ground floor.

They continue to follow Mr Andrews down to the Head's office where they retrieve their belongings from the visitor's lockers before thanking him, then leaving Azkaban. Hermione takes the lead in disapparating them to the usual supermarket they go to.

Draco collects the trolley and follows Hermione around as she picks out all the items they both need to make their meals tonight, as well as a few extra bits and pieces that they might need over the next few days. Hermione ends up leaving him in the wine aisle after ten minutes of indecisiveness. She returns fifteen minutes later to find Draco looking between two different bottles. In the end, she tells him to just put them both in the trolley.

Once they've paid for their shopping, they head outside to the usual alley at the back of the supermarket where they individually disapparate back to the estate. They'd only just packed their shopping away when there's a knock at their backdoor.

Hermione opens it to find Ginny stood smiling at her.

"The dresses are ready." She exclaims before Hermione can even get a greeting out.

"Really!" Hermione squeals excitedly. "I thought you weren't getting them until Wednesday."

"I know, I got the owl this morning. Do you want to come try it on?" She asks.

Hermione turns to look at Draco, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching them in amusement.

"Go have fun. I'll make dinner while you're out." He tells her, laughing when she squeals again in excitement, rushing out of the backdoor with Ginny.

"What's the difference between a piano and a fish?" Geoffrey asks as they walk past the gate.

"What? Ginny gasps as she jumps.

"What's the difference bet-" Geoffrey starts again.

"Did he not speak to you on your way in here?" Hermione asks her.

"No." She leans closer to look at the gnome.

"She was too fast." Geoffrey huffs. "What's the difference between a piano and a fish?" He asks again.

"We need to answer him, or he gets progressively and aggressively louder." She explains to Ginny.

"What's the difference then?" Ginny asks.

"You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish." Geoffrey answers.

"That's stupid." Ginny frowns.

"You're stupid," Geoffrey replies.

Ginny gasps as she takes a step towards him. "How dare you?"

"What are you going to do, I'm an inanimate object." The gnome teases.

"You look pretty animated to me," Ginny growls.

"Okay, let's go before you break him." Hermione pulls her friend out of her garden, leading her across the green as quickly as the pregnant Ginny could walk. "Where's Harry? He can't see us in our dresses."

"He's at work. He's trying really hard at Auror training. I think he's hoping to become the Head Auror eventually. You know how much he looked up the Mad-Eye." She explains as they come to the Potter's back garden.

Ginny lets them into her dining room, slipping her shoes off and sighing as she sinks onto one of the chairs. "You know, I had to take my shoes back to Madam Malkin's to have them widened, my feet are that swollen." She scoffs out a laugh.

"You're still going to look beautiful." She reassures her friend.

"Of course I will, you haven't seen my dress yet." Ginny winks half-jokingly at her.

"Do I get to see it today?" She asks hopefully.

"As my made of honour, I think it's only right that you do." Ginny nods as she struggles to stand up again. Hermione offers her a hand but she refuses the help.

Ginny leads the way upstairs to the nursery, which she opens the door to before slamming it shut again.

"Ginny?" Hermione frowns.

"So, we haven't told anyone yet, but we know the sex of the baby." She abruptly announces.

Hermione's mouth falls agape. "What are you having?" She asks.

"Don't tell Harry you know." She tells her as she opens the nursery door, revealing pale blue wallpaper with matching sheets in the cot and carpet on the floor.

"A boy!" Hermione mutters.

"I know, I hope I don't end up with six like Mum. We only want three kids, and I want at least one girl." Ginny laughs.

Hermione pulls her friend into a hug. "Congratulations, Gin." She smiles.

"Enough of this, we're here to focus on my big day, the baby will get his own day soon enough." She gently pushes Hermione away and leads her into the nursery where five dress bags are hanging from the wardrobe.

"I'll have to have Luna over at some point during the week to try here's on. Fleur and Angelina are coming over tomorrow." She explains. "I wanted you to be the first to see." She takes two bags down, passing one to Hermione. "You can stay in here and I'll go into our room. I don't want you to see until I've got it on." She says, leaving the nursery.

Hermione unzips her dress bag to reveal the pale yellow netted material of her bridesmaid dress. She removed it gully from its bag, holding it up against herself. It truly is beautiful, falling down to her mid-calf. She hangs the garment back up on the wardrobe whilst she removes her clothes.

In the middle of July, Ginny had invited Hermione, Fleur and Angelina over for afternoon tea, which is when she provided them all with a small card, asking the three of them to be her bridesmaids, along with Luna, who she had owled to ask that morning. They had all accepted gratefully and spent the rest of the afternoon, flicking through Madam malkin's bridal magazine, pointing out differ gowns for Ginny and themselves. Luna had replied to accept a week later with a list of her measurement since she wouldn't be back in time for the fittings.

She pulls the dress over her head, zipping the back up with ease. She finds the matching shoes in one of the four boxes beneath the dresses and pulls them on, fastening the clip. She glances around the room but can't find a mirror so she heads out into the bathroom when Ginny also exits her bedroom wearing her white long-sleeved lace wedding dress.

"Oh Gin, you look beautiful." Hermione gasps, taking her friend's hand in her own to spin her around.

"I look beautiful," She scoffs. "Look at you, Mione." Ginny cries, pulling them together in a hug. "I can't wait to see all four of my bridesmaids together. You're all going to look gorgeous."

"We better take them off before we get our tears all over them." Hermione laughs, wiping her eyes.

Ginny nods, holding Hermione at arm's length to get on last good look at her before they disrobe. Once they'd redressed in their other clothes, they settled down on the couch with a cup of tea as they went over the upcoming nuptials.

When Harry returned from Auror training just after five o'clock, he slumped tiredly on the armchair.

"What have you two been up to?" He asks with a yawn as he toes his shoes off.

"Just trying on our dress for the wedding." Ginny shrugs nonchalantly.

Harry sits up, suddenly looking wide awake. "How did she look, Hermione," He asks without taking his eyes of his wife.

"Gorgeous." She answers, chuckling at the bright smile that crosses Harry's face.

"Please," Ginny rolls her eyes. "Did you see yourself?"

"Did you see yourself?" Hermione returns the question.

"Yes, I did. I looked hot." She admits, making them laugh.

"Well, I can't wait." Harry smiles contently as he leans back in his armchair.

Hermione checks her watch. "I must get going. Blaise and Luna will be back from their travels in a few hours. Draco and I are taking them some dinner to catch up." She explains.

"Of course, if we don't see you before next Friday, I'll see you at the chicken party," Ginny tells her, jokingly making fun of Fleur.

"I'll see you later." She calls behind her as she leaves out the front door in a bid to avoid Geoffrey.

When she returns home, she finds Draco lying on the couch with Athena perched on his chest, as he reads through numerous pieces of parchment.

"What are you reading?" Hermione asks softly, hopeful that it's his father's letters.

Draco glances of the top of them. "Potion's planning. Horace finally sent an owl this afternoon." He sighs, placing the parchment on the coffee table and lifting his legs up for Hermione to sit down beside him, only to lower them over her lap once she's comfortable. "How was your afternoon?" He asks, stroking the top of Athena's head subconsciously as he watches Hermione.

"Lovely. Ginny looks beautiful."

"And you?" He asks.

"Nice try," She sends him a smirk. "You're going to have to wait."

He rolls his eyes. "It's not as though it's our wedding. It's not bad luck for me to know about your dress." He mentions.

"What type of planning has Horace sent you?" Hermione asks, leaning over to pick the parchment up from the coffee table.

"It's very vague." He tells her as she flicks through them all. "He's only given me a eight lesson module for the first three years, then six lesson module for the OWL years and four lesson module for the NEWT years. He expects me to plan all the lessons for September and then owl them back to him for evaluation." He sighs.

"Well you've seen the planning Minerva sent me. It's very similar, just more detailed. She's a very competent professor so her plans obviously work. Why not incorporate them into your potions lessons? Every year has transfiguration and potions four times a week, it should work." Hermione suggests.

Draco nods. "Thanks. We've got a few hours before Blaise and Luna return, I should probably get this over and done with." He groans as he climbs off the couch and stretches his limbs.

Athena flies over to her cage where she nestles down for a nap.

Draco spreads out across the dining room table with his parchments, inks, both his and Hermione's planning, and a number of potions books. For the next two hours, he follows Minerva's transfigurations planning to support his own. Once he's in the swing of it, he finds it rather easy to follow the plan. He only manages to finish the first three years when Hermione interrupts him to tell him it's half seven and Blaise and Luna are due back at eight.

With a quick wave of his wand, everything on the table organises themselves into a tidy pile that he leaves to rush upstairs and change into a clean shirt that's not creased from having been lying on the couch for over an hour.

Once he's ready, he meets Hermione in the kitchen where she's packing up the spaghetti Bolognese for their dinner. Draco helps by collecting the bottles of wine and packing them up with the food. They leave at ten to eight, arriving at their friends' house just after the hour to find it still in complete darkness.

"They can't be back yet," Hermione comments as she knocks on the door, just in case but nobody answers.

"Mr Malfoy." A small voice her faintly recognises comes from the house next door.

Draco and Hermione turn to look at the small woman.

"They're not back yet." She tells them.

Draco rolls his eyes, remembering their previous encounter. "Yes, we're aware." He nods at her.

"Do you know when they're due back?" Hermione asks.

"No, I don't really speak to them." She admits.

"Okay, well thank you anyway." Hermione smiles politely until the woman closes her front door. "How nosey!" She shakes her head. "Should we wait here for them to return or go home?" She asks him.

Draco takes his wand out, tapping the door handle to unlock the door before pushing it open.

"Or we could break and enter into our friends' house?" Hermione sighs about to follow him inside.

They head straight into the kitchen where they lay out the food and wine on the counter, ready to consume.

"I wish they would hurry up. I'm starving." Draco complains, walking into the front room to lounge on the couch.

"Draco and Hermione?" They hear their names mentioned outside.

Hermione glances out of the front window to find Blaise and Luna at their front door in conversation with their nosey neighbour.

"They're here." She announces.

Draco tries to remain cool as he jumps up off the couch and clambers into the hall, throwing the front door open. He's never been this long without seeing his best friend. He was only supposed to be gone a month but they'd had to ad two more weeks to the end of their travels when they picked up the tracks of whatever animal Luna and her father were tracking in Australia.

"Blaise," Draco announces his presence.

"Draco!" Blaise shouts excitedly, dropping Luna's hand to pull Draco into a bone-crushing hug. "I've missed you so much, mate." He cries onto Draco's shoulder.

"Was that an unironic 'mate'?" Draco asks with a laugh, hugging his friend back.

"It was. Our Australian guide said it, and I just picked it up. I'm a mess without you, Draco. Never leave me." He continues to cry, worrying Draco a little.

"Shall we leave them to it?" Luna suggests to Hermione as they both make their way into the living room.

"Technically, you were the one who left me, for nearly six weeks might I add." Draco points out.

"I know, and I'm not going away again. My feet are staying firmly on British soil." He makes a show of stamping his feet.

"Okay, well to celebrate your return, I've made us all dinner," Draco tells him, trying to back out of what must be their longest hug ever.

"Spaghetti Bolognese?" Blaise sniffs as he stops crying and allows Draco to escape his clutch.

"Of course." Draco smiles.

"I could kiss you, mate." Blaise laughs.

"Shut up," Draco tells him, quickly dashing inside in case his friend decides a long hug wasn't enough greeting for him and goes for a kiss.

Blaise follows him inside and instantly flops down on the couch with a content smile. "It's great to be back home. You and Pansy were right." He mentions as Draco takes a seat next to him. "I did not like camping."

Draco laughs with his friend. He's missed this. For the past six weeks he's barely socialised with any of his own friends. Pansy's been insanely busy with her history of magic planning and seemingly avoiding him. Theo started his new job a month ago, and it's not as though they were ever that close anyway. Of course, Hermione's friends are making more of an effort with him but he can still tell that Harry, Ron and Ginny aren't particularly fond of him.

"Draco, can you come help with dinner?" Hermione calls through from the kitchen.

He sighs as she stands up from the couch. "Come on; it's already ready, just needs heating up." He tells Blaise, holding his hand out to help his friend up off the couch.

"Thanks, mate." He says, then groans. "I need to stop saying that." He mutters to himself, following Draco into the kitchen.

"Take a seat at the table; we'll bring everything over." He tells Blaise, who takes a seat next to his wife.

Draco helps Hermione serve the Spaghetti Bolognese onto four plates, glancing up at his best friend and his wife, whispering to each other.

"How's Blaise?" Hermione asks. "He seemed a little emotional." She smiles.

"He missed me, and I don't blame him." He smirks jokingly making Hermione laugh.

"You missed him just as much." She reminds him as she carries two plates over to their friends and Draco follows with their plates.

"Before we start," Blaise starts, looking between Draco and Hermione. "There's something we need to tell you." He looks nervous as he smiles.

Draco frowns worriedly as a hundred different scenarios run through his head.

"We're pregnant." He announces.

He wasn't expecting that. Draco stares at his best friend and then his wife in shock, jealousy filling his stomach.

"Really?" Hermione jumps out of her chair to hug Luna. "Congratulations, when did you find out?" She asks.

"Only last week." Blaise answers.

"We're nine weeks gone," Luna says.

Draco realises he's still staring silently at his best friend when he starts staring back.

"Are you alright, Draco?" Blaise asks.

"Of course," He blinks. "Congratulations, you're going to be a great dad." He smiles forcefully.

"Thanks, Draco." He smiles in return.

"Our dinner can celebrate your safe return and your good news." Draco raises his glass of wine before realising. "Luna, let me get you some water instead." He removes her glass of wine and grabs her a glass of water from the kitchen.

"Thank you, Draco." She smiles at him sincerely, which he can't entirely return.

Dinner is full of catching up on both sides of the table. Luna animatedly tells them how close they were to catching up with whatever animal they were tracking and how her father is planning another trip in October to carry on. Blaise doesn't seem to excited about the prospects of more camping but nods happily when Luna tells them how close he and her father became over the six weeks. Apparently, Blaise had told Luna over their holiday everything about Draco's own tracking, the tracking of his Uncle Hyperion. He catches them up on how far they've gotten in the tracking and about Tiverton.

After dinner, Luna sets the dishes to clean in the sink before kicking Draco and Blaise out of the kitchen so they can talk about the upcoming Potter wedding at the kitchen table over a cup of tea. Draco and Blaise head back to the couch.

"Don't tell my mother, but your Spaghetti Bolognese is the best I've ever tasted," Blaise admits, closing his eyes as he leans back against the couch.

"I would dare tell your mother; she'd kill me on the spot." Draco jokes, making Blaise laugh.

"Are you happy for me?" Blaise asks suddenly, eyes still shut.

"What about?" He steps around the topic.

"About the baby?" He opens his eyes, turning his body to face Draco. "You didn't look happy when we told you." He looks worried.

"I was just in shock, Blaise. I wasn't expecting it so soon. We've only been married two months." He points out. Blaise laughs and he realises what he said. "You know what I mean, we all got married two months ago. I know you've been dating since Christmas but for some reason I was still shocked." He admits, looking away from his friend.

"You know, you're always going to be my best friend. This baby isn't going to change anything. We're still going to hang out all the time, except now, we'll have a baby with us, or Luna will look after the baby whilst we hang out." He reassures him, showing just how close they really are and how well he can read him.

Draco nods, feeling less jealous but more guilty for feeling jealous over a baby. He shakes his head with a laugh at his stupid feelings.

"How are you and Hermione anyway?" Blaise asks, leaning forward curiously.

"I took her out for our first proper date, and she told me she loved me." Draco can't help but smile widely at the memory.

Blaise claps his hands excitedly. "Look at you. I've never seen you so happy. Have you had sex yet?" He asks, eyes wide, waiting for the answer.

"Blaise, that's a little personal." He snaps at him, but he can feel his face blushing.

His best friends burst out laughing. "Congratulations." He pats Draco's knee which he brushes off.

"You are not congratulating me on losing my virginity." He glares at his friend.

"Oh, I definitely am." He winks proudly at him.

Draco rolls his eyes, ignoring him.

"So, what have I missed?" Blaise asks.

Draco thinks back over the past six weeks trying to remember everything that he would usually tell Blaise.

"I may have invited my Aunt Andromeda to dinner at the manor with mother, myself and Hermione." He starts at the beginning.

Blaise's eyes widen. "Why would you do that? Did anyone die?" He asks, half-joking, half-serious.

"I was witness at Jugson's trial, he killed Andromeda's husband. I talked to her afterwards to tell her how sorry I was and she invited me over for dinner to meet Teddy since we're first cousins once removed. So, I invited her to the Manor. She and mother seemed to get on well and thankfully nobody died. Although, mother did try to poison Hermione." He explains.

"What?" Blaise looks confused.

"I'm still angry about it. Mother tried to make her infertile, fortunately for us, Andromeda saw and switched the plates around."

"How is you mother still alive?" He asks in shock.

"Hermione won't let me kill her." He states with a shrug.

"Ah, understandable." Blaise nods then laughs. "She's your mother though. You wouldn't actually kill her?" Blaise half-asks, half-states.

"No, Blaise, I wouldn't actually kill her. She's still my mother, and as Hermione said, all pureblood boys are mammy's boys." He cringes as he says it.

"It's true though, look at Goyle." Blaise points out and they both laugh. "So I guess you're avoiding her for now."

"No, we need access to the Manor." He says.

"I'd make sure Hermione doesn't eat or drink anything whilst there. Narcissa might try again." Blaise points out.

"That's what we thought and unfortunately, she has eaten with my mother before Andromeda told us. We went to St Mungo's to get tested. I didn't think mother would poison me but I didn't want to assume anything. We're both fine." He assures his friend.

"Good," He nods. "I'm glad. Anything else exciting happen since I've been gone." He asks.

"It was Sophie's seventh birthday last month. She invited you, but I explained you were on holiday." Draco tells him.

"Aww, I knew it was coming up. I'll have to buy her a present, and you can give it to her for me." He says sadly. "Was it fun?" He adds.

"It was a magic party. Everyone came dress as over-the-top witches and wizards. Pansy came and spent the whole night flirting with on of Sophie's friends' dad, which was amusing." He smirks at the memory.

"I'm sad I missed it." He sighs.

"There'll be plenty more parties for you to attend and plenty more men for Pansy to flirt with." Draco jokes.

"That's true." He nods with a long yawn. "I'm so tired." He complains.

"It's getting late." Draco agrees. "Hermione and I should get going." He stands up.

"I'll see you tomorrow though? I'm sure there's still more to catch up on." He asks.

"Yes, do you want to meet for breakfast? We could invite Pansy." Draco suggests.

"Perfect." Blaise laughs, standing up and following Draco into the kitchen.

"I think Blaise needs an early night." Draco jokes as Blaise leans against the kitchen counter with another long yawn.

"Yeah, we'll get going. I probably won't see you until Ginny's hen party next week." Hermione says, hugging her friend.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, it won't be as sad as the last one." She smiles and Hermione nods in agreement.

At the front door, Blaise and Luna thank them for dinner before bidding them goodbye, with promises to see each other soon before going their separate ways.

"With every new couple who falls pregnant, the more real this whole marriage decree feels," Hermione admits as they walk back to their house, hand in hand.

"I know, I'm still finding it hard to get my head around the fact that my immature, idiotic best friend is going to be a father." He laughs.

"Draco." Hermione squeezes his hand.

"I say it with love." He assures her with a smile.

She rolls her eyes. "First Harry and Ginny are pregnant, then Blaise and Luna. That just leaves Ron and Pansy, and us." She points out. "From our friend group." She adds.

"There's still plenty of time." He points out. "We've still got twenty-two months."

Hermione nods but doesn't say anything. Draco wonders whether she is ready to be a mother, whether this is why she's mentioning their friend group. Does she want them to start officially trying? Draco doesn't know if he's ready yet. Not with their apprenticeships starting in September. It's not as though they can wait a few years when they're more settled in their careers. As he said, they've got twenty-two months left to conceive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should follow me on Instagram and Tumblr (bigdswisdom) to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Please leave KUDOS and COMMENTS. It will be much appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave me a KUDOS and COMMENT. It will be much appreciated. Xx


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